Shared Driveways - Insurance for me and public

bo_rai_cho

I live on the end of a shared driveway

If say a member of the public slipped on ice on it, or I slipped on it taking the bins out, does the council cover this in terms of insurance/liability or do I need to get it covered as part of my home insurance?

If I do, what do I need to ask for? I guess its not just a slip on ice, but also say damage, e/g a pot hole appears. I know I am accountable in the deed to split the cost with other homeowners, but wondering if this can be added to insurance (both personal safety issues as well as general problems)

G_M

who owns the driveway?


Who is responsible for its maintenance?

davidmcn

Why would the council be involved? Household insurance generally includes third party liability as standard. If you slip on your own driveway, who would you be planning to sue and why?

Oxid8uk

We own a shared driveway and wondered the same thing. All the insurance providers we spoke to said the same thing - just standard house insurance is required as it contains third party liability.

eddddy

bo_rai_cho wrote: »

If I do, what do I need to ask for? I guess its not just a slip on ice, but also say damage, e/g a pot hole appears.

Do you mean that you want insurance that would cover the cost of repairing potholes?

Potholes will be caused by wear and tear, and/or poor workmanship. You wont find an insurance policy to cover those risks.

G_M

It is possible that a 3rd party could claim for damage caused by poor maintenance.


Recently a friend who manages a private mews for the residents received a claim from a taxi driver whose car was damaged by a large pothole.



Liability is unclear eg how bad a pothole, presence of warning signs (eg"private road-drivers enter at own risk"), whether driver took due care etc.


She passed it to the insurers who dealt with it (not sure if they paid out or not).

Sea_Shell

Liability rests on you being found to have been negligent. i.e. you've done, or not done something that has resulted in injury or damage.

e.g. So if it's icy, that's not your problem UNLESS you've attempted to clear the drive and not done it sufficently.

As for potholes, If you're responsible for maintaining it and not done so, then you could be liable.

Standard home insurances usually covers your liability as a homeowner or occupier, depending on your responsibilities.

If renting, these maybe your LL's responsibilities.

bo_rai_cho

G_M wrote: »

who owns the driveway?


Who is responsible for its maintenance?

Its shared, so we all on the street are expected to maintain it.

davidmcn wrote: »

Why would the council be involved? Household insurance generally includes third party liability as standard. If you slip on your own driveway, who would you be planning to sue and why?

What if a member of public slipped on ice, could they take action against the homeowners who share a driveway? If so, other than clearing the driveway immediately after ice settles (which is hard) what can shared drive owners take to protect themselves?

eddddy wrote: »

Do you mean that you want insurance that would cover the cost of repairing potholes?

Potholes will be caused by wear and tear, and/or poor workmanship. You wont find an insurance policy to cover those risks.

Sorry maybe I wasn't clearer, I know its unlikely, but what if a massive hole just appears and takes in a car or person and causes injury?

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Standard home insurances usually covers your liability as a homeowner or occupier, depending on your responsibilities.

Thanks, do you know what to look for in the insurance document to check shared drives are covered?

davidmcn

bo_rai_cho wrote: »

Its shared, so we all on the street are expected to maintain it.

Ok, but who is registered as the owner?

What if a member of public slipped on ice, could they take action against the homeowners who share a driveway?

If they could demonstrate that the owners had been negligent in some way, perhaps.

If so, other than clearing the driveway immediately after ice settles (which is hard) what can shared drive owners take to protect themselves?

There's no legal principle that landowners are required to clear ice or snow. After all, councils don't immediately plough/grit every road and pavement, do they?

what if a massive hole just appears and takes in a car or person and causes injury?

If it "just appears" then nobody has been negligent.

Thanks, do you know what to look for in the insurance document to check shared drives are covered?

There won't be specific wording. It will cover your property, so if you own the driveway it will cover it. If somebody else owns it (e.g. a separate management company), they ought to be looking at their insurance.

DoaM

You say Shared Driveway ... do you actually mean Shared Access Road? (i.e. the road into the estate ... a driveway is typically somewhere off-street for parking vehicles or accessing a parking space/garage).

G_M

'Shared ownership' needs to be clarified.
Is it registered? Are there Deeds for unregistered land?
So there are (5? 10? 20?) named owners?



Or each owner perhaps owns the bit of road outside their own property?
Or each owner is a shareholder in a company that owns the road?


Ownership and maintenance are 2 separate issues. The 'owner' should insure. Maintenance will probably be managed by the 'owner' but the cost may be spread between others eg each householder.