Compensation for negligent workmen ?

mary43

At the end of September Warmfront installed a new boiler for my MIL (aged 88). The day they arranged to call my BIL took the day off work - they didn't arrive until the following day.
After they had installed the new boiler they had left a lot of plastering un-finished and a lot of debris in the yard just outside the back door. MIL went outside unaware of this, tripped and broke her hip. The result of this was the need for a hip replacement -after the operation she suffered heart problems and it was touch and go for a few days.
Thankfully she is now home and progressing well but is unable to use her bath and will need a walk in bath or shower.
The whole incident put an enormous amount of stress on the whole family which resulted in OH having to take time off work due to the whole upset, plus visiting which meant travelling several hundred miles and other family members who lived closer to her had to cancel work schedules in order to visit the hospital and arrange for whatever care was needed once she began to get well.
BIL is considering asking for some compensation for the whole incident. I have to say I agree with him. MIL has brittle bone disease and takes good care but on this occassion the fact the workmen had left so much debris just outside the back door caused her to fall.
BIL doesn't want to involve solicitors if he can avoid it but is he better off to do so ? We've never done this sort of thing before but feel MIL should be entitled to something if only to cover the cost of the walk in shower she now needs but didn't before this happened.

Sorry for long post but I wanted to put it clearly.
Hope I'm in the right section for this - apologies if I'm not.

Thankyou

wolfehouse

this sounds really serious to me as you know, it can be potentially been life-threatening.

If it were council hired contractors heads would roll and they would lose their contract!
I would be tempted to go for compensation if only so they won't do the same to someone else.
Did you complain to them right away and have you any proof it was their debris outside the back door?
I'm sure someone will come along who knows if using a lawyer is the way to go or not.

as for the shower, the OT department at your local social work office should be able to supply this for your MIL for free although the timescale may not be acceptable to yourselves...

mikey72

This is possibly my worst nightmare. I have done a lot of work, for elderly customers, and don't risk leaving anything lying anywhere. (Mainly as they keep bringing me drinks, and I still don't want them to trip).
I always take the rubbish away, and have to recycle to meet regulations, there is always more risk with elderly as they fall more easily, and can break things more easily.
Get a solicitor, but you'll need photos of the debris, the general area, etc, so take these asap, and don't let the contractors back in to tidy up now.

mary43

wolfehouse - many thanks.
We life a few hundred miles away but it was BIL who called to see MIL after he finished work and found her on the path outside where she'd fallen. She was unable to get up or get back into the kitchen. No one saw the incident sadly - if they had MIL wouldn't have been laying there until BIL arrived - plus there would have been a witness.
MIL is a very tidy person and they were the only workman who had been to call. They had also left a lot of work needing to be plastered where the old boiler had been removed.
BIL has complained to Warmfront but as far as I know no-one has been back to complete the unfinished work yet but there again, MIL was in hospital till last Wednesday.
As for the walk in shower it would mean MIL's bath being removed in order to install this. She does have a normal shower but can't get her leg over the bath in order to use it since her fall - hence a walk in one being needed and not sure soc.services would provide this but its worth enquiring about.
Thanks again for your help.
At least I feel more reassured about asking for some kind of compensation for what could have been a whole lot worse.
I feel Warmfront should be responsible and do something if only so that it doesn't happen again.

mikey - thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I think BIL cleared up the debris as soon as MIL was taken to hospital if only so that someone else didn't trip over it. The main feeling at the time was to get MIL to hospital - any thought of taking photos then of course never crossed anyones mind.

I have to say, Warmfront have installed a new boiler for me and I couldn't fault their workmanship - they made sure everything was cleared up and taken away. Must depend on what contractors they use in different areas I suppose.

ceridwen

Hi Mary

Had to come over and have a looksee at what you said re the accident to MIL.

My first thought was - has she got the legal insurance add-on to her household insurance policy? Many householders do have this add-on - as it only costs about £15-£20 odd extra p.a. I have this myself - as I felt concerned about the fact that my house is a mid-terrace one and that might mean it suffered damage from a next door neighbour.

I'm not sure whether this legal insurance would cover disputes with workmen or no - as its only neighbours I was concerned about. Its worth asking her whether she does have this and, if so, checking the terms of it.

I then went on to read further down your post and found that BIL had cleared away the rubbish and not taken any photos of it and thought "Damn...damn...damn....mistake...I wish he hadnt done that". Photos would have helped a lot. All may not be lost on the compensation front...its worth asking the free legal helpline one has with this householder legal insurance (assuming she has this) and see what the position is.

But:
- if she doesnt have that legal insurance
- OR it doesnt cover workmens accidents

then I'm very much afraid there will be nothing you can do.

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If:
- she does have that legal insurance
- AND it does cover workmen

then its worth asking if it would still be possible to bring a claim - despite not having any photos.

If she does have legal insurance - then I would get both her and BIL to write up a "diary of events" pronto - contemporaneous is the word I am searching for here. Meaning that one writes up details of what happened in an incident ASAP after that incident before memory starts to fade. I am wondering also if any neighbours could at least confirm that the rubbish was outside. Certainly MIL's doctor could state that she has brittle bone disease - and therefore was more likely to suffer like this if she had a fall.

Do hope MIL recovers well and that you can get that walk-in shower sorted out okay.

One little thought - quite apart from MIL - I am wondering whether BIL can claim off this firm for a day's lost annual leave time (ie the day he spent fruitlessly waiting for them). There is no excuse for workmen not turning up when arranged - and not even phoning about it. In this day and age all workmen have mobile phones and darn nearly everyone has both mobile phone and landline phone (with message-taking facility on both).

No-one has any excuse whatsoever for letting anyone down without warning in this day and age of modern phone technology - bar a physical injury that prevents them using a phone themselves or telling anyone else to use one on their behalf.:cool:

mary43

ceridwen - thanks. I rang BIL and apparently he took some photos before he cleared away the debris so at least thats done. It was a bit of a second thought as his main concern was getting MIL to safety and preventing any further accidents.

Not sure about MIL's insurance - I'll enquire about that.

BIL has been in contact with the company about all this and also mentioned the fact that work in the kitchen where the old boiler was removed has been left unfinished. MIL is loathe to have the same people return due to all that has happened
.Thankfully she is recovering well now but it could have been such a different story. She has heart problems anyway as well as brittle bone disease and the heart attack following her operation could have been fatal for her and devastating for the family obviously.
BIL is keeping in touch with what the company say. He wants to avoid solicitors if he can as it could make the whole issue drag on.

Thanks to all for their help, advice and support.