Dog injured at holiday cottage...what to do

davidmcn

star2sparkle wrote: »

A toddler could easily fall...We could have been having sex!

Things which didn't actually happen are irrelevant to your claim.

star2sparkle

comeandgo, I havent said everything in my complaint here, I was simply giving examples but will reiterate, if a company says they will provide something and they do not, that is grounds for a complaint/claim.
I wasn't taking my dog to a beach but to a place where it was assured to be safe. That is different in terms of responsibility. Of course you make sure as best you can your dog is safe but when there shouldn't be any hazards.
Davidmcn I agree that things which don't happen are irrelevant but are relevant to the company because this is exactly what could happen, hence why they have already stopped the window cleaner and are already concerned about the garden. A child falls and dies in that garden, they could have a big claim to deal with.

Takmon

star2sparkle wrote: »

I disagree about my dog. The agency do a risk assessment to make sure the garden is safe and there was fencing in other areas for this purpose. And this cottage is not just for adults (and dogs) but families. A toddler could easily fall. It takes just a moment of an averted gaze, that's all. And what's more, I know the agency are now making sure that area of the garden is secure. If this wasn't an issue, why bother to do that?

Reacting after an incident has occurred doesn't mean that the initial risk assessment was done incorrectly.
Legally a risk assessment needs to be "suitable and sufficient" and there are many cases where an accident has occurred due to an unforeseen risk but the risk assessment has still been considered suitable for the time. The fact that they are now reacting to the incident is a good thing and not a negative thing to be used against them.

You admit that you did not see this "hazard" yourself and also your dog has a pre existing medical condition that makes it more liable to be hurt. So it could have been perfectly safe for a dog in good health to jump down.
They wouldn't be expected to take into account every type of dog and every medical condition they could have while carrying out the risk assessment.

But you haven't really given us much information to comment on, this could be anything from a 20ft drop onto sharp stones to a 1ft drop onto grass.

If you could post some photos which i'm assuming you took then i can comment further.

powerful_Rogue

Can you show us a link to the property?

McKneff

£30. compensation for your dogs distress?
How is this £30 going to compensate your dog enough to make him feel better.?

star2sparkle

Takmon, no it is definitely an area that should be fenced off, as the rest of it has been. And they also have areas with warning signs. It was just neglected. Any dog or child or even person who somehow jumped or fell down would risk injury. It is about a 6-7 ft drop. I do have pictures on my mobile phone that I will have to put onto my laptop.
From my knowledge, a risk has to be foreseeable. And from the owners point of view, this is foreseeable. And the fact that they are doing something about it now suggests to me that there is a problem that has been overlooked, so can actually be used 'against them'. The agency even said to me that they don't want this happening again.

star2sparkle

And...the agency already admitted that they did the risk assessment in the rain and therefore may have missed this area. So I don't think it was done correctly.

Gavin83

I'm assuming you stayed the full week? What did the agency/owner say when you raised these issues during the stay?

What do you actually expect back in terms of compensation? Know what you want and be realistic and you might get it.

powerful_Rogue

Incase you missed it, Can you show us a link to the property?

Takmon

star2sparkle wrote: »

Takmon, no it is definitely an area that should be fenced off, as the rest of it has been. And they also have areas with warning signs. It was just neglected. Any dog or child or even person who somehow jumped or fell down would risk injury. It is about a 6-7 ft drop. I do have pictures on my mobile phone that I will have to put onto my laptop.
From my knowledge, a risk has to be foreseeable. And from the owners point of view, this is foreseeable. And the fact that they are doing something about it now suggests to me that there is a problem that has been overlooked, so can actually be used 'against them'. The agency even said to me that they don't want this happening again.

I just want to re-iterate the point that the fact they are doing something about it does not automatically mean it can be used against them.
An incident has occurred so they have a duty to review the risk assessment and ensure it doesn't happen again. This does not automatically mean they have done something wrong to start with.

On what day of the holiday did this happen?

Is it somehow hidden this drop? It seems strange that rain would stop them seeing this and then you would also not see it either.