Car broken into at underground Car Park due to security gate being broken

NoThanksPCM

Hi all, huge apologies if this is the wrong place to post.

Basically, I keep my car parked in a secure underground carpark at my flat. To access you either need an infrared lanyard to open the main gate, or a security code for the pedestrian entrance.

The main gate is quite often broken for days at a time, meaning it stays open while we tenants patiently wait for the residential management / landowner to send someone to fix it.

A couple days ago, the gate was stuck open again and my vehicle was vandalised, broken into (via passenger door) and a number of pricey possessions stolen (iPod, digital camera)

Is the landowner (or the Independent Parking Company they've assigned to hand out tickets to tenants who forget to keep their permit on the dashboard) legally liable for damages?

I've already filled out a police report and had CSI send off prints. It's going to cost me a pretty penny to have my car fixed.

Again, sorry if this is the wrong place to seek legal advice.

thanks!

OddballJamie

Any signs up stating owners park at their own risk?

In the future it's best not to leave pricey possessions in your car.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Very unlikely, there will be a sign somewhere stating that no one has any liability for damage caused.

You could try claiming for negligence as they did not repair the gate quick enough and demand they replace all the pricey goods that you left in your car in an unsecured car park, along with the damage to the car and maybe compensation, but I doubt that you will get very far.

The best that you will get is if you have paid am amount of money for secure parking, all the time the main gate is brokened, its not secure parking.

stator

Any signs are irrelevant, not legally binding on anyone.

The question is whether they were negligent. If you reported the fault and they failed to fix it, this might qualify as negligence. If they haven't been maintaining the gate propertly and that's why it keeps on breaking, that might qualify as negligence.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

you could go to the landowner claiming negligence but he could counter your claim and say well, you left your items on display, out of all the vehicles in the car park that night yours were broken into due to your negligence of not removing your personal items from view of praying eyes. you knew the gate was broken and experiencing issues due to past breakdown yet you remained to be passive in preventing yourself form being a victim of a crime.

NoThanksPCM

didn't have time to report the fault as I was unaware the gate was broken at the time.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

NoThanksPCM wrote: »

The main gate is quite often broken for days at a time, meaning it stays open while we tenants patiently wait for the residential management / landowner to send someone to fix it.

A couple days ago, the gate was stuck open again and my vehicle was vandalised, broken into (via passenger door) and a number of pricey possessions stolen (iPod, digital camera)

NoThanksPCM wrote: »

didn't have time to report the fault as I was unaware the gate was broken at the time.

you first post says to the contrary of your second either you knew or didn't know cant be both to suit your case.


for all you know the gate was forced open for the thief to gain access to the site.

NoThanksPCM

Neighbour gave a statement to the police saying the gate was open for two days prior.

arcon5

Is the accommodation advertised as having secure parking or anything? Or it being a secure complex? Anything like that? If so, even if they have liability signs, I doubt these would hold up since they contradict the whole point of offering this complex as so called 'secure'.

Had they broken in or had the gate broken down either for the first time or only an hour ago i'd argue they are not liable.

With the gate having been open for days and assuming they knew off this then imo they should hold some liability. Even if that liability is say limited to your insurances excess.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

arcon5 wrote: »

Is the accommodation advertised as having secure parking or anything? Or it being a secure complex? Anything like that? If so, even if they have liability signs, I doubt these would hold up since they contradict the whole point of offering this complex as so called 'secure'.

Had they broken in or had the gate broken down either for the first time or only an hour ago i'd argue they are not liable.

With the gate having been open for days and assuming they knew off this then imo they should hold some liability. Even if that liability is say limited to your insurances excess.

One of my pet peeves is people trying to blame others for their own lack of due diligence. its the "its not my fault" attitude.


The OP knew the gate was broken surely! it is stuck open, The op then said that they didn't know it was broken, then says the gate was non operational for 2 days prior because a neighbor said it in the police report, so it would be impossible for them to not know it wasn't broken unless the OP had not been back and fore home for 2 days, therefore knew the car park was unsecure upon time of parking in the car park because the gate wouldn't close, they leave their personal items no doubt on show in the car for an opportunist to smash and grab.

OP admittedly said that the gate is faulty at times, so know the signs of a fault with it and could have taken precautions at this point to keep valuable out of sight.

the truth is had the OP taken reasonable steps to secure the belongings they wouldn't have had the vehicle damaged and property stolen in the first place.


No doubt the management company may have already know of the fault prior BUT may arranged for a specialist to take a look at the gate, if the specialist cant get there to repair it for a few days due to being booked up, then is the OP to sue the gate specialist because they were busy because the management company took reasonable steps to get the gate repaired?

albionrovers

Ipod and digital camera lol.
Have they stopped paying out on golf clubs?
Sorry . . . .