Who is responsible and what should be done when a player hits a golf ball that breaks a window on a home located adjacent to a fairway?

Answer 1

You Play - You PAY --- FORE!!!Rockford Files was a TV show saveral years ago about a Private Investigator that was always just skirting around the law to make a dollar or two. One time he backed into someones car in a busy parking lot. There were witnesses that saw him hit the car, so he got out of his car, wrote a little note and stuck it on the windshield. It said something like this, "Sorry I hit your car, people are watching me write this note and they think I'm leaving my name and address."

You could try that, if you are as shady as that fictional P.I.

But, you are legally liable for your action. You are liable to pay for the loss of the glass. If you Cary homeowners insurance, you could inquire if your personal liability coverage would pay for "damage to property of others." There will be a dollar limit stated in your policy. You sould be careful about claiming on your insurance because you may be getting a no claims discount now. If you have a good agent, he should advise about this.

You could just pay for it and be don with it.

You could argue that no one in their right mind would build a house with glass facing a fairway. But then the oposing argument would be that no one in their right mind would hit a ball that hard if they did not know how to aim the ball better. They make driving ranges for golfers like that.

Which side are you on?If you are the golfer who hit the ball, the previous answer is correct. You are liable and should pay. But I read this as being from the homeowner whose window was broken and the player has not contacted him and offered to pay. In this case, I would contact the Golf course management and politely ask for reimbursement. If they refuse, you could sue in small claims court. You could turn it in on your homeowner's policy, but I would check first to see if they would consider it a claim on your policy (which could increase your premiums) or subrogate it with the golf course's insurance (which should not count as a claim on your policy). There are always two sides to a storyI don't believe the answer to this question is as black and white as it may appear. Here are several articles and cases which illustrate the grayness of the issue.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/May/15/ln/FP605150350.HTML

This article addresses where one player accidently hit another player. A similar argument could be made for the broken window.

http://www.golfdigest.com/features/index.ssf?/features/gd200207worsthomes.HTML

Golf Digest provides two answers, one moral and one legal answer each. It appears morally, the player should pay for the broken window, but legally, the issue is not as black and white.

Good luck with this dilemma.