Hornchurch Grounds Maintenance smashed my car :( - avoiding payment.

hackeron

Hi Everyone,

I need some advice.

The Hornchurch Grounds Maintenance have damaged my car (back in April) by reversing a heavy grass cutting vehicle, down a foot path, down a curb and into my car. The damage was light scratches and a smashed window.

My mother and I both witnessed the incident from our livingroom window and confronted the drivers. They claimed they're not sure what happened and gave me a number to call entitled: "Smashed Windows".

After a long mail exchange, I received a letter from Zurich insurance that they have taken suitable precautions and are not liable to pay damages.

Here are some quotes from some of the correspondance with Martin Haskell, the Grounds Maintenance Manager prior to Zurich denying payment:

"I have spoken to the machine driver and the staff who witnessed this incident and they are insistent that there was no contact between the mowing machine and the car, and that the broken window is likely to have been caused by a stone flicked up by the mower."

"On occasions where broken windows occur we have a standard procedure to ensure that vehicles are repaired as soon as possible to motor industry standards, which is why we urge drivers to get the window replaced under the glass cover section of their motor
insurance policy, this does not affect no claims discount but there is usually an excess charge of in the region of £75, which we ask that the driver pays and send us a copy of the receipt, which we immediately pass to our finance department so that they can reimburse the driver."

"The type of mower being used at the time of this incident was a Ransomes H3300T rotary mower, which has three rotary blades on a hydraulically powered front mounted rotary deck which revolve at high speed to cut the grass. All staff who operate these machines undergo training by staff trained by the manufacturer.
Unfortunately if the blade comes into contact with a small stone in the grass it can on rare oscasions be flicked out from under the cutting deck, at a force substantial enough to break a window. If a stone hits a window it does not always necessarily follow that it would be found inside the car, as it may have ricocheted off at the point of impact."

Zurich insurance are claiming that:

"Our Client fulfilled their duty of care to the general public by operating the equipment with care, checking for any potential debris and making sure the appropriate guards were in place.

Whilt we have every sympathy with your situation, there is no evidence to suggest an act of negligence on the part of our insured. We are therefore unable to offer any compensation."

Do you have any advice for me?

dacouch

Do you have any other witnesses to the incident ?

hackeron

dacouch wrote: »

Do you have any other witnesses to the incident ?

Unfortunately no

There are some photos that I took:






You can see how narrow the gap is where he drove up the curb

I also have the license plate of the vehicle responsible.

forgotmyname

Are you saying the mower actually made contact with the car and not a stone thrown up?

The pictures dont show the full picture. Does anything protrude from the mower at the window height?

I wouldnt want to be claiming from my insurance either. I maybe tempted to say I think its 3rd party cover with no glass protection. So get it fixed.

But seeing as this happened in April i presume you already fixed it?

hackeron

forgotmyname wrote: »

Are you saying the mower actually made contact with the car and not a stone thrown up?

The pictures dont show the full picture. Does anything protrude from the mower at the window height?

I wouldnt want to be claiming from my insurance either. I maybe tempted to say I think its 3rd party cover with no glass protection. So get it fixed.

But seeing as this happened in April i presume you already fixed it?

I gave them ample time to fix and then claimed on my insurance. My premium has increased from £600 to £900 after the claim so I now switched insurers.

It may have been a stone that smashed the window when the mower was reversing? - then maybe he heard a bang, paniced and also hit my vehicle? - just a theory. Here are some more photos of how it happened and all his friends that joined in the commotion:

hackeron

This is when I went home to get my camera, they quickly all left the scene. This is what happened:

Quentin

hackeron wrote: »

I gave them ample time to fix and then claimed on my insurance.

Hopefully you passed all these photos on to your insurer?

The claim may still be open, and your insurer pursuing the third party for recompense, so check with them.

If they are successful, the claim will be changed to non fault, and any NCD you lost will be reinstated.

hackeron

Quentin wrote: »

Hopefully you passed all these photos on to your insurer?

The claim may still be open, and your insurer pursuing the third party for recompense, so check with them.

If they are successful, the claim will be changed to non fault, and any NCD you lost will be reinstated.

No, unfortunately after my insurer raised my premium from £600 to £900 after this claim, I switched insurers as of the 16th of June. I think it's a lost cause to chase my old insurer now

Edit: furthermore when I described what happened on the phone to my insurer back in April they didn't seem at all interested and said speak to the council.

Quentin

hackeron wrote: »

No, unfortunately after my insurer raised my premium from £600 to £900 after this claim, I switched insurers as of the 16th of June. I think it's a lost cause to chase my old insurer now

Edit: furthermore when I described what happened on the phone to my insurer back in April they didn't seem at all interested and said speak to the council.

Always worth following up, and if they haven't acted properly complaining!

Just because you are no longer with them is irrelevant to your claim. Though their advice was sound, and had you followed it and pursued the council yourself you wouldn't now have a fault claim to disclose.

dacouch

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1779713

Slightly different circumstances

vax2002

Right this is a road registered mowing vehicle and yiu should have been provided with the drivers name and address.
If not request this from the council and make it quite clear that if it is not served up it will be reported to the police as refusing to provide details at the scene of a road traffic collision.
the fact that the driver was working for the council is not your problem, you want his name and address.
then obtain 3 quotations for damage and send a BILL to the driver for the damage followed by a notice before action protocol letter and then if required issue small claims proceeding against him.
Include the increase in insurance premiums and ask for an estimate of these over 6 years and any other losses you can account for.
The driver liability under insurances is not a matter for your concern it is a matter for him.
This may sound a bit harsh, but unfortunately it is what is going to be required to bring the matter to the table.
They will wait and see if you put up first, so stay strong, stay resolute .