Damage to car in private car park from light fittings blown off in the wind

CanarySimon

I own a flat with a parking space in a secure car park. I own a share of the freehold of the building. During the night a car park light fitting shade blew off in the wind and hit my car causing damage. This can be seen on the building's CCTV. There are signs about that the management are not responsible for damage of any kind to cars parked in the car park. Are the building freeholders' responsible (and therefore the building insurance) for the damage to my car or am I going to have to claim of my own car insurance?

Marktheshark

You would have to prove negligence to have any type of claim.
The fitting should be designed to resist outdoor weather and the owner of said fitting should have maintained it to prevent damage.

The Wind is their defence point, not yours to make.

facade

As Mark says, it is an accident, your insurance pays.

If you can prove that the owner of the car park knew that the light fitting was lose, but had done nothing about it in a reasonable timeframe from knowing, then you have a case.

Same as if I park near your house and one of your rooftiles blows off and lands on my car, my insurance pays to fix my damage, and I even have to give you the tile back

nobbysn*ts

facade wrote: »

As Mark says, it is an accident, your insurance pays.

If you can prove that the owner of the car park knew that the light fitting was lose, but had done nothing about it in a reasonable timeframe from knowing, then you have a case.

Same as if I park near your house and one of your rooftiles blows off and lands on my car, my insurance pays to fix my damage, and I even have to give you the tile back

No
Not if you can see the rest of the rotten tiles, the gaps, the mortar missing from the ridge tiles.
Then you can take them to the cleaners, and don't forget to claim for the stress as the tile just missed you, and your heart nearly gave out, and you needed several weeks off work to recover.
And check the aerial, if that's blowing about, no one has been up there for months to check on the state of repair.

nobbysn*ts

CanarySimon wrote: »

I own a flat with a parking space in a secure car park. I own a share of the freehold of the building. During the night a car park light fitting shade blew off in the wind and hit my car causing damage. This can be seen on the building's CCTV. There are signs about that the management are not responsible for damage of any kind to cars parked in the car park. Are the building freeholders' responsible (and therefore the building insurance) for the damage to my car or am I going to have to claim of my own car insurance?

Check any other lights, fixtures, fittings, general state of repair of the rest of the buildings.
If it's good, you are going to be unfortunate.
If it's all shoddy, that's an indication of their general poor maintenance.

CanarySimon

Thanks everyone one for your replies and help.