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Council killed my entire bonsai plant collection..

shuko
shuko Posts: 13 Forumite
edited 13 September 2017 at 1:37PM in Insurance & life assurance
Nothing to see here..
«13

Comments

  • Barny1979
    Barny1979 Posts: 7,921 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The level of compensation will be the value of the plants, end off, no additional recompense for the sentimental element. I am sorry to hear of your grief, but think the removal of the bonsais may allow you to potentially move on from your mother's death.
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Yes I'm afraid you can only expect compensation for the value of the plants.
    If they agree to pay it then I would bite their hands off.
    If they decide to fight it you will probably get nothing.
    If it went to court you might lose, there would be questions as to what you did everything you could to prevent the trees from dying. From a financial point of view you could have sold them and prevented your loss. If you knew it was going to be on for a year, you must have known there was a risk to the plants. You might not have wanted to sell them for sentimental reasons but the courts wouldn't consider this relevant I'm afraid
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • shuko
    shuko Posts: 13 Forumite
    My gosh you both sound like council workers, cold and devoid of emotion.

    Sell the plants? Pfft..

    I just called a lawyer.. Actually you are both wrong. It comes under personal injury because as well as the value of the plants they have 'destroyed something that one has kept alive' and for the time involved, ie: 38 years and also for the 'emotional hurt and distress'. You are also entitled to claim for 'sentimental damages'.

    Thread can be deleted now, thanks.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    shuko wrote: »
    Many people suffered vitamin D deficiencies due to the natural light into their homes being reduced so drastically and for so long including me.

    You're mistaken if you think you are getting Vit D from the daylight inside your house.
  • Good luck with your claim...
  • scd3scd4
    scd3scd4 Posts: 1,180 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary
    Sounds a bit like how do you compensate for irreplaceable pictures that are lost or destroyed by accident. Its sad but everything has to have a value and not what you may want in compensation.
  • k3lvc
    k3lvc Posts: 4,174 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    shuko wrote: »
    Thread can be deleted now, thanks.

    It doesn't work like that - you've had sensible answers but not surprisingly (or believably) your lawyer knows better

    Good luck with your claim and do come back to let us know how you get on
  • shuko
    shuko Posts: 13 Forumite
    Thanks Paddy but each flat has an outside balcony and the elderly and infirm and housebound would each sit outside on their balconies. For three and a half years they were unable to.

    My apologies I thought this forum was populated by experts not just people making things us as they go along.
  • A few months back shuko accused council contractors of making her have a stroke!

    She's only going to listen to people that agree with her.
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If you're offering to pay him a lawyer will tell you whatever you want to hear.
    Once you've spent tens of thousands of pounds of legal fees and get £1000 in compensation, let us know. You won't get your costs reimburst in Small Claims Court, so you will have to take them to county court. I doubt you will be successfull. But you'll still have to pay your lawyer and maybe the council's too.
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
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