Public Liability Claims

carpykim

Hi all
(ive tried to keep this short n sweet)
I'm hoping someone maybe able to throw some light on this, ive made a public liability claim of damage to my vehicle, against a contractor who was digging up the road, ive got quotes etc and forwarded everything they asked, im also 99.9% sure they are at fault as ive also got loads of photos of the incident.
Problem is I have just received a letter saying it was me at fault due to not driving with due care and they have rejected my claim.
I have no idea how to proceed with this ive googled for info on public liability claims but have come up with nothing.
Any ideas would be grateful
Thanx

bazzyb

Is your car insurance provider not handling this on your behalf?

carpykim

Hi bazzyb

I contacted my insurance company and they said they do not cover public liability claims, and that I would have to do this myself although they very nicely offered to write it off as long as I paid the excess id only had the van 2 weeks.!!

Quentin

As liability is disputed, then your ultimate option (assuming you have no insurance cover for damage to your own car to claim from) is to pursue the case through court.

Bear in mind you will have to pay all the court fees in advance and will lose these unless you win in court (the loser also pays the other sides allowable expenses), so maybe get some advice on your chances of winning before proceeding down that route.

Quentin

carpykim wrote: »

......I contacted my insurance company and they said they do not cover public liability claims, and that I would have to do this myself although they very nicely offered to write it off as long as I paid the excess id only had the van 2 weeks.!!

If you claim off your policy and there is a liable third party then your insurer will pursue them to reimburse them their outlay.

If they are successful, then you will be able to pursue the third party and get all your uninsured losses (including the excess) reimbursed too.

(If you have "legal expenses" with your policy, then they will do this for you.)

InsideInsurance

You may have confused the poor first line person at your insurers by saying you wanted to make a claim against public liability. You'd make a claim from your insurance and your insurers then attempt to recover from the at fault party be that another vehicle, a cycilist, contractor or anyone else. Of cause if they are unable to recover their outlay for whatever reason it then becomes a fault claim.

The other option is to deal with matters yourself and issue your own court proceedings. Assuming the damage is under £10k and there is no injury then it should stay in the small track of the court system in which case the fees you risk are fairly low. If there was injury, there is more than £10k being claimed or the case is too complex it may be pushed into the Fast Track of the court system at which point the fees go up and the loser also has to pay the other sides legal fees.

What were the circumstances of the incident?

carpykim

Hi all
When I first contacted my insurers (my policy is on a commercial van) they asked for the details of the incident and then they imformed me they do not get involved in or pursue public liability claims and that I would have to do this myself or involve a 3rd party I guess that they meant a claims company.?
I was driving my van along a road that had been partially barriered off on one side, at the end of the row of barriers was unbeknown to me a trailer leg sticking out beyond the barrier which I couldnt see, subsequently I caught the protruding leg on my front bumper punctured my tyre and buckled the front wheel. Causing about £1500 of damage and the loss of a days work.

InsideInsurance

Your almost certainly at fault for the accident, you've hit a static object.

There is a famous case that they always use in liability training; a council wanted to widen the road by narrowing the pavement. This required resitting 6 lamp posts that ran along the edge of the pavement. Unfortunately the council issued the work order to the subconctactors telling them to remove the 1.5m of pavement, relay the road, add line markings and move 5 lamp posts.

Contractors being contractors did exactly what they had been paid to do and left the 6th lamp post in its original position which is now 1m into the road or so.

A driver was driving along the road stating that they were only going at around 15mph because of low winter sun making it very difficult to see. Did see the lamppost in the middle of the road, hit it and wrote off their car.

Case was litigate against the council and the ruling was a 80/20 against the driver. Judge stated that it was a static object that was there to be seen and avoided, if it wasnt seen then the driver was not paying sufficient care/ driving inappropriately for the conditions. The only reason for a 20% award against the council was because of their heightened duty of care as a public body and their failure to do necessary post work checks etc

carpykim

Hi
The static object that your referring to is a trailer that was being used by the contractors the trailers leg was protruding thru the barriers that they had put up.

spacey2012

Was this at night or in daylight ?

carpykim

Hi all
The incident happened at 3pm on a dreary day in november..