A Cautionary Sidewalk Tale

A friend of mine has a rental property in a nice, close-in, walkable Portland neighborhood.  She got a letter from an attorney this week.The attorney is representing a woman who tripped on my friend's sidewalk in August and broke her wrist. In February, this is the first my friend had heard of  it.  Would my friend please provide her insurance company contact information so the claim could be made and processed.  Really?!  Just like that?

Over the years, my husband and I have done, or paid for, LOTS of sidewalk repairs and replacement, as mandated by the City of Portland.,  We always groan, and get snippy about all the more egregious sidewalk issues we see in walking our neighborhood.  And yes, we give a nod to the safety aspects of good sidewalks.

Back to my friend.  Her insurance agent had been out to the property in the last few years and they had looked at a bump, or separation in the sidewalk.  He suggested, rather than going to the expense to replace the offending sections, they mix up some concrete and do sort of a patch or small ramp to alleviate the trip hazard.  Tempting... and this is what they did.

So when my friend got the letter,. she didn't even need to go look at the sidewalk.  She new exactly the spot. Ugh.  I'm not sure how it will pan out, but I'm guessing some money will change hands, her insurance will go up, and they'll most likely end up doing a larger sidewalk repair.

Sage advice?  I don't know.  One could spend a fortune defensively replacing sidewalks.  Portland has miles of aging sidewalks, kind of like our miles of aging sewers.  But unlike our miles of aging sewers, the public has an expectation that your sidewalk will be...walkable.  As you start your spring yard clean up, take a look, with a critical eye, at your sidewalks.  See anything that might need attention?

Call me if you need a referral to some good sidewalk contractors.  Don and I  just had sidewalks done this fall and know some decent contractors.  Oh,and if the City of Portland calls out your sidewalk, they don't give you much time to get the project handled before they have it done and charge you.  Just so you know.