Hi, I'm not sure if this belongs here, but here goes...

I rent an apartment surrounded by vineyards. We had a trampoline in the garden which blew away in a recent storm into a neighbouring vineyard causing damage. Vineyard owner asked if I had insurance to cover the damage. My home insurance didn't cover it, as the damage didn't take place at my home. Personal liability insurance didn't cover it as the incident wasn't caused by me (it was the wind). When I called them, the ECA told me that their insurance only covered my property, and it would have to be a joint claim to them with the vineyard owner, whose insurance should cover his property, but it turned out the vineyards weren't part of his property so not covered. The ECA did send a further letter adding to this though, which I'll mention below.

The vineyard owner now wants to present me with a bill to cover the damage (he says he doesn't know what this will be yet, but I suspect its going to be big bucks).

This all feels very forced, and I have no idea what the legal situation might be.

One further thing - the trampoline in question was left by the previous tenants. When they moved out, they asked if we would like to buy it, along with some other bits and pieces. It was left at the property, but once we moved in and had the chance to inspect it, it was in such a bad state that we didn't complete the sale. By this time the previous tenants had left the country though.

I mention this because a) I don't actually know if I actually own the thing which caused this damage at this point and b) the follow up letter I got from the ECA also stated that the trampoline should have been made secure in the bad weather. This might be the case, but seeing as I didn't buy or install the thing, I have no idea if it had been made safe in the first place.

Anyone got a take on this? Am I legally responsible?

This reads like a law student case study! 😂

It gets worse - the vineyard owner is related to the letting agency

Given that you accepted the trampoline and highly likely never demanded anybody to remove it and not did take action yourself to remove I'd indeed say the thing is your problem making you responsible for it.

Thus the vineyard owner can indeed give you the bill, and you have to make sure that you or an insurance pays it, as for your insurances read the papers and don't immediately trust somebody from the helpdesk. And if the storm was forecasted and the trampoline just stood lose it would be negligence for your side meaning the insurance does not have to pay.

I think personal liability insurance normally includes coverage of gross negligence (since most cases involve this).

So my best bet might be trying to persuade my insurance company I was grossly negligent?

Depends on hoe strong the wind was, possibly an act of god.

Mostly only if you've taken on the "gross negligence" extra module.

Perhaps you should first read your policy to know what you are actually insured for. And gross negligence is mostly (if not always) an extra module and not included in the default insurance.

It was strong enough to move a very heavy trampoline which to the best of my knowledge hadn't been affected by the wind like this for all the years it had been there. How do you measure Act of God? I'm wondering what might be more beneficial for me - if it was an Act of God, would I be legally liable still?

You would be a fool not to be (ducking for cover)

If you can proof it was god himself, I'd pay the vineyard due by allowing religious people to have a jump on the trampoline touched by god for 100,-

We should do a poll on insurances and see how many would vote for:

"I have no clue what I signed or am insured for but some dude said it be fine"

I have just checked and I have personal liability with gross negligence cover.

So, that being the case, maybe it is beneficial to try to frame this as negligence on my part. Any lawyers in the house?

No, as it was not your fault , as you could not have reasonably expected anything bad to happen, so were not negligent in any way.

let the vineyard owner and your liability insurance fight it out. If one says it was the wind: you are not liable. If you are liable, the insurance should pay for it.

Do the conditions of your insurance make it sure that something being blown from your garden to somebody else and causing damage on the way is insured?

I don't think this would ever fall under gross negligence, just negligence.

What does the apartment owner thinks about the issue? Did he considers the trampoline: (i) trash left behind the previous tenant, (ii) your property.

In the first case, the previous tenant deposit is just there to cover the damages.

In the second case, it seems people (vineyard owner and apartment owner) assume the trampoline is yours and you need to prove them wrong. You may be right, but you need to prove it first. What does the état de lieux that you signed when arrived to the apartment says? Does it mentions the trampoline?

Considering the disposal of trash is a costly affair in Switzerland, I would think a bit about the motivations of the previous tenant. It was less expensive to give away the trash instead of cleaning. I shared a flat for some years and there was nothing that made people more furious than asking them to take all their property when leaving. People complained about my rudeness for not taking a "gift" (a chair, a plant, a bed frame, etc). I just pointed that getting rid of the trash would cost me X amount of francs, so if someone wanted to leave an object behind, should also leave some money for proper waste disposal.

Sooo... to summarise... if the wind was unusually strong, and the trampoline was properly secured, then it was an Act of God and I wouldn't be legally liable and the insurance wouldn't pay out (which is what my insurers seemed to be saying in the first place)

But in the alternative, if the trampoline wasn't secured properly and the storm was forecast then it was my fault, and my insurance may kick in for gross negligence cover?