Damage to Alloy Wheel in Council Car park - Can I claim for the damage?

bigadaj

Crabman wrote: »

They have budgets and reserves specifically for claims and other liabilities. As with any business they have insurers who deal with claims. This is the case with my local authority which passes highways damage claims to Zurich (if they don't reject the claim themselves).

Birmingham City Council has a deal with Amey and it's that private firm that is liable for all public liability claims, not the local authority.

Making a claim does not mean anyone's council tax bill will go up.

Not true, no such thing as a free lunch.

Of the two options above the insurance premium will be dependent on the claims record, more claims mean increased premiums, and so more funding required to pay for them.

I recently worked for amey on another council contract, all these contracts are based on rated items which are generally cost reimbursable. This means that the council effectively pays for all the works they do, more work more cost.

The argument is that a single claim will have a relatively small effect, but every claim has an impact, and cumulatively this can be significant.

harveybobbles

You could sue Volvo for fitting the V70 with a pathetic turning circle.

caprikid1

"Making a claim does not mean anyone's council tax bill will go up."


That sums up our society in a nutshell.


People take no responsibility for their own actions and incompetence, expect someone else to pay and genuinely believe the money comes out of thin air.

GingerBob_3

caprikid1 wrote: »

"Making a claim does not mean anyone's council tax bill will go up."


That sums up our society in a nutshell.


People take no responsibility for their own actions and incompetence, expect someone else to pay and genuinely believe the money comes out of thin air.

Are you talking about the local council here? If so, you're spot on!

BeenThroughItAll

Crabman wrote: »

They have budgets and reserves specifically for claims and other liabilities. As with any business they have insurers who deal with claims. This is the case with my local authority which passes highways damage claims to Zurich (if they don't reject the claim themselves).

Birmingham City Council has a deal with Amey and it's that private firm that is liable for all public liability claims, not the local authority.

Making a claim does not mean anyone's council tax bill will go up.

I was going to reply, making the point that the money to pay for those insurance premiums and contracts has to come from somewhere, but someone beat me to it:

bigadaj wrote: »

Not true, no such thing as a free lunch.

Of the two options above the insurance premium will be dependent on the claims record, more claims mean increased premiums, and so more funding required to pay for them.

I recently worked for amey on another council contract, all these contracts are based on rated items which are generally cost reimbursable. This means that the council effectively pays for all the works they do, more work more cost.

The argument is that a single claim will have a relatively small effect, but every claim has an impact, and cumulatively this can be significant.

I agree with this. Ultimately, the money comes from somewhere - and that will be the councils' budgets.

TBagpuss

And in addition to the insurance premiums, the council will no doubt have a excess to pay..

InsideInsurance

Crabman wrote: »

They have budgets and reserves specifically for claims and other liabilities. As with any business they have insurers who deal with claims. This is the case with my local authority which passes highways damage claims to Zurich (if they don't reject the claim themselves).

Birmingham City Council has a deal with Amey and it's that private firm that is liable for all public liability claims, not the local authority.

Making a claim does not mean anyone's council tax bill will go up.

Having worked on local council insurance agreements before they are highly complex, like large corporations, and are not comparable to yours or mine.

Without boring others with all the mechanisms for it, insurance is there for the unexpected. When you are such a large entity as a council or a multi-national hire company or such the reality is that you simply are going to have claims every year, a fairly significant number of them. It therefore makes no sense at all to pay for insurance that covers those claims as you're adding profit and risk margins, Insurance Premium Tax and operational costs on top of the bill you know you will be paying.

As such councils will retain their expected losses in house, they may outsource the claims handling aspect to "experts" but it ultimate hits their balance sheet.

Making a claim means some of that reserve is used up and has to be put back in ie it raises taxes. If no one ever claimed against any council those reserves could be released and taxes lowered (assuming all other services remain equal)

Saying otherwise is the same as saying that stealing things from a shop is a victimless crime because shops already price their goods factoring in the 1% of theft/ fraud they will experience.

Horizon81

Exactly, InsideInsurance, got it in one.

The bottom line is if a council spends out on X, it has less money for Y. Council tax may indeed not rise but the costs would have to be offset by savings elsewhere.

And as for the OP, clutching at straws sadly. Did the metal ducting jump out on you, or did you drive into it?!

George_Michael

timbotambo wrote: »

when I measured this space it is 206cm wide at the narrowest point and there are no signs to warn. According to Google, my car (wheel to wheel) is 186cm and wing mirror to wing mirror is 217cm. So I only had a few cm clearance.

Wheel to wheel distance = 186cm
usable floor width of bay = 206cm


Therefore your tyres had a total of 20cm clearance (10 cm each side or to put it another way, 4" each side).
You should have been able to pull into a bay with 10cm clearance on each side or if you thought that it looked a bit tight, find a bay with more room.

Crabman

BCC is clear that Amey is liable for all claims, not the authority. So it is not accepted that there is a cost to the authority, if the people who negotiated the contract on behalf of the taxpayer fulfilled their roles competently. Which is probably unlikely in the public sector.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If no one ever claimed against any council

It would be nice, but can you think of any possible disadvantages arising from this scenario?