Falling street Christmas lights hit car

Mr.Everready

My friends car was hit by some falling Christmas lights that were put up on a lamp post. This has caused about £1000 worth of damage but the council are denying responsibility because it was "stormy" !


He hasn't contacted his own insurance as yet because he doesn't want to lose his NCB or pay out the excess.



What's his best course of action ?

spadoosh

Contact his own insurance.

Unless he fancies the hassle of suing the council and all the effort that comes with that.

agrinnall

Unless the council were negligent then it's unlikely that they have legal responsibility. The storm required to bring down Christmas lights is pretty strong unless they haven't been put up right, and you probably can't prove that.

uk1

agrinnall wrote: »

Unless the council were negligent then it's unlikely that they have legal responsibility. The storm required to bring down Christmas lights is pretty strong unless they haven't been put up right, and you probably can't prove that.

I respectfully disagree. They were negligent. A storm is not an unexpected occurance.

The council isn't responsible for the storm but it has a very clear legal responsibility and obligation to ensure that if they choose to fix up lights, that they do so with sufficient care so as to ensure that their lights do not endanger people or property during a storm. If they cannot do so, they shouldn't put the lights up. The care that they took was self-evidently inadequate.

The council has insurance or self-insures for such a risk and their first defence will always be to fob off people. He should go back and tell them to take responsibility for their negligence or he will take action. A small claim should bring them to their senses.

csgohan4

uk1 wrote: »

I respectfully disagree. They were negligent. A storm is not an unexpected occurance.

The council isn't responsible for the storm but it has a very clear legal responsibility and obligation to ensure that if they choose to fix up lights, that they do so with sufficient care so as to ensure that their lights do not endanger people or property during a storm. If they cannot do so, they shouldn't put the lights up. The care that they took was self-evidently inadequate.

The council has insurance or self-insures for such a risk and their first defence will always be to fob off people. He should go back and tell them to take responsibility for their negligence or he will take action. A small claim should bring them to their senses.

While what you say is all nice and good, reality doesn't work that way, it would be the person injured to prove negligence. How will they do that?


Small claims court, how long will that take? how many lost days off work to attend? not as easy as pressing a button and getting some money

tacpot12

The OP could get up a ladder and take some photos of how the lights were fixed. If the fixings look insubstantial it might be worth paying for a specialist opinion. I bet there are companies that erect Christmas lights and are known for their expertise in doing so. Perhaps they could provide some expert evidence that would stand up on court, or at least persuade the council that they have made a mistake.

agrinnall

tacpot12 wrote: »

Perhaps they could provide some expert evidence that would stand up on court, or at least persuade the council that they have made a mistake.

Maybe they could, but only if the council actually have made a mistake. That would require the OP to risk paying out a considerble amount of money for an at-height inspection with absolutely no guarantee of getting the money back.

trailingspouse

Your friend needs to claim through his insurance, and then if his insurers can reclaim their costs they will do. If they are able to, he won't lose his bonus. I would imagine the insurers are more likely to be successful against the council than your friend acting alone.

uk1

csgohan4 wrote: »

While what you say is all nice and good, reality doesn't work that way, it would be the person injured to prove negligence. How will they do that?

Small claims court, how long will that take? how many lost days off work to attend? not as easy as pressing a button and getting some money

With respect you appear not to know what you are talking about. Have you used the small fast claims track?

1. The vast majority of claims never reach a hearing but are settled way before. This will not be one of them that a council allows to reach court.

2. Even if it did, many claims are now conducted either by arbitration or over a three-way conversation over the phone. In the highly unlikely event of a hearing, a judge is likely to simply ask the council two questions.

(a) "Was it council lights that caused the damage?" ("Yes")

(b) "Did the council fix them suffuciently so that during a storm they would not fall off and cause damage". ("No")

The judge will "more than likely" conclude that the council was negligent. Case proved and NCB protected.

unforeseen

Why would the council answer no to

The answer would be yes and they would claim that all lights were fixed the same way but only one fell down therefore it can not be considered negligence.

In which case claimant would need to provide some evidence to counteract their assertion.

uk1

unforeseen wrote: »

Why would the council answer no to

The answer would be yes and they would claim that all lights were fixed the same way but only one fell down therefore it can not be considered negligence.

In which case claimant would need to provide some evidence to counteract their assertion.

You are wrong.

The council were not negligent when they fitted the lights that did not fall off, but were negligent when they fitted the lights that fell off self-evidently because they fell off when others they fitted didn't.

Anyway, the OP sought opinion and they pays their money and takes their choice.