Estate Agent help - Damage to my car

hanspe12

Hi everyone. 

I'm very new to MSE and I'm also not very sure on estate agents laws and landlords etc so I'm sorry if this seems like a ridiculous question. 

About 2 weeks ago, we called our estate agents informing them that an aerial had become loose on the roof due to the wind and was now dangling down the side of the house. It's literally being held by a single wire. We live in an area where lots of children play by our house and I obviously want to make sure they're safe, as well as myself. However, the aerial is also dangling right above where I park my car, and I obviously don't want any damage caused to my car. The annoying thing; we don't have a 'driveway' as such, but there is a type of cul-da-sac area with 5 car park spaces marked out which are used by the 5 houses on the small road who don't have driveways as part of their property.  

Anyway, 2 weeks have gone by and NOTHING has happened. We've called plenty of times and they haven't been able to update us and are using the excuse "The Landlord has been un-contactable". I'm really starting to worry about the health and safety of everyone, as well as damage to my car. 

Obviously, the weather has started getting much worse again and the wind is incredibly strong, so anything could happen. 

I just want to know a couple of things..
1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?
4. Does this count even count as 'negligence' by the LL/EA  - because we've contacted them plenty of times over 2 weeks and nothing's been done? And by nothing, I mean they haven't contacted us at all, we haven't had any contact with the LL etc. 
5. If I got contractors out myself to fix the issue, would they have to pay it, or would I?

I live in Wales, if that makes any difference on laws etc. 

Thanks in advance for your help, and if you have anymore questions, just let me know.

FtbDreaming

I don’t know any official answers but don’t park your car underneath a swinging tv Ariel would be a start. And can’t you just cut it down from wherever you can access it, just to make it safer for passers by. 

hanspe12

Unfortunately, the street in incredibly small - only 10 houses - and there is literally no other place I can park. Especially due to the lockdown, as everyone is at home. 
I was thinking about possibly cutting it, but I was worried if I would then be liable to get another fitted? 
It's so annoying because we don't even use the aerial, we don't have a TV!
Thanks for your advice though. 

davidmcn

hanspe12 said:

1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?

Why would any of these happen if you already know that the aerial is hanging down and liable to fall? Surely you just barricade off the "drop zone" until it gets fixed?

I think you'd be justified in getting somebody out to remove it and sending the bill to your landlord, but give a final warning to them before you do.

wjr4

Also, slightly off topic but children shouldn’t be out playing anyway, so they should be fine for a while. Also, don’t park under it if you’re able to

Hasbeen

You do not have a tv? Then do as davidmcn has suggested or get neighbour who is DIY minded or borrow a ladder and cut wire?

greatcrested

hanspe12 said:

I just want to know a couple of things..
1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?
4. Does this count even count as 'negligence' by the LL/EA  - because we've contacted them plenty of times over 2 weeks and nothing's been done? And by nothing, I mean they haven't contacted us at all, we haven't had any contact with the LL etc. 
5. If I got contractors out myself to fix the issue, would they have to pay it, or would I?

1. Perhaps. Provided you can prove that you reported this properly and the landlord acted negligently by taking no action

2. The landlord. As above

3. No. Since you clearly know the risk so you acted negligently by parking beneath it

4. Yes potentially. See 1 above.

5. You, since you instructed the contractors. There is a mechanism for then deducting the cost from future rent, but you must follow a very precise process. See Shelter here

Note that

A) the agent can not take any action unless authorised/instructed by the landlord. This may be part of the ongoing contract between them, or may be on a case-by-case basis.

the landlord is responsible. It's his property. Have your reported it properly, to the landlord, in writing, at the postal address provided "for serving notices"? And have you clearly described the risk to his property, to you, to the public and to vehicles were the aerial to fall?

ps: that's not "a couple of things"!

hanspe12

greatcrested said:

hanspe12 said:

I just want to know a couple of things..
1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?
4. Does this count even count as 'negligence' by the LL/EA  - because we've contacted them plenty of times over 2 weeks and nothing's been done? And by nothing, I mean they haven't contacted us at all, we haven't had any contact with the LL etc. 
5. If I got contractors out myself to fix the issue, would they have to pay it, or would I?

1. Perhaps. Provided you can prove that you reported this properly and the landlord acted negligently by taking no action

2. The landlod. As above

3. No. Since you clearly know the risk so you acted negligently by parking beneath it

4. Yes potentially. See 1 above.

5. You, since you instructed the contractors. There is a mechanism for then deducting the cost from future rent, but you must follow a very precise process. See Shelter here

Note that

A) the agent can not take any action unless authorised/instructed by the landlord

the landlord is responsible.It's his property. Have your reported it properly, to the landlord, in writing, at thepostal addressprovided "for serving notices"?

Thank you for this, it was very helpful. 
Just so that I'm aware, if it happened different and the aerial had damaged my car (or someone else's) when it WASN'T hanging down the side of the house (therefore we didn't know it was loose), would it be different? For example, if it was loose and had fallen in a storm? Or would it be different if we had a driveway as part of the property and the aerial was dangling over the house over the driveway above the car? Sorry, for all the questions, I'm just really intrigued in how all of this works
In terms of reporting it properly, in our contract it states that all issues need to be reported via phone or email to the estate agent. We don't actually have any contact details for our landlord apart from the name and address on the contract (which is a business address). 

hanspe12

Hasbeen said:

You do not have a tv? Then do as davidmcn has suggested or get neighbour who is DIY minded or borrow a ladder and cut wire?

Well, we have a TV, but we only use it to chromecast. We actually have no aerial socket in the house to plug the tv into. Not that it's an issue for us as we prefer watching Netflix, YouTube etc. 

davidmcn

hanspe12 said:

greatcrested said:

hanspe12 said:

I just want to know a couple of things..
1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?
4. Does this count even count as 'negligence' by the LL/EA  - because we've contacted them plenty of times over 2 weeks and nothing's been done? And by nothing, I mean they haven't contacted us at all, we haven't had any contact with the LL etc. 
5. If I got contractors out myself to fix the issue, would they have to pay it, or would I?

1. Perhaps. Provided you can prove that you reported this properly and the landlord acted negligently by taking no action

2. The landlod. As above

3. No. Since you clearly know the risk so you acted negligently by parking beneath it

4. Yes potentially. See 1 above.

5. You, since you instructed the contractors. There is a mechanism for then deducting the cost from future rent, but you must follow a very precise process. See Shelter here

Note that

A) the agent can not take any action unless authorised/instructed by the landlord

the landlord is responsible.It's his property. Have your reported it properly, to the landlord, in writing, at thepostal addressprovided "for serving notices"?

We don't actually have any contact details for our landlord apart from the name and address on the contract (which is a business address). 

Those sound like the contact details then.

hanspe12

davidmcn said:

hanspe12 said:

1. If I was injured by the aerial falling, would I be able to sue?
2. If somebody else was injured by the aerial falling, would they be able to sue me, or the EA/LL?
3. If my car was damaged, would they be liable? Would they have to pay for my car to be fixed? Due to negligence?

Why would any of these happen if you already know that the aerial is hanging down and liable to fall? Surely you just barricade off the "drop zone" until it gets fixed?

Okay I get your point, but there's literally no one else for me to park due to how our street is. If I don't park in this car parking space provided, I would either be blocking off people driveways or literally parked in the middle of the street blocking everyone getting out. It's more of a cul-de-sac than a street. 
It's not as if I'm not using my car at the moment either and can just park it a mile away on a different street - I am a keyworker and so is my boyfriend. It's our only mode of transport to get to work at the moment.