Damage from school boundary collapse

cute-stray

Hi,
I'd appreciate advice on how to claim against my local council/school, after a boundary fence collapsed on my garden shed.

Sandtree

You have three options:

1) Claim off your own insurance, they will decide if there is any case to claim off of the school and will do so if they think there is 

2) Attempt to claim off the school/their insurance, for this to be successful you will need to prove that the school has been negligent otherwise its an "act of god" and they have no duty towards you. This obviously could take some time for the insurer to decide their position on the matter.

3) Suck it up and pay for it yourself, be aware that the fence etc remains their property and things can get messy if you simply cut it up and dispose of it. 

When cutting back have you seen the posts were showing signs of weakening? Did you point this out to the school? Similarly when they left the weight on the top did you raise concerns to them?

The only possible saving grace you have here is that organisations like councils and schools generally have a higher duty of care than if this was a private neighbour. It may be worth your time doing some digging on any particular requirements they have for periodic inspections etc. This is the normal angle of attach when claiming for damage caused by a pothole on a car.

TELLIT01

There are some potential problem areas.  The OP states that the wall came down in a storm, so it's possible that the insurer for the school/council, or whoever is the owner of the wall, will state they are not at fault and the OP will have to claim off their own insurance.  Depending on the OPs own home insurance there may or may not be cover for damage to outbuilding and their contents.

If the fallen fence was damaging my property I would take steps to get it removed before it causes further damage and then seek to recoup costs.  The situation regarding the shed will not improve if the weight remains on the roof.

As an aside, an 11 foot high wall will not be single skin, and it if has been standing since Victorian times, and wasn't affected by the attached fence falling, it is probably still sound.

cute-stray

Thank you both for your replies.
I'd like to avoid claiming off my insurance if I can, because I'm worried my premium will rise and I'm on a very tight budget at the moment. Also as @TELLIT01 points out, I don't think my shed is covered.

@Sandtree re: point 2): As per my original post- How do I got about claiming off their insurance? To whom would I need to prove negligence and what evidence would I need?
Your comment re: periodic inspections is most helpful. Do you have any idea where I might find that information- is it something the Council publishes?
Regarding "sucking it up": I have cleared what I could, but when I realised the heavy fence is still attached to the wall, I thought I'd better try to find help, a) for safety and logistical reasons and b) incase the school needed to inspect the damage or I needed evidence. I've taken photos but is that enough?

Also, I assumed the school will surely need to replace the fence fairly promptly, as half of the wire fence/ivy is still standing and attached to the bit which has twisted over. To do this their people would need to access my garden and to remove the clumps of ivy and debris. In my email to the headteacher I proposed we come to some arrangement for this to be done, in the hope it would be fixed soon.
To add insult to injury there have been workmen in the playground, angle grinding from 8.30am this week, but they're just building yet another new playground structure. 🤷‍♂️

davidmcn

cute-stray said:

How do I got about claiming off their insurance?

You don't claim off their insurance, you send your claim to the council, and it's up to them whether they involve their insurers. They may well self-insure for relatively small matters.

To whom would I need to prove negligence and what evidence would I need?

Ultimately you would need to prove it to a court, though it's unlikely to get that far.

Your comment re: periodic inspections is most helpful. Do you have any idea where I might find that information- is it something the Council publishes?

If it's not already published, you can make a Freedom of Information request.

Sandtree

cute-stray said:

How do I got about claiming off their insurance?

David is correct in that its their call not yours if they decide to use their insurance. In my experience of property claims with councils they typically have outsourced it to one of the TPA companies and they deal with it irrespective of if its ultimately paid by the council or the insurer - some large councils have fairly complex arrangements with aggregate deductibles etc. 

To whom would I need to prove negligence and what evidence would I need?

You effectively need to convince the person handling the claim on the other side that if this went to court that there is a significant probability that the judge would agree with you that the council has been negligent. First of all you have to make your allegations and then look for what evidence you can find to back it up be it photos, witness statements, information gained from FOI requests, engineer reports etc.

Your comment re: periodic inspections is most helpful. Do you have any idea where I might find that information- is it something the Council publishes?

Google is your friend, most of these types of things are document on various websites, often the councils own or potentially the relevant government body if its set at a higher level. Once you know what they state they should be doing then its the FOI request to confirm they have actually done what they state they should. So if you find that all structures should undergo an annual inspection but the council/school can only document that the last one was 4 years ago here is a strong argument that they have been negligent. 

tacpot12

If the wall has been allowed to become overgrown with ivy, such that its condition cannot be seen and checked, this could be negligence. If your home insurance may have a legal help line that you can call for legal advice. You can use this without making a claim on your insurance.

You are probably obliged under the terms of your contract with your insurer to tell them about anything that has happened that might lead you to claim on your insurance. 

Sandtree

tacpot12 said:

You are probably obliged under the terms of your contract with your insurer to tell them about anything that has happened that might lead you to claim on your insurance. 

This isnt normally the case for Home insurance otherwise you would have to tell them every time you dripped some wine on the carpet or chip a plate etc.