Council tree damage to my car

russell_betts

I was parking my car on a public road and managed to hit my car causing £2000 worth of damage. I know- all the gags about women drivers! The tree that caused the damage was overhanging into the road and so I applied to the council for some insurance as there was no warning of overhanging trees and at no point did I mount the kerb.
They put me in contact with their insurers- Zurich who have sent me a letter saying they dont feel it is their responsibility and that the roads are checked monthly to make sure they are free from overhang.
I have photo evidence of this tree - and it is still overhanging.
My insurance was £400 excess and also next years premium will be sky high. Is there any benefit in a small claims court claim?
Any other ideas,
Thanks

[Deleted User]

You drove into a tree and want to claim something off their insurance? What about if it was a parked car, would you still try to claim off their insurance?

Armengar

I think I understand. Basically you drove into a tree and now you want to claim from the council. Was the tree large enough to see it overhanging? If so then I doubt you can claim. If you have car insurance with legal cover give them a ring and see what they say.

savemoney

Is this a windup

How can I council be at fault because you drove into a tree, I dont understand how a over hanging tree can be at fault.

It reminds me of that joke for bogus insurance claims Jasper carrot did many years ago, I was driving along a road and suddenly a tree leapt out in front of me

YouTube - australian insurance claims jasper carrot

Premier_2

Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I didn't have.

The tree collided with my car without giving warning of its intention.

I thought the tree wasn't there, but I found it was when I hit it.

I collided with a stationery tree coming from from the other direction.

A tree hit me and damaged my car.

The tree was all over the road, I had to swerve a number of times before I hit it.

I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and drove head first into a tree.

In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a tree.

I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the tree.

As I approached the intersection, a tree suddenly appeared in a place where no tree had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

An invisible tree came out of nowhere, struck my car and it's still there!.

I collided with a tree obscured by human beings.

I hit a tree. The council admitted it was their fault as the tree had been hit many times before.


(all inspirational credit to Jasper Carrott)

maninthestreet

russell_betts wrote: »

I was parking my car on a public road and managed to hit my car causing £2000 worth of damage. I know- all the gags about women drivers! The tree that caused the damage was overhanging into the road and so I applied to the council for some insurance as there was no warning of overhanging trees and at no point did I mount the kerb.
They put me in contact with their insurers- Zurich who have sent me a letter saying they dont feel it is their responsibility and that the roads are checked monthly to make sure they are free from overhang.
I have photo evidence of this tree - and it is still overhanging.
My insurance was £400 excess and also next years premium will be sky high. Is there any benefit in a small claims court claim?
Any other ideas,
Thanks

You were driving a car or a bus? How could the fact that the tree was overhanging the road (many do) have been cause of you hitting it? If it was overhanging low enough to strike a car, every car driving along the road would hit it.

Hintza

I guess after all the hilarity the guys reckon you hit a stationary object and you don't really have much chance of success.

Just as point of interest where ws the damage on your car? If it was fairly high up (ie close to the roof) it might be considered dangerous.

On the Loch Lomond road A82 there is a huge fir tree which sticks about a foot or so onto the road and no one hits that.

Reggie_Rebel

You haven't got an OAK in hell of winning this. The council will be CEDARing you in court. The judge will proclaim you as BARKing and get some ELDERs to take you in hand. Hope the car isn't too damaged and has to go away so you won't be PINEing for it.

LandyAndy

It's the old definition of a tree. 'Something that stands still for a hundred years and then leaps out in front of a woman driver'.

Viper_7

Hmm not so sure, could have a case. What if this was a privately owned tree over hanging the road and a driver hit it? Just because the tree comes under the care of the council doesn't mean they are exempt from maintaining it.
They say they check every month, one would have to prove that the tree growth from one month to the next was not enough to cause it to over hang - but show that it must have been overhanging the previous month and no action was taken. Maybe it's overhanging due to storm damage? Again would not have a case. Would need to prove council negligence in maintaining the highway.
Same with potholes - can't just claim over a new pot hole, but if you can show the pot hole had been there for some time (beyond their periodic checks) and it's not been addressed you may get somewhere.

Having said all that, you'll be hard pushed to show the council was negligent.

vikingaero

Sometimes low branches can be damaged by high vehicles and cause a hazard. That does not necessarily mean that the Council is liable especially if the damage occurred recently.