HGV struck house. Caught on CCTV. Delivery company denying liability for damage

usefulmale

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

12. When I get home that night, upon checking, the 'scratch' is a 15cm deep, 30cm long gorge in the external, solid wall of the house. A roof tile 10 feet above impact site had also been dislodged. There is internal damage to the wall the other side the impact point, as indicated by a 170cm crack and raising of the internal wall.

Thankfully, all of the above was captured on CCTV, and clearly shows the impact, a 1.5m explosion of concrete into the road from my house, and the aftermath of the driver trying to leave without notifying us and being brought back to the house.

I arranged for a builder to review the damage (after failing to get delivery company to do anything). They are in no doubt that the internal damge to the wall is due to the external impact (internal face of wall is lifted due to force from opposite side, cracks are clean and dust free, crack lines up perfectly with impact point). Give the strength/damage from the impact they advised that the internal wall needs exposing and a specialist engineer will need to check for to see if the masonry has been damaged from the impact and whether the structural integrity of the property has been compromised. We believe it is a solid wall (100+ years old) rather than partition wall, it wasn’t really a case of brick dropping into cavities. My buld advised that the engineers assessment will involve the removal of fitted wardrobes, skirting, carpets, flooring, and obviously the internal face of the wall, prior to even assessing for structural damage, and may take the room out of use for weeks/a month

All that 'damage' and yet your wife in the house at the time heard nothing? Hmm.

NotMuchOfARindOnYou

usefulmale wrote: »

All that 'damage' and yet your wife in the house at the time heard nothing? Hmm.

Hmmm - yes.

TBH, I just went on the CCTV and visibile damage to the house rather than question her about whether she heard it. Bear in mind it is a thick, solid wall (rather than partition. It's a single storey, long and thin property, and she was probably in living room with the TV - one thick wall, + 2 internal walls away. Superficially, it doesn't look to bad. Wall could be patchd up, and the crack sanded, filled and repainted. However, given, a 40T truck drove into a wall with enough force to send 1.5m of concrete outwards and cause a huge crack on the other side of the wall, it needs checking for structural damage. I'm not saying they destroyed my wardrobes / carpets, I'm saying that they'll need taking out when the structural survey takes place.

As a new user it turns out I can't post links. If you want to see a video/photos of what's happened, go to twitter, and search for

"hey wickes you drove a truck into my house"

(Edit: Don't forget to like )

Take a look at the video. Hopefully that might help. Maybe not... maybe you'll feel the same as the professional HGV company and express bemusement as to how anything but cosmetic damage may have occurred. If you do though, please find a school age child and ask them about the relation ship between force exerted on a stationary objects in relation to the mass of the object crashing into it and consider what's happened here (clue: it's a 40 Tonne truck vs a very old, solid wall)

usefulmale

When I get home that night, upon checking, the 'scratch' is a 15cm deep, 30cm long gorge in the external, solid wall of the house. A roof tile 10 feet above impact site had also been dislodged. There is internal damage to the wall the other side the impact point, as indicated by a 170cm crack and raising of the internal wall.

The lorry hit the house maybe 2 foot from the ground and came to a dead stop, as you would expect from a low velocity impact. Never even dented the metal bar. How is a roof tile 10 feet above the impact site dislodged (you appear to have a low roof there)? Also how can a 6 inch deep, foot long gorge and a five and half foot internal crack be created from that minor impact?

Also, that truck looks more like 20 tons max, not 40.

https://giphy.com/gifs/v5b7qFUrTXAIg

NotMuchOfARindOnYou

The gorge was only 4 inch deep vs 6. It resulted from two large stones being removed from the wall in the explosion of rubble. The company removed these and replace them the next day. The roof tile would have been from the shock wave, and the internal wall crack probably from a combination of shock and impact.

To be honest, I'm not a professional builder so I'm not fit to comment. I've had a professional builder advise, and they mapped out the impact point to the cracks and found they line up. The raising of the wall indicates force from the other side. The cleanness of the cracks indacte they are fresh. He is in no doubt they were caused by the truck in the video and is advising structural checks.

From my laymans perspective, all I know is that all I know is that a truck hit my wall, knocked out two large stones leaving the gash, and there is a big crack to an internal wall that wasn't there prior to the impact.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I would get a structural engineer round mate, you may have to demolish the whole house. Obviously this would involve your insurance company, so I suggest you contact them! And be done with this internet thing!

NotMuchOfARindOnYou

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

I would get a structural engineer round mate, you may have to demolish the whole house. Obviously this would involve your insurance company, so I suggest you contact them! And be done with this internet thing!

Some advice from an American on this was, call insurance, delete facebook, go they gym, get on with enjoying your life

Main reason I came here was to ascertain whether I should be claiming on my own insurance (at possible cost re excess/premiums), or on theirs. Most ppl seem to lean towards my own insurance in order to get things going, and look to recoup leftover costs later.

I have just had a call from the manger of the store. He's advising speak to delivery company direct. He can't advise on insurance. I've asked him to speak to them and get them to confirm whether they are denying liability on the basis it is easier to fob me off than a big corporate customer, and then write to me with their response and advised next steps should their agent be uncooperative.

Ok - gym time

PS: Thanks for the twitter support!

usefulmale

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

The gorge was only 4 inch deep vs 6.

You keep changing your story. You claimed 15cm which is 6 inch. Now it's only 4 inches (10cm).

Your roof tile explanation is frankly laughable.

Let me know the date and location of your court appearance. I would pay good money to attend that.

NotMuchOfARindOnYou

usefulmale wrote: »

You keep changing your story. You claimed 15cm which is 6 inch. Now it's only 4 inches (10cm).

Your roof tile explanation is frankly laughable.

Let me know the date and location of your court appearance. I would pay good money to attend that.

'Tis the season to be trolling, troll lol lol lol lol, lol lol lol....

Apologise. I did mess up my original post here. The photos / statement I've put on twitter are accurate tho. This is what I originally said:

When I get home that night, upon checking, the 'scratch' is a 15cm deep, 30cm long gorge in the external, solid wall of the house. A roof tile 10 feet above impact site had also been dislodged. There is internal damage to the wall the other side the impact point, as indicated by a 170cm crack and raising of the internal wall.

You are correct, That is wrong. It's 'only' 10cm/4 inches deep. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

You were kind enough to link to my giphy video earlier after taking the time to search for it on twitter. Presumably you also so the photos of the other damage, but if not, should you want to, you can find them by searching the following on twitter:

"@Wickes 4 inch deep gash in wall from your truck"

"@Wickes Roof tile 10 feet from impact dislodged by shock to build from your truck"

"@Wickes 170cm crack to internal wall from you truck opposite impact point"

I can't post links, but feel free to do so yourself.

usefulmale

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

'Tis the season to be trolling, troll lol lol lol lol, lol lol lol....

A troll is not someone who points out glaring inaccuracies in your story. Will you call Wickes solicitor a troll when they point out other holes in your story?

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

Apologise. I did mess up my original post here. The photos / statement I've put on twitter are accurate tho. This is what I originally said:



You are correct, That is wrong. It's 'only' 10cm/4 inches deep. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

You need to get your facts straight from the outset. In court, if Wickes solicitor were even half awake, they would have wiped the floor with you

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

You were kind enough to link to my giphy video earlier after taking the time to search for it on twitter. Presumably you also so the photos of the other damage, but if not, should you want to, you can find them by searching the following on twitter:

"@Wickes 4 inch deep gash in wall from your truck"

"@Wickes Roof tile 10 feet from impact dislodged by shock to build from your truck"

"@Wickes 170cm crack to internal wall from you truck opposite impact point"

I can't post links, but feel free to do so yourself.

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%40Wickes%204%20inch%20deep%20gash%20in%20wall%20from%20your%20truck&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%40Wickes%20Roof%20tile 10 feet%20from%20impact%20dislodged%20by%20shock%20to%20build%20from%20your%20truck&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweetsq=%40Wickes%20170cm%20crack%20to%20internal%20wall%20from%20you%20truck%20opposite%20impact%20point&src=typd

Personally, I think you are taking the proverbial. It's no coincidence that your twitter name is ProblemChild.

Can you prove that tile was OK before the lorry hit? Why only one tile dislodged?

Unless your bedroom is on the ground floor, how has an impact 2 foot above ground level caused the internal damage shown?

tripled

NotMuchOfARindOnYou wrote: »

Apologise. I did mess up my original post here.

There seem to be a lot of budding Miss Marple's on this forum who feel all superior "proving" people wrong just because of minor inconsistencies. One can only assume they have perfect memories and never make mistakes, yet despite that suffer from a feeling of inadequacy that they need to compensate for.

Good luck getting the wall on your house sorted