Clothing damaged by fence

bigpound

I was walking on a public street path past a building site, and my jacket snagged on one of the contruction site fences at about waist height.

Because the prong on the fence was sticking out instead of being securely attached, it made a large hole.

Can I do anything? I feel if I go on the site and ask for compensation I'll be laughed at.

The jacket is expensive and 'was' in mint condition until that happened.

I heard that someone went in to a clothes shop changing room and damaged their jacket on a protruding nail and got a free item of their choice.

halibut2209

Sounds like compensation culture to me. I'd suggest watching where you are walking next time

dmg24

I would sue, I am sure the defence will be quite wooden.

darkwarrior

bigpound wrote: »

I was walking on a public street path past a building site, and my jacket snagged on one of the contruction site fences at about waist height.

Because the prong on the fence was sticking out instead of being securely attached, it made a large hole.

Can I do anything? I feel if I go on the site and ask for compensation I'll be laughed at.

The jacket is expensive and 'was' in mint condition until that happened.

I heard that someone went in to a clothes shop changing room and damaged their jacket on a protruding nail and got a free item of their choice.

Any amount won't be huge but you could probably get some kind of compensation claim for it, its their duty to secure that and if it ripped a jacket it could have easily blinded a child or torn skin.

dmg24

darkwarrior wrote: »

Any amount won't be huge but you could probably get some kind of compensation claim for it, its their duty to secure that and if it ripped a jacket it could have easily blinded a child or torn skin.

Think of the poor children!

ellay864

Would your home insurance cover it? You've walked into a temporary fence and it's February - don't know how it is round by you but we've had some pretty rubbish weather and if bits can get blown off trees then a temporary fence could easily be pulled out of position. Bit different to a nail protruding in an area designed for people to be changing their clothing

Morty_007

bigpound wrote: »

I was walking on a public street path past a building site, and my jacket snagged on one of the contruction site fences at about waist height.

Because the prong on the fence was sticking out instead of being securely attached, it made a large hole.

Can I do anything? I feel if I go on the site and ask for compensation I'll be laughed at.

The jacket is expensive and 'was' in mint condition until that happened.

I heard that someone went in to a clothes shop changing room and damaged their jacket on a protruding nail and got a free item of their choice.

I was with you until this point...I don't think they will let you have a building of your choice if you return to the site...:rotfl:

On a serious note, I doubt you will get anywhere at this point as you have left the site and there is no proof the tear happened on the site. Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but I tend to agree that if you return now you may just get told to leave the premises. Maybe if you had mentioned it to the foreman at the time and shown the damage and where the damage occurred you may have had a better chance of getting them to secure the prong and pay for the damage to your coat...or you could have at least asked for an incident report to be done and the address of head offcie to send a letter of complaint to.

To be honest, I think it may now be your civic duty to return and warn them of the risk to the children anyway. Just imagine if you don't and someone loses something more substantial that the "mintness" of their jacket? :eek:

Freddie_Snowbits

When I was young, I had no sense.
Grazed my arm on a barbed wire fence.
Off to the doctors I did trot.
Gobbing off and full of ...

Words were sumwit simlar

Googlewhacker

Can you prove that that bit of fence caused the rip considering you walked away?

I doubt it. You should have done something about it there and then

MrRedundant

You have to prove neglience. Very hard to do as the fence could have became loose at any time. I am sure they will have logs galore to show safety checks being carried out regular.

Move on and walk further away from fences in future.

BlueAngelCV

You could try sending a letter to the owners of the building and/or construction company. Given that it's a minor incident they may just given you some money to go away.