Broken Window

[ShootaMcgavin]

I was playing golf the other day and someone in my group hit a shot out of bounds and the ball broke a window in someone’s house.

The people in the house came out and grabbed my playing partners contact info. They wanted him to cover the cost of the window and told him to put in a claim through his home insurance. They made it sound like this sort of thing happens quite regularly.

Who normally pays for the window in this case? I would think a ball breaking a window is part of the risk of living next to a golf course.



Does this course every pick up these "broken" window costs?

[Pingnut]

Re: Broken Window

Pretty sure your buddy is responsible.. getting him to pay is another thing altogether.

[Jeffc]

Re: Broken Window

Pretty sure your buddy is responsible.. getting him to pay is another thing altogether.

This^

It's my feeling if you don't want golf balls breaking your windows, don't buy a house on a course.

[caddishack]

Re: Broken Window

Most home insurance these days is 500 or 1000 deductible, so better to pay out of pocket if at all

[PayneStewart]

Re: Broken Window

You break it, you replace it.

[aznives3]

Re: Broken Window

I've had first-hand experience with this. back when i was about 14 years old, i was playing with a couple friends at a course that winds through a residential community. I was in the right rough and sliced one into a backyard, demolishing a huge pane of glass. It wasn't a window, but a deck that had glass panes for the rails instead of wood posts etc. 20 yards off the fairway and you're designing your deck with huge 4'x6' panes of glass everywhere? like cmonnnn. Homeowners "seemed" to be pretty well-off when visiting them and confessing (pretty much no choice since course head pro was right behind us, and my buddies worked for the course at the time), but they said they didn't have insurance or didn't want to use insurance for it, and i would need to pay. They let me get off with paying for half the cost. Most courses always have a clause in the clubhouse or scorecard that says the golfer is responsible for any resultings of their golf ball. I hate playing in residential courses since lol

[Weirfan]

Re: Broken Window

There was a very long discussion on this topic recently at FGI That included legal input and it was still unclear where responsibility sat.

A popular Opinion was that if the course was built after the houses the golfer was responsible, if the houses built after the course the home owner. Not sure either is law though.

I tried to read up on it and the findings were equivocal. I did find an article stating one homeowner had replaced 700 windows on his house over 30 years

If I broke a window , I would work with the person and help to cover the costs.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Re: Broken Window

I used to feel (especially where the house was built AFTER the course) that it was the homeowner's fault for building there.

I've changed my mind since then. Any house, anywhere can get hit by stuff, especially when "boys are being boys". Kick a football, throw or hit a baseball and it goes onto someone's private property and does damage. That is always the fault of the thrower/kicker and by extension the golfer.

I'm pretty sure the law sees it this way too.

It's also why a lot of places with houses quite near are staked OB, and it's why the penalty for lost/OB is higher than a lateral hazard. You are supposed to take extra care to avoid them.

[gimmeabogey]

Re: Broken Window

Signs on many golf courses indicate you're responsible for your wayward shot.

I wonder if 3M window film would prevent the glass from cracking when hit with golf ball? I'm sure it would prevent it trom smashing into pieces as it can stand a baseball bat but you'd still have to replace it after a baseball bat. It might prevent it from cracking when it with a slow moving golf ball after 150 yards out

[WDM1980]

Re: Broken Window

I always felt nervous about playing Highland Gate - back yards 10 yards off the fairways with windows only 10 yards further off.

It would certainly be an interesting court case if it ever came up.

I doubt the course can claim no responsibility - putting up a sign does not waive liability simply because they want it to. They may be partially liable based on course layout or failure to take action.

The golfer likely has some part to pay, though it's not likely to be 100%.

The home owner, in buying a house next to a golf course, assumes at least partial liability for the situation. Baseballs or footballs going through windows is not the same - someone throwing a ball can choose to do it near a house; a golfer, once on that course, cannot choose to play elsewhere. If you live on the Southern Atlantic seaboard you have to expect hurricanes / strong storms damaging your house; if you live on a flood plain, you have to expect flooding; if you live on a golf course, you have to expect golf balls.

[backtee]

Re: Broken Window

I think there is a strong legal argument that suggests the couse is responsible, nws any claim to the contrary. Especially if there is a known risk any nothing has been done to mitigate. ...somewhat on the basis that despite good intentions, golf balls are going to go in wrong directions.

[hannah]

Re: Broken Window

I think there is a strong legal argument that suggests the couse is responsible, nws any claim to the contrary. Especially if there is a known risk any nothing has been done to mitigate. ...somewhat on the basis that despite good intentions, golf balls are going to go in wrong directions.

I have always gone by the saying of assumed liability. people that buy house on a golf course know what they are getting into, its different if the person try's to hit the ball over the house, putting this aside I would most likely offer to pay for the window myself being right or wrong I would feel responsible for this and offer to pay...

[4underthru9]

Re: Broken Window

Some one I knew owned a house adjacent to and on the right side of the driving range at Harbour View GC in Innisfil.
They complained to the course numerous times about wayward range balls, asking for a safety net, but nothing was ever done.
Eventually a letter from the home owner's lawyer resulted in the range being closed down indefinitely.

[bl8d]

Re: Broken Window

pay up, shut up, and hit the range.

[duffer_devon]

Re: Broken Window

As an Insurance Broker and former Adjuster, DO NOT MAKE A CLAIM ON YOUR HOME INSURANCE !! You only get 2-3 claims in a 5 year period before most insurance companies drop you. Plus you have to pay your deductible.

Just pay out of pocket for the new window.

And, even if they make a claim against their home insurance, since they have your contact information, the insurance company will come after you to pay back what they paid out. Much cheaper to pay for it yourself, the price always goes up if it goes through insurance.