My kid was backing out of a driveway and hit a stone pillar with a light on top. It pushed this thing about 3 inches off of its original location. Homeowner came by to talk about it, they have no proof but I agreed to get it fixed. I had someone help move it back to its original position and ensure it was straight up and down.

When I told her I had found someone, she asked if he was insured and bonded. Clearly not knowing what that means, because in our jurisdiction, GCs are not required to have a bond. We fixed it while they were away. They came back and disputed that it had been fixed. It was put back to the original location, and it looks like it’s not straight because it was poorly built, the top isn’t even on straight. But the base is at 90 degrees by level.

Then she asked if it had been secured back…but of course it was never secured in place, it was only ever sitting on a concrete platform. They bought the house used last year, so how would they even know how they were installed 20 years ago?

And now she texted me to tell me they are getting quotes. I expect that she will be expecting me to pay for someone to do essentially nothing. I did take pictures of before and after to show it is back to normal and there are no actual damages. Anything she pays for now, should be on her.

So the question is, what is my liability here? She has no actual proof my kid hit the thing. But I did agree to move it back. I have some legal consults coming up this week but just wanted to see if I could get any other advice. I don’t want to give this crazy person anything more than I already have. Based on my experience with her so far, I realized a little too late that she was never going to be satisfied.