ripped coat on building work fencing

thriftymanc

I was walking down a street earlier which has a building site on it and so the pavement has been closed off and fencing put up to make a new 'pavement' around the site. The new 'pavement' is narrow, I moved over a little to allow people to pass the other direction and caught my coat on a really rough bit of the fencing - now my coat's got a tear in the side and it also ripped a small pocket off completely (and I lost my handcream in the process cos it fell through into the site, boo!). I can sew up the tear but it looks a mess and the pocket was beyond saving. I can get a cheapy replacement coat from Primark or something but am I entitled to anything towards the cost from the people who own the fence? Bit miffed that they couldn't have allowed another couple of inches to let people walk through properly. On the bright side, at least I was wearing a coat or I'd probably have tetanus by now!

Hintza

You walked into an immovable object and now you want compo?

AJXX

I'm usually the first one to point out a ridiculous complaint but to be fair to the OP it does sound like the fence area was confined and I'd expect it to be fairly rough/sharp to tear a coat.

It might be worth finding out who is responsible for the site and submitting a complaint - ultimately nothing may come of it but if you have some time to spare you've got nothing to lose by trying it.

thriftymanc

Hintza wrote: »

You walked into an immovable object and now you want compo?

Gosh, I wouldn't have expected someone to reply with that on this of all websites No, I don't want "compo". Someone else's shoddy property damaged my property and I want to know if I'm entitled to any help with costs of repair or replacement. "Compo" implies I want tons of money for no reason. *If* I'm entitled to it, I'd be happy with a tenner to pay towards a professional to fix it properly or towards a replacement. Is that so unreasonable?

AJXX wrote: »

I'm usually the first one to point out a ridiculous complaint but to be fair to the OP it does sound like the fence area was confined and I'd expect it to be fairly rough/sharp to tear a coat.

It might be worth finding out who is responsible for the site and submitting a complaint - ultimately nothing may come of it but if you have some time to spare you've got nothing to lose by trying it.

Thank you - glad someone gets it. The path they'd fenced off was long and narrow, not enough room for people to pass each other comfortably, to let someone pass the other way you had to do as I did and lean right up against the fence. There wasn't a pavement on the other side of the road and the traffic was too busy to walk on the other side of the fence, so I had no choice but to use the path. I leant up against the fence to let people come past the other way, and then when I went to walk away I heard ripping - bits of the fence were rusted and sticking out slightly (long horizontal bits) and I hadn't noticed my coat snag on them in two places. The pocket was a little credit-card-sized one (not especially thick material) and it was so snagged it came right off. I'm going to find out who's responsible for it and talk to them anyway cos it did make me think, if I hadn't been wearing a coat I really could have gashed myself on it (the tear in the side of my coat was quite deep but that bit's lined with thick waterproof stuff so it didn't get me!) so even for health and safety reasons they should sort it out! I'll give it a shot, the worst that can happen is they don't reply.

To clarify, the fence I'm talking about looks like this but with the rectangles horizontal rather than vertical:



Some bits had rusted and come loose at the sides so they were sticking out, but not noticeable from a distance. As I leant over towards the fence and started to walk foward the rusted bits had sort of pierced and slid into my coat, if that makes sense.

Johnnytwostep

thriftymanc wrote: »

Gosh, I wouldn't have expected someone to reply with that on this of all websites No, I don't want "compo". Someone else's shoddy property damaged my property and I want to know if I'm entitled to any help with costs of repair or replacement. "Compo" implies I want tons of money for no reason. *If* I'm entitled to it, I'd be happy with a tenner to pay towards a professional to fix it properly or towards a replacement. Is that so unreasonable?




Thank you - glad someone gets it. The path they'd fenced off was long and narrow, not enough room for people to pass each other comfortably, to let someone pass the other way you had to do as I did and lean right up against the fence. There wasn't a pavement on the other side of the road and the traffic was too busy to walk on the other side of the fence, so I had no choice but to use the path. I leant up against the fence to let people come past the other way, and then when I went to walk away I heard ripping - bits of the fence were rusted and sticking out slightly (long horizontal bits) and I hadn't noticed my coat snag on them in two places. The pocket was a little credit-card-sized one (not especially thick material) and it was so snagged it came right off. I'm going to find out who's responsible for it and talk to them anyway cos it did make me think, if I hadn't been wearing a coat I really could have gashed myself on it (the tear in the side of my coat was quite deep but that bit's lined with thick waterproof stuff so it didn't get me!) so even for health and safety reasons they should sort it out! I'll give it a shot, the worst that can happen is they don't reply.

To clarify, the fence I'm talking about looks like this but with the rectangles horizontal rather than vertical:



Some bits had rusted and come loose at the sides so they were sticking out, but not noticeable from a distance. As I leant over towards the fence and started to walk foward the rusted bits had sort of pierced and slid into my coat, if that makes sense.

or a child could have had an eye out, or an old lady could have injured herself, or a person doing charitable work could have been injured

thriftylass

Sorry you ripped your coat by being polite and letting other people pass, but I don't think you are entitled to anything. I'm sure it's no different to walking over uneven pavement or past a hedge with thorny branches sticking out. Just be more careful next time and watch where you're going.

prosaver

my friend caught and ripped his jeans on the pool table (screw sticking out) and the pub gave him money for a new pair.
Take a picture of the rough bit what ripped your coat.
So what if you have to put a claim in, A lot of people would.
If it was my company I would pay out, no problem.

thriftylass

prosaver wrote: »

So what if you have to put a claim in, A lot of people would.

I think this is the problem, the claim culture. Fall over, walk into a wall, burn your lip on "too hot" coffee, just put in a claim rather then applying common sense and take responsibility for your own judgement and action.

ThumbRemote

thriftylass wrote: »

I think this is the problem, the claim culture. Fall over, walk into a wall, burn your lip on "too hot" coffee, just put in a claim rather then applying common sense and take responsibility for your own judgement and action.

What about the responsibility of the company? It appears that their action, of putting up rusty fencing, is equally to blame. Yet you (and others) seem to think the company should just get away with this.

The 'claims culture' that certain people are so fond of bemoaning focuses companies attention on doing things safely, and if they don't it hits them in the only place they will hurt. As such it should be welcomed.

But still, too many on here think responsibility only goes one way.

thriftylass

ThumbRemote wrote: »

What about the responsibility of the company? It appears that their action, of putting up rusty fencing, is equally to blame. Yet you (and others) seem to think the company should just get away with this.

The 'claims culture' that certain people are so fond of bemoaning focuses companies attention on doing things safely, and if they don't it hits them in the only place they will hurt. As such it should be welcomed.

But still, too many on here think responsibility only goes one way.

Yet what i am questioning is where do you stop. There was a bit of wire sticking out form the fence and the OP got too close. Should I sue the council every time I trip over a pavement slap that sticks up due to the lack of care from the council. I said I'm sorry the OP damaged her coat but I don't think she is owed anything. It was a building site, and a temporary fence on a more narrow than usual pavement hence more care needed to be taken etc. If it was a permanent fence fair enough.

foxtrotoscar_2

ThumbRemote wrote: »

What about the responsibility of the company? It appears that their action, of putting up rusty fencing, is equally to blame. Yet you (and others) seem to think the company should just get away with this.

The 'claims culture' that certain people are so fond of bemoaning focuses companies attention on doing things safely, and if they don't it hits them in the only place they will hurt. As such it should be welcomed.

But still, too many on here think responsibility only goes one way.

Where does it say that?