council tenant needing advice!!

hjsmum

darkpool wrote: »

why do you think the council fitted a dangerous shower screen?

why should the council pay any compensation at all? if the screen was ok for two years it suggests the screen was hit with something before the incident? or do you think toughened glass just "explodes"?

OP said thats what happened. I'm not saying people don't ever lie about such things but if I were to become so cynical that I assumed everyone was lying I don't think that would make me a very happy or nice person.

Also she was showering her children. I've yet to see a 4 year old or a 1 year old for that matter, strong enough to smash a toughened glass panel to bits. Have you?

darkpool

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Yes, it does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage

The main alternative is some sort of plastic, but that can be more dangerous if someone falls through it because can have sharp edges and long shards.

nice one, i learned something there. it does sound a rare occurence though.

i still don't see why the op wants compo from the council. i always thought compo was paid if someone was negligient. i don't see how the council was negligient here.

darkpool

hjsmum wrote: »

OP said thats what happened. I'm not saying people don't ever lie about such things but if I were to become so cynical that I assumed everyone was lying I don't think that would make me a very happy or nice person.

Also she was showering her children. I've yet to see a 4 year old or a 1 year old for that matter, strong enough to smash a toughened glass panel to bits. Have you?

as soon as someone wants compensation i get suspicous.....

it is possible the door had been knocked before. a bit like getting a crack in a car windscreen, the crack just grows and grows

ali-t

A similar story was in my local paper last night. Apparently the shower screen has gone twice with the same family, once with a small child in it and the other time with an adult. The paper reported that the council confirmed it had happened with others too so were looking into the problem. From memory they said that it was difficult to predict if it would happen as each one is fitted individually depending on the house so difficult to say if it is a problem with a batch of screens/cubicles or a problem with the fitting of them.

Emmzi

It's unpleasant but they are investigating and replacing which seem fair enough to me. I'd get a plastic door if I were that worried. Or pay to put a bath in myself. After all, they have already changed the bathroom once to suit you, twice is pushing it.

Or offer to swap houses with someone who needs an adapted bathroom?

mondello

I doubt very much that the council have fitted faulty glass. Anything could cause that sort of break to happen, like small chip, build up of stress on the glass.. The council do not have any obligation to you to fit a bath instead of the shower unit, repairs are done a like for like basis so the new shower screen will be same. If you are due a new bathroom then you may be able to request a bath with an overhead shower as part of the planned upgrade but tbh this could take a good months or longer. I work in CS for a housing association so if I was you and wanted the screen replacing quicker then I would not say you have an alternative method of bathing (your mums). Check your tenancy docs to see what their obligations to you are with regards to reapirs and time scales. If you are not happy with the service ask to put in an official complaint. This must be followed up by the council.

If your children are frightened of the new screen once it's installed then maybe you could get some of the cartoon bath stickers and put them on it together to help them see that it's not scarey.

As for compensation, I really think that you will struggle to get any from them despite the injuries your children have suffered.

hjsmum

mondello wrote: »

If your children are frightened of the new screen once it's installed then maybe you could get some of the cartoon bath stickers and put them on it together to help them see that it's not scarey.

I'm sorry but they're kids, they're not stupid. I don't see how a few stickers are going to help.

I fell through a glass coffee table when I was little and I still don't like going near them now!

dawyldthing

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

So, how DID you eventually remove those glass shards? Surely they were the most urgent consideration to prevent any further injury. Your posts suggests that you left your child "covered in glass shards" whilst you found your phone and took a photo and whilst your OH was elsewhere getting some TCP.

Would it not have been better to take care of the "glass shards" and bleeding child first?

plus from a first aid point of view she did the right thing waiting for an ambulance to check as you shouldn't remove anything like glass in you until you seek medical advice as if it was in an artery for example then they would bleed more and need someone to tie it up.