My question involves damages that occurred in the state of: Florida
Overview of what happened:
Last Tuesday, January 27th, the front of my vehicle was damaged when I was attempting to park in a public parking space owned by the City of Coral Gables, Florida. This damage resulted from a cable that was attached to a metal stake in the ground of the parking space. The cable was attached to the ground of the parking space from a nearby light pole (presumably for structural support). The cable/metal stake was in the back-end of the parking space, without a concrete bumper to prevent a vehicle from hitting the cable/stake. The cable/metal stake, due its coloring (and the fact the stake was so close to the ground) made it virtually impossible to see from the road, when pulling into the parking space.
About 7-8 minutes after I removed my vehicle from the parking space to assess the damage another driver attempted to park in the space and also experienced damage to the front of her vehicle (fortunately not as severe as the damaged I experienced).
I ended up with about $880 worth of body damage to the front of my vehicle. I filed a claim with my insurance company and had it repaired (the repairs were completed on Monday of this week). I had to pay a $500 deductible as part of the cost to repair my vehicle, and another $175 (approximately) in fees for a rental car.
I contacted the City of Coral Gables to seek reimbursement and they directed me to the city's insurance company to start a claim. I was informed by the city's insurance company today that they determined that the utility company (Florida Power & Light) that owns/maintains the light pole and associated cabling was liable and I should file a claim with them (which I did today and FP&L indicated I would hear back in about 3 business days).
My questions:
1) Since the City of Coral Gables owns the parking space, are they responsible to ensure any utility equipment that is located within their parking space is properly maintained and does not present a danger to users of their space?
2) Since I notified the City of Coral Gables about this hazardous situation with the parking space over a week ago the cable/stake has not been fixed and the parking space remains open. Does this constitute negligence since they are now knowingly operating a public parking space (and collecting revenue from this parking space since it is metered) under hazardous conditions?
3) As I indicated above, I have started the claims process with FP&L, although I am not optimistic that they will reimburse me for the damages, based on the initial conversation with them today. If my claim is rejected what are my legal options?
Thank you.

