Delivery Company Damage

neilarnot

Unsure if anyone can help, after some advice if possible.
I had a postal delivery whilst away on holiday parcel found in my back garden and damage to my fence and side panel. I have no CCTV so no photographic evidence but have disputed the delivery drivers statement as there are mistruths in it. After 10 weeks of being pushed from pillar to post by said delivery company getting nowhere with them and being told lies. I have today been offered gesture of goodwill of £50 for the "inconvenience" caused to me. I have paid out over £300 on a new fence and side panel. Am I fighting a losing battle here or are there any rights I have. The said company's website is very poor and has no guidance.
Any help is appreciated.

Lomast

You have no proof the delivery driver did the damage it could just of been wind damage and the driver just took advantage of being able to access the garden too leave the parcel.
I would accept the goodwill as I can't see this going anywhere with no evidence

marliepanda

With no evidence of the company causing damage you’re unlikely to get anywhere

societys_child

neilarnot wrote: »

Unsure if anyone can help, after some advice if possible.
I had a postal delivery whilst away on holiday parcel found in my back garden and damage to my fence and side panel. I have no CCTV so no photographic evidence but have disputed the delivery drivers statement as there are mistruths in it. After 10 weeks of being pushed from pillar to post by said delivery company getting nowhere with them and being told lies. I have today been offered gesture of goodwill of £50 for the "inconvenience" caused to me. I have paid out over £300 on a new fence and side panel. Am I fighting a losing battle here or are there any rights I have. The said company's website is very poor and has no guidance.
Any help is appreciated.

Wow, it's unbelievable that a delivery driver could cause £300 worth of damage making a postal delivery. What on earth was he delivering?
Is it something you ordered just before going on holiday?

neilarnot

yep- in order to deliver the parcel it seems he pulled on the top of the fence which in turn snapped the post between the panel and gate and then pulled the top of the side panel off- new side panel gate and post= £300.
Was after any info about further rights if anybody knows more?

George_Michael

Without any verifiable proof that the damage was caused by the delivery people, there isn't anything else that you can do as it's only your opinion that they were responsible.

marliepanda

neilarnot wrote: »

yep- in order to deliver the parcel it seems he pulled on the top of the fence which in turn snapped the post between the panel and gate and then pulled the top of the side panel off- new side panel gate and post= £300.
Was after any info about further rights if anybody knows more?

Your rights are to get your £300 paid by the delivery company.

Minus the compensation to the delivery driver, who only grabbed and broke your fence due to the bear trap you carelessly left in front of the fence which trapped his leg and caused him to pull the fence in a desperate attempt to escape. As he’s such a dedicated postie he still left your parcel in your garden before limping off to hospital. He values his poorly leg at about £300.

Fosterdog

neilarnot wrote: »

yep- in order to deliver the parcel it seems he pulled on the top of the fence which in turn snapped the post between the panel and gate and then pulled the top of the side panel off- new side panel gate and post= £300.
Was after any info about further rights if anybody knows more?

How can you be certain that it wasn’t left with a neighbour and that neighbour has then decided to leave it in your garden for you? They’d hardly admit to causing the damage so would let you blame the courier.

Or the courier has left it there without causing damage and a neighbour or passer by saw and has tried to steal the parcel and they damaged the fence trying to get in.

Or both events are unrelated, somebody attempted to break in to your house/garden while you were away, they made too much noise with the fence so ran away without getting in. Courier then sees a low/damaged bit of fence and uses it as a way of leaving the parcel.

While the parcel should never have been left where it was, you have absolutely no way whatsoever of knowing that it was the courier who caused the damage, especially if they have a different version of events that you are claiming are mistruths but have no way of being certain. You can just imagine the couriers version of events

“I arrived to deliver the parcel and because nobody was home decided to enter the garden through an already damaged fence and leave it there for them. The homeowner is now giving a statement full of mistruths and blaming me for the damage that existed before my arrival.”

robatwork

I don't necessarily agree with everyone else.....

IF it went to court.
AND you had pictures of the garden fence just before you went away
AND you had pictures of the parcel in the garden
AND you had an admission from the couriers they dumped the parcel in the garden
you MAY convince a court that on balance of probabilities, the courier caused it.

The sane course of action is to take the gesture and move on, however

ThumbRemote

Have you got anything in writing from the delivery company admitting they caused the damage? It sounds like you have a statement from them - what does it say?

Its possible, albeit unlikely, that they have admitted the damage in their correspondence. If so you could take them to small claims court for the money.

Otherwise in the absence of proof it's probably not worth the risk.

eddddy

neilarnot wrote: »

Was after any info about further rights if anybody knows more?

The legal situation is roughly as follows:

If the delivery guy was negligent - you can claim damages resulting from the negligence.

To be 'negligent' he must have done something that a reasonable person would not do in the same circumstances.

(e.g. Would a reasonable person have pulled your fence and would a reasonable person have expected your fence to snap if it was pulled etc?)


But then there is the question of proof. You say the delivery guy did something negligent, but the delivery guy will probably just say he didn't do anything that was negligent.

If it went as far as court, it would be decided on the "balance of probabilities". i.e. Is it more likely that he was negligent or that he was not negligent.