metal signage hit and damaged my car

leni

Today leaving work (I don't work for the council), approaching the main road. A council sign measuring approx 3ft x 4ft made of sheet metal was ripped off it's signpost by the wing and smashed into my bonnet and windscreen then blew into a nearby car park.

I stopped the car check the damage, gauge out of the windscreen about 6" long and a large scuff mark on my bonnet which is too deep to t-cut out. I informed the council who said they didn't think their was anything they could do in terms of repair as it is a private road, I commented that it was negligence that their sign was loose and that it could have decapitated someone had it hit them. Their sign for damage and ownersrish are only displayed inside their depot, not on this road!

I've been adviced by the council to put it in writing. The car is, sorry was! in excellent condition and I've only had it sonce October.

I've taken pictures of the damage, and the sign and the signpost. What should I do now? Should I inform my insurance, even though I don't want a claim mark next to my name!

I was thinking I should go get some quotes tomorrow as the windscreen definatey will need replacing and it's a heated front windscreen.

any help much appreciated.

Tomkatt

I am not really an expert in these things but I would have thought that in order to claim that the council were responsible you would have to prove that firstly they owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty and that damage was caused.

Although Damage was obviously caused I don't think you could prove the council were negligent (or it would be extremely difficult) as there have been winds of up to 80mph which is sufficient to cause considerable damage on its own. Are you able to prove the sign was loose to begin with and that the council were aware but took no action? Eg: Did you tell the council?

The best thing you could do is inform your insurance company and have them complete the repairs - at least that way your car gets fixed asap, if you try and claim direct from the council then you face an uphill struggle proving they were negligent and then even if you do manage to prove it you would still have to wait for payment of your repair bills.

If your insurers feel they do have a claim against the council then they will pursue it (unlikely due to reasons stated previously) and if they are successful in their claim then any NCB/Premium will be unaffected.

I hope this helps.....

Astaroth

Assuming you have comprehensive insurance then the windscreen can be repaired/ replaced under the glass cover which wont affect your NCD and normally only has an excess of £50-60 payable if replacement is needed (check with the insurers first of cause)

If you were to claim for the scratch then it obviously would count as a claim.

As to the council.... you need to be able to prove negligence which in these kinds of cases generally means that they either were aware of the problem or should have been and that they had reasonable time to make repairs. Short of finding someone who can confirm that they informed the council of the issue this would be next to impossible (but have known it to be done) and if you cant then it simply becomes an act of god

John_3:16

A few years ago we had Neighbourhood Watch as I remember we had to insure the signs that were put up against what happened to you. Surely the council will have similar?

mattymoo

Yes the council would have insurance in place but you still need to prove negligence.

One analogy is the dog bite. They say every dog is allowed a free bite but after that bite, you know it has a propensity to bite and so need to take steps to prevent it, i.e. leash and muzzle.

Its the same with the sign almost. If the sign was forever falling off when the winds built up speed then clearly the fixing is defective and should have been fixed. If the sign has stood for years with no problems, then you are not really going to be able to prove negligence.