A burst water maine damages my car in Los Angeles. How do I ask for compensation for repairs?

Does your auto insurance not cover this?

Maine isn’t in Los Angeles. It’s in Vermont.

You may have waited too long. You should have taken pictures, gotten immediate statements from witnesses and documented everything, including what the mechanic said.

This incident happened almost four months ago. Did the police show up and make a report? You might talk to a claims lawyer. (It’s water main, for the record, as Mr. Grumpy Pants ^^ just mentioned.)

I gather from your use of the word “bonnet” that you are from the UK or a locality where the Queen’s English is spoken.

Not grumpy. Amused.

Call your insurance company. They will try to get reimbursement from the city. Cities usually have a fund from which this type thing is paid.

Good luck. L.A. is broke.

A lawyer friend explained this to me, (I asked him about suing LA for damages to my vehicle due to how shitty their roads are even though I pay an ass-load of taxes for good roads.

He said something along the lines of “it ain’t gonna happen” due to laws written to protect the city. They know the roads are shitty, and basically prevent you from doing anything about it, or else they know quite well that they would be sued by practically everyone.

You should be able to get another bonnet at any hat store.

Silly. ^^ Bonnet is Brit for hood.

LOL… A bonnet is a hood? In America a bonnet is a hat and a hood is criminal.

There are some differences between Americanspeak and what our neighbors across the water say. Lift = elevator, boot = trunk (of car), Plimsoles or trainers are athletic shoes, etc.

In the US a hood is also a type of headwear.

@davidbetterman-
Bonnet = Hood
Boot = Trunk

Thanks astro, @gailcalled explained this.

@davidbetterman: What do you expect from a 6-yr-old? Even Milo can type faster than Chuckie.

Thanks everybody. As my first question here this has been fairly hilarious in that it’s turned into a British/US Language forum. BTW I’m Australian, which has a bastardized version of the Queen’s English.

Thanks Thriftymaid, I’ll call Geico tomorrow. They said they couldn’t do anything because I don’t have comprehensive insurance, but I’ll ask if they can try to get reimbursement from the city. I’m paying them so much they owe it to me.

Also thanks gailcalled. I do have pictures and should have dealt with this earlier, but a whole lot of major stuff was happening up until now I couldn’t. It’s not worth taking it to a claims lawyer as it isn’t an expensive car.

However if I was paying this much insurance in Aus, everything would be covered and then some.

Thanks mrrich724, I thought that would be the case, or that it would be so time-consuming it wouldn’t be worth it.

Thanks all! (you too grumpy pants)

LA is insured…..they should be able to open claim. go to city works dept

Usually you are supposed to call your insurance company right away. They will worry about arguing with the cities insurance company.

Regarding the water main break, as an x- Water Dept. employee, call your city water dept., ask for the superintendent (if possible) and tell him the story and to send Risk management out immediately to photograph and review. They will cover the damages.