Wickes lorry crashed into my Gate

jeneferwilson

hi all, I've got a query - we were woken up a few weeks ago by a Wickes lorry bashing into our large garden gate and damaging it - he had got stuck on the corner by our house (5' away from a large turning space!) and got into a bit of a tizzy with it. We contacted Wickes to let them know what happened and ask them to pay for the damage and they are now denying everything (although we have shown them photos showing the lorry hitting the gate and both myself and my husband watched him hit it repeatedly). He drove off without checking the damage or speaking to us at all (I was stood out on the drive and he went straight past me) and has now written a statement to their insurance company denying ever touching our gate.
The insurance company only represent their client and therefore have closed the matter, ignoring our proof and the fact that we watched it happen. A rather bizarre situation! Does anyone know what further recourse we have (ideally avoiding going to our insurance company and putting up our premiums) - would the small claims court be a suitable route? They are now refusing to speak to us or give us the address of the relevant depot - do we need that info or can we just use the Wickes Head Office address in the SCCourt paperwork? any info/advice would be very gratefully accepted.

FreeBear

The driver would be responsible for the damage, and he should have been reported to the police - That would have made your task a little easier. That said, Wickes will have vicarious liability as owners of the vehicle. So file a claim against them using head office as the address to serve papers.


If you have the name and address of the driver, name both him and Wickes in the claim.

jeneferwilson

that's very helpful thank you - I did try and report it to the police on 101 but they said they couldn't help in any way..... :¬( Wickes are so far refusing to give me any address/name info etc but I do have the reg of the lorry shown in a time stamped photo so maybe I could include that in the paperwork. Does anyone have experience of making this sort of claim against a company like Wickes?

naf123

before you do anything , get a quote for the cost of making it right. Then bill it to wickes and take it from there.

How much damage (in £ ) is it?

Mistral001

As Freebear has said, it is a police matter. Did you get the registration number of the lorry?

Mistral001

jeneferwilson wrote: »

that's very helpful thank you - I did try and report it to the police on 101 but they said they couldn't help in any way..... :¬( Wickes are so far refusing to give me any address/name info etc but I do have the reg of the lorry shown in a time stamped photo so maybe I could include that in the paperwork. Does anyone have experience of making this sort of claim against a company like Wickes?

Did you give the police the registration number. If you did not give the registration number then it is unlikely that they can do anything for you.

jeneferwilson

thank you - I did try and report it to the police and waited to get through for about 45 mins, then started to explain what had happened and the lady said that they would not deal with it - I think I offered the reg number (as we have it on the photos) but she wasn't interested. Maybe I could try again if you think they should deal with it.

jeneferwilson

yes, I will get a quote to get it fixed - it won't be much - prob in the mid hundreds but I just want to get it fixed because we only had it installed 18 months ago and I can't believe what a blatant lie the driver has told to his managers! Apparently they are 'self-insured' so the relevant branch would be the ones to pay for any damage (according to their insurance co) so that's why I was thinking that I might need the branch address which they are refusing to give me. Not sure whether to give them a heads up that I will go to Small Claims Court yet.

jeneferwilson

yes, got the reg and photos of him actually hitting the gate as well as the damage he caused to the opposite bank. The silly thing is, there was a massive turning space right next to our gate that he should have used but his 'driver's mate' clearly wasn't functioning properly to prevent him from hitting the gate or direct him towards the turning space.

Mistral001

Have you read your house insurance policy? This would come under criminal damage.

Norman_Castle

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