CC SR 20200818 D - Claim Against the City Willoughby
RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 08/18/2020
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action regarding a claim against the City by Suzanne
Willoughby.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
1) Reject the claim and direct Staff to notify the claimant, Suzanne Willoughby.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Teresa Takaoka, Deputy City Clerk
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Suzanne Willoughby claim (page A-1)
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes (City) is a member of the California Joint Powers
Insurance Authority (Authority), which provides risk management services and handles
any liability claims received by the City. Under the current practice, claims presented to
the City Clerk are forwarded by the Authority to a third party claims administrator, Carl
Warren and Company (Carl Warren) for adjusting.
Carl Warren’s staff reviews each claim on its merits and contacts the City with any
requested action pertaining to the disposition of the claim. The City Clerk and the City
Attorney review each claim when received and work closely with Carl Warren
throughout the claims process.
1
Currently, the City Council either rejects or accepts the claim at a public meeting and
Carl Warren sends a written notice of the City Council’s action to the claimant after the
meeting.
Claimant:
On July 23, 2020, the City received a claim for damages from Suzanne Willoughby and
was referred to Carl Warren for review and investigation. The claimant alleges that
pinecones from a City-owned tree fell onto her vehicle and caused damage to her
windshields.
Deposition:
Carl Warren has reviewed the claim and found that the tree was in good condition,
healthy and on a proper trim cycle. Since the City could not predict or prevent the
pinecones falling, Carl Warren recommends denying the claim for damages.
2
A-1
FILE WITH:
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
30940 Hawthorne Blvd.
Rancho Pa los Verdes , CA 90275
INS
CLAIM FOR DAMAGES
TO PERSON OR PROPERTY
s
1. Claims for death , injury to p erson or to personal property must be filed not
l ater than s ix months after the occurrence. (Gov. Code Sec. 91 1.2.)
2. Claims for damages to real property must be filed not later than 1 year after
the occurrence. (Gov. Code Sec. 911.2.)
3. Read entire claim form before filing .
4. See Page 2 f or diagram upon which to locate place of accident.
5. THIS CLAIM FORM MUST BE SIGNED ON PAGE 2 AT BOTTOM.
6. Attach separate sheets, if necessa ry, to give fu ll details . SIGN EACH SHEET.
ui-\IVII\"u : or RY occu
street names and address and m easurements from landm arks:
Damage occurred in front of my home, alongside my curb.
Describe in detail how the DAMAGE or INJURY occurred.
RESERVE FOR FILING STAMP
CLAIM NO. ~X)-0 0
RECEIVED
CllY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
JUL 2 3 '20l0
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
Date of Birth of Claimant
er
1 was on my way to work. Walked out to my car. My car was parked in front of my home. It was
parked under the large pine tree. I got in my car, started to drive away, and saw a crack in my
windshield and looked in my rear view mirror and could not see out my back window. Both windows
had damage. I could not drive to work since it was not safe to drive car with damaged glass. I
parked the car in my driveway. I looked at the ground where I had been parked and there were
significant amounts of large pine cones and glass on the ground.
Why do you claim the city is r esponsible?
The tree is a city tree. This tree is in an area that appears to drop a lot of pine needles making a
clean up job in the street and in my yard daily at times. In addition , the tree drops green hard new
looking large pine cones .
I never thought pine cones cou ld contribute to breaking glass, until it made sense when it was
brought to my attention.
Describe in detail each INJURY or DAMAGE.
The cracked glass was on windshield and back glass.
This Claim Must Be Signed on Page 2
A-2
The amount claimed, as of the date of presentation of this claim, is computed as follows:
Damages Incurred to date (exact): Estimated prospective damages as far as known:
Damage to property .................... $ Future expenses for medical and hospital ca re . $ ___ _
Expenses for medical and hospital care ... $ Future loss of earnings ..................... $. ___ _
Loss of earnings ...................... $ Other prospective special damages .......... $. ___ _
Special damages for ................... S Prospective general damages ............... $ ___ _
Total est imat e prospective damages ....... $. ___ _
Genera l damages ...................... $ ___ _
Total damages Incurred to date ........ $__,,...,...,,__.,....
Total amount claimed as of date of presentation o f this claim: $ 600.00 for pa ym e nt to LA Auto Gl a ss
Was damage and/or Injury investigated by police? If so, what city? ________________ _
Were paramedics o r ambulance called? If so, name city or ambulance ---------------
If injured, state date, time, name and address of doctor of your first visit-------------------
WITNESSES to DAMAGE or INJURY: List all persons and addresses of persons known to have information:
Name Address Phone ________ _
Name Address Phone ________ _
Name Address Phone ________ _
DOCTORS and HOSPITALS:
Hospital ____________ .Ad dress ______________ Date Hospitalized ______ _
Doctor Address Date of Treatment
Doctor Address Date of Treatment -------
READ CAREFULLY
For all accident claims place on following diagram names your vehicle when you first saw City vehicle; location of
of streets, including North, East, South, and West; indicate City vehicle at time of accident by "A-1" and location of
place of acc ident by "X" and by showi ng house n umbers yourself or your vehicle at the time of the accident by
or distances to street corners . If City Vehic le was "8·1" and the point of impact by "X." NOTE: If diagrams
involved, designate by letter "A " location of City Vehicle below do not fit the situat ion, attach hereto a proper
when you first saw it, and by "B" location of yourself o r d iagram signed by the claimant.
CUR B J
(South)
(West)
SIDEWAll~
Larch bluf f Drive
curb) (My car was parked here)
PARI<WAY (Grass
SIDEWAll<
(My home)
(East)
Typed Name:
S uzanne W illoug hby
(North)
Date :
7/23/2 0
NOTE: CLAIMS MUST BE FILED WITH CITY CL ERK (Gov. Code Sec. 915a). Presentati on of a false claim is a felony (Pen . Code Sec. 72.)
THIS DOCUMENT IS A PUBLIC RECORD AND MAY BE PROVIDED TO A REQUESTOR UPON DEMAND.
A-3
July 23, 2020
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE/Claims Department
City of Rancho Palos Ve rdes
30940 Hawthorne Blvd.
Ranc ho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
TeriT@rpvca.gov
Dear City Cle r k & Claims Dept.,
My damage occurred on June 29, 2020 to my car's glass. I had t o have both front and rear
replaced. I lost going into work that day since my car was not safe to dri ve. In order to get back
to work asap, I had to book my glass repa ir as a rush . LA Auto Glass came out the next day and
still lost going into work that day as well. As a rush, I tipped the workers $100.00, in addition to
paying my deduct ible o f $500.00 . I am looki ng for t he Ci ty of RPV t o reimburse me $600.00 for
the damage of my windows.
In r eviewing and accessing the situation with the glass people and others, the damage h ad to
have co m e from t he from the dropped pine cones of the city tree in front of my home. My car
had been p ar ked on the street at my cu r b for over 3 days before I h ad to drive into work.
Before that, the car was fine.
I've submitted a request to the city fo r an approval o f removing the tree. I've lived in my home
almost 20 years and have never seen in the past several years the amount of large hard green
p ine cones fallen . In t he past years, the fallen pine cones were brown and very dry, mak ing
them very light and not heavy. Please let me know i f you need anything else .
I ca n be best reach ed by ema il at
Thank you,
/s/ Suzanne Willoughby
A-4
Wlnafflx Auto Glass, Inc.
1 0336 Wi lshire Blvd , Ste 203
Los Angeles , CA 90024
(310) 560 -2173
winaffix@gmail.com
Ran c h Palos Verdes 90275
ACTIVITY ...
p art#
FB23 753
W indshi eld
Windshield
part# FW2913
Total invoice is due in 30 days .
Please include i nvoice number on your check.
Please remi t payment to t he following address :
Winaffix Au to Glass , Inc.
DATE
06/30i2020
TOfAL
TOTAL DUE
QTY
Sales Receipt
35776
RATE
500.00
AMOUNT
500 .00
0.00
500.00
$0.00
THANK YOU.
1 0336 Wilshire Blvd Ste 203
Los Angeles, CA 90024 PAID $100 TIP TO WORKERS
Thank You For Your Business!
10336 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 203, Los Angeles. CA 90024
Tel : 310·560·21 73 1 Fax: 424 ·288·5535 1 wlnalllx@gmail.com
Tax ID: 46·2711657