Tree Fell on Car

danm132

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post it in but...

A tree fell on my car overnight last night. The car was parked on a public road, next to a church. The tree was in the grounds of the church and had blown over in the winds and rain.

The car actually hasn't suffered too badly visually. There is one dent at the top of the passenger door, and another couple of dents on the roof. It is drivable as I had to move it when the tree surgeons came.

I've been informed that the grounds of the church are council owned, rather than church owned, so I think it is them I will have to deal with. Also in terms of my car insurance - I only have third party, fire and theft. After speaking to them, they said that I will not be covered by them for any repairs as they deem it as an "act of god"...

I have contacted the council to let them know what has happened. Unfortunately I do not know the full extent of the damage yet because it's a Sunday. I plan on getting it checked out at a garage tomorrow (Monday).

Will the council be liable for anything? Will I be able to get any money for repairs from them? Thanks

paddedjohn

you probably wont get any joy unless you can prove the council were negligent.

TrickyWicky

I bet they've not bothered doing any tree surveys either - completely necessary in todays H&S mad council led world. If they've not done a H&S tree safety inspection then they're negligent.

You just need to do some digging and find out what crazy things have been banned or closed down due to their barmy H&S policies and then remind them that unsafe trees are a H&S risk that they should have also dealt with.

Lum

Freedom of Information Act request asking for the last, say, 10 years of tree surveys for the church grounds would be a good starting point, I guess.

Do this before you make a claim against them.

neilmcl

Tree or tree branch? As it came from a churchyard I'd say this is definitely a case of "Act of God"

Seriously though, I don't think you've got a case given the prevailing weather conditions.

AlexisV

It depends on the condition of the tree. You would have to prove the tree was damaged, diseased or overgrown and not inspected by the council regularly.

movilogo

only have third party

So you took a risk there which did not pay off at the end. Unless the car is almost worthless, it is always to better comprehensive policy and often they are nearly the same with 3rd party only cover.

But it may not be that bad news. Usually councils have some sort of public liability insurance for this sort of issues. So it always worth trying.

danm132

Thanks everyone for the advice. I know the fact that the car is only insured 3rd party is completely my fault. Also, I've read and seen pictures in the media that show cars in much worse condition than mine, so I guess I'm quite lucky that it is only a few dents. I was just interested to know where I stand on this and what my options are, so I will take the advice and do a little further digging

neilmcl wrote: »

Tree or tree branch? As it came from a churchyard I'd say this is definitely a case of "Act of God"

I was the first person to see the irony in it all...

And it was a full tree, though the trunk seemed to have been (at least semi) supported by the fence in the church yard.

shaun_from_Africa

danm132 wrote: »

And it was a full tree, though the trunk seemed to have been (at least semi) supported by the fence in the church yard.

It might be worth seeing if you can get hold of a photograph showing the tree leaning against the church fence.
This might help to prove that the tree was in a dodgy state and that some action should have been taken before it fell over.

colino

Unless your car is an absolute scrapper, with a tree modified roof it is going to be written off. Why not get your insurance company to do the work?

rs65

colino wrote: »

Why not get your insurance company to do the work?

Because he is not insured for this.