Insurance - Storm damage to Car..Help?!

lorri2001uk

Hi there,

I woke on Wednesday morning, to find my car which was parked in the street was smashed to pieces from tiles which had fallen off the roof...this was in Glasgow where we had some awful stormy weather..!!

The buildings are tenements, partially owned by the council and it was only the tiles mainly on the section I was parked at where the tiles came loose and guttering was hanging off...

I have been told it was an "Act of God" and therefore have a huge excess to pay on my car insurance as well as losing my 4 years no claims protection....

Now what I think is.....that the tiles at that section must have been loose or all the tiles would have come off all the roofs and all the cars woudl ahve been damaged...and that the council are negligent?

I spoke to the factor who looks after the building who denied everything...I don't know if it's worth pursing or if so, where to start?! Some advice would eb appreciated..

Thanks

L x

DaisyFlower

Storm damage incidents like this one are classed as an act of god by insurers. Saying that if the storm was bad all the slates would have blown off is a bit excessive. If you were trying to claim storm damage to your house would you only claim if all the roof came off? Of course not.

Insurers will charge an excess and amend your ncb/rate your policy accordingly where there is no third party to make a recovery one. The TP would have to be proven negligent for them to have a claim and I cant see that happening in this case.

lisyloo

The third party is only responsible if they were negligence e.g. failed to repair or maintain the roof.
If it's just caused by really bad weather then I'm afraid it's down to you to insure your car.

Presumable when you took a huge excess you knew that was a risk and you decided to take it.

I'm sorry for your predicament but unless there was clear negligence then no one else is at fault and it's up to you to insure against it.

Sorry.

lorri2001uk

Thanks for your input...

lorri2001uk

Thanks LisyLoo, I know that its my responsibility to insure against it, and of course I am insured.

I suppose I would have to look into seeing when the tiles were last maintained etc to see if I could go any further on that...

Just one of those unlucky things I think..!

Thanks

lisyloo

I suppose I would have to look into seeing when the tiles were last maintained etc to see if I could go any further on that...

The owner of the property is under no obligation to prove their property is safe, it's up to you to prove it's unsafe.
If it's a householder they are unlikely to have regular checks done and even if there was something dodgy, they aren't very likely to admit it to you.

The kind of things that would be useful would be evidence of previous problems, evidence of complaints or evidence of the poor state of the roof.

Now I suspect the owner isn't going to be co-operative in implicating themselves and organisations like the council can be awkward with things like the data protection act, so unless you have some solid proof of your own or from some other individual then it's going to be difficult.

Of course if the property has been particularly bad and there's a long recorded list of complaints that you can prove then you would certainly have a case against the owner of the property for negligence which in most cases they would be insured for.

mattymoo

The NCD should only roll back 2 years. With typical scales of
1 yr = 30%
2 yr = 40%
3 yrs = 50%
4 yrs = 60%

You will go from a 60% discount to 40%. This will add about 50% to your current premium but not as bad as losing the whole lot.

Hey_Dude

Agree with all of the above - sorry for your loss.

Moral of the story - when you reach 4 years invest in No Claims Protection.

Good luck,

Dude

lorri2001uk

Thank Dude..

I do have No claims protection...that's what I've lost, still have my 4 years no claims, but now unprotected between now and June....just have to hope thats "God" doesn't want to have another "pop"!!

Thanks to all for help and advice..

L x

chester_clyde

My roof Hatch was blown off by the wind and landed on my neighbours car, writing it off. She is on 3rd party insured and not covered. She is now expecting me to pay cash to get a replacement.

I know I was not negligent becasue this was a pure accident but should I give her the cash she is ddemanding as a courtesy? My mind says 'no way; but my conscience says otherwise.
Please help!

FlameCloud

Depends how friendly you are with her I suppose. You are under no legal obligation to help her out, so it just down to whether you feel it appropriate.