Scaffolding put up by council destroyed my living room as a result of the storm

Mango112

This contains 2 separate issues relating to the same scaffolding. It has been a nightmare.

It started off over 2 weeks ago now when scaffolding was put up with no notice from the council (live in a council property), tried to get in touch to find out why it has been put up and apparently it was for roof works. When they were putting it up they bent and disconnected cables from my dish, meaning no tv for over 2 weeks now (this isn't a case of scaffolding blocking signal, it had been damaged and unplugged with no warning). Is this something that the council will reimburse for?

Second, and by far more concerning, is the fact that on Sunday night a piece of said scaffolding came flying through the living room window, smashing it to tiny pieces and destroying parts of the living room as well as damaging a laptop. My dad had been in the room when it happened but very very luckily he walked away scratch free. This piece of scaffolding is the bit that is walked on (apologies if this is not the technical term). Phoned the council as soon as it happened to try and get the window boarded up (a whole other ordeal in itself). We had been told that we would not get any reimbursement for the damages from the council, so is there a way to get it back? The storm was very clearly out with their control but we feel like if such high winds were forecast someone should have came out and secured the scaffolding (a total of 23 metal walkways came down with the wind, huge, heavy metal planks which could very easily have killed us or anyone else). No window will be fitted for at least another 5 working days (a week from time of writing) as it needs to be ordered. Our heating bill will be through the roof, particularly in such wet and windy weather. Is the heating bill something we can claim back for also? Does the fact we had reported the scaffolding for an unrelated issue help us with anything?

As storm Jocelyn is approaching, the scaffolding company had came out to put the scaffolding back up. Thankfully I was able to show them what had happened just 2 nights before and they aborted their plans but it just makes me think are weather conditions such as this not taken into account? The scaffolders were also aware of what had happened - just not the extent of it - and were extremely shocked.

Is there not some sort of duty of care owed to us? I would be grateful for any and all tips.

molerat

If the window is now boarded up your heating bill will not be through the roof. Has it been boarded up ?

You need to claim on your home insurance for the storm damage to your property unless you can prove it was due to the negligence of the council / their contractors.  

The council / their contractors should be responsible for the cost of sorting the satellite dish as to damage the cable they were not exercising reasonable care whilst erecting the scaffold.