Legal Advice Required

unclebatman

Hi all.

Only the second time I've posted here, and not 100% sure if I'm this is the correct place, but could do with some advice please.
My house will be going on the market in the next few weeks, and at the weekend I ordered a skip to clear some rubbish from my back yard and spare bedroom etc.

The skip van arrived, and duly reversed straight through my front garden wall, totally demolishing it down to about three courses of bricks. Here lies my problem, whilst the driver was (genuinely) very upset and apologetic, he had to refer me to the proprietor of the company who was down right rude, aggressive and didn't offer a single word of apology.

He said (this was Saturday) that he would call this morning and sort things, and sure enough, he hasn't been in touch. I never believed for one minute when he said he'd call.

Through my rage at the time of the accident, I did have the foresight to take photos of the damage, most critically of the van's registration number against my wall immediately after the damage, but I'm really after my options legally.

What would your advice be ? I obviously at this stage have not paid the company (despite, amazingly, the van driver asking for payment after the accident) and wanted to know if this would prejudice me at any point.

I firmly believe that this guy will try to shirk responsibility for the accident, but would be grateful for any assistance or advice you may have. My home insurers have been informed of the situation, but no claim has been submitted.

silvercar

tell him that either he sorts it out or you will put a claim on your home insurance and submit the photos to your insurer.

as the proprieter of a skip company he will doubtless have mates in the trade who can put this right quickly and cheaply.

Avoriaz

silvercar wrote:

..as the proprieter of a skip company he will doubtless have mates in the trade who can put this right quickly and cheaply.

I would avoid any mates of his. You stand a good chance of a bodged job with little or no redress. They might start work and then leave you with a pile of rubble for months while you are trying to sell the house.

Contact your insurance company and leave it up to them. Phone them, explain the situation to them and tell them you need the wall rebuilt immediately because you are putting the house up for sale. Ask for their agreement to get a couple of quotes and get the work done quickly.

benood

The alternative to insurers is to pay and get the work done and then take him to small claims, a solicitors letter in the first instance will probably put the wind up him - he should have insurance for this sort of thing if he does not you might care to tip off trading standards, health and safety etc.

Avoriaz

benood wrote:

I would take him to small claims, a solicitors letter in the first instance will probably put the wind up him - he should have insurance for this sort of thing if he does not you might care to tip off trading standards, health and saftey etc.

There is no point in Unclebatman doing that yet, it would probably be just a waste of money and time.

Firstly, the insurance company will probably pay if that sort of thing is covered on the policy. Then it is up to them to pursue the skip company at fault.

Secondly, if you have no insurance cover, you have to give the skip company a reasonable amount of time and opportunity to rectify matters.


Unclebatman, has Robin been inoculated against bird flu yet?

unclebatman

Incredibly, last night, I received a phonecall from Mrs Skip Man (thankfully, I don't think I could have kept my cool with her husband) who advised that they had been round to the house during the day whilst I was at work, and after inspecting the damage, have arranged for a bricklayer to call on Wednesday afternoon.

I'll keep you all updated, and thank you for your advice in the meantime.

Oh, and Robin has had his jabs ;-)