Hand rail on stairs

mustrum_ridcully

david29dpo wrote: »

Is the tenant American?

More likely that the ambulance chasers have figured out that LLs might be a good source of revenue.

jennifernil

These ae not stairs inside a house, sounds more like steps up to the front door.

What is on the other side, since there is no handrail?

claire16c

So... how soon can you evict her?

Trebor01

I am pretty sure the tenant is English, although I take the point that American culture often breads this kind of approach.

This apparent accident happened well before I was made aware of the problem. Like I said the only time I knew the tiles were loose was when I came over to the house and I repaired immediately. I am also concerned because she is claiming all sorts including lost earnings (amount not disclosed) but I can prove she was away skiing mid January and claim accident was end December, but now also states had and having physio, massage, wants lost earnings, out of pocket expenses etc etc etc.

Trebor01

She has gone now thank god, but caused all sorts of problems and took furniture and caused damage, which the TDS have been very poor to support re value.

Yes these are steps/stairs up to the front door outside, there is effectively a hand level coping stone / wall on the other side.

Trebor01

Re counter claim, I am not sure that she has a case in the first instance. Would contributory negligence not admit fault but request a reduction in compensation. So far I have not seen any details other than a broad outlined claim. So no photos no medical evidence, nothing in fact other than the claim. Its worth noting that her claim is for lost earnings, physio etc but she was away skiing mid January (which I can prove) , and I was at a party at my old house (the one she rented) over Christmas after the date she claimed she had the accident (Dec 21) and she was fine....?!!! and no mention of any accident. I also now she was away working and can prove that as well, so I am struggling to see how anyone can ski and work and then claim lost earning etc when they are clearly fine.

aliasojo

I can't remember the exact details now but I spoke to someone in the building regs dept of our local council (Scotland) when we started our refurb and was told something along the lines of...if the stairs are wider than x, then a handrail either side is required. However most homes will not be this wide so it usually doesn't apply.

Suggest you check with council just to be sure?

Trebor01

Thanks aliasojo. The stairs in question where all a part of a development at the property approx 10 years ago, and all changes were signed of by the local authorities, with building regs etc and they are not very wide at all but will measure them.

sonastin

Trebor01 wrote: »

Its worth noting that her claim is for lost earnings, physio etc but she was away skiing mid January (which I can prove) , and I was at a party at my old house (the one she rented) over Christmas after the date she claimed she had the accident (Dec 21) and she was fine....?!!! and no mention of any accident. I also now she was away working and can prove that as well, so I am struggling to see how anyone can ski and work and then claim lost earning etc when they are clearly fine.

Playing devils advocate here because I agree it sounds like she is trying it on...

She didn't go skiing the day after her accident. So there is time for her to have been off work and having physio which meant that by mid-January, she was fit enough to ski again. Of course, its not going to be a lot of time but for some people, even the loss of a weeks wages can be financially crippling.

What does she do for work? Has she got the sort of job that pays sick pay or does she work agency-type / self-employed hours?

Is the claim that you are negligent in relation to the missing hand rail, or the loose tiles or a combination of the two? Handrail, I think she has no chance because there is one, but the tiles can be a cause of slipping. Doesn't mean that you are negligent as the law doesn't require you to be telepathic.

Does your landlords insurance policy include cover for personal injury? If it does, I would hand all this over to them straight away. They will be more experienced at getting claims like this thrown out and if you don't notify them as soon as you know and the claim goes against you, they might not pay out. You also risk doing something unwittingly that prejudices their chances of making this go away so I recommend you give them a call.

Trebor01

She works part time, and I will be very surprised to see that her medical records show she has suffered any injury due to a fall at my property...!! (the claim is she bounced down the steps onto the drive, so am sure she would have brusing etc) From experience I know that this would be a requirement to be logged on her medical records, and they can't be amended once input to the system. Have checked with my GP to confirm. The claim is for all sorts, it includes the hand rail as well (although they state there is one in their opening letter !!), and as stated the building development was signed of under building regs at the time. I was never advised of any broken tiles or loose tile, and only spotted some missing tiles when I needed to visit my property. It was then that I questioned what had happened to the steps (perfectly solid steps by the way so still acted as safe steps without tiles on) , and it was then that the tenant admitted she had broken a few and they had become loose, so I replaced them all the next day, but had never been advised of any default before. There own report also admits it was raining so she could so easily just have slipped....!!!!?