locoboy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 07:14 PM |
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advice on claiming for 3rd party damage
OK then collective Gentlefolk, here's one for you.
I don't want replies of find out where they live and chop their balls off etc, I want above board solutions to what I could do in this
situation.
Here's the story
21st December 2013 I return from a night out to find the neighbours house over the road has their front window blown OUT and the remains are all over
my and my Mrs car and our gravel driveway. It's not safety glass as its an old terraced house so the drive is littered with needle sharp shards
for glass and the cars both have glass rash up them 2004 Passat and 2008 A3.
The fire brigade are there and secure the gas supply.
The people living there are proper chavy pot smoking non working claiming types.
He claims its a gas explosion.
The fire service report says it's an aerosol can left under the log burner.
It fired glass and wooden window frame 42 ft from their window into my garden passing by and covering the drive and cars in the process.
The chavy types are renting the property and confess to me they have no insurance (they can barely afford their roll ups and weed)
I touch up the landlord for his insurance details and he gives me the run around until the 2nd Jan 2014, I get the policy number and try initiating a
claim against his insurance.
I get very little help from 'sainsburys' insurance but the way it was left on the 10t Jan us that they will update me on any progress they
get from their insured (the land lord)
The chavy Tennant's moved out in march this year.
I've moved house, had a lot of changes at work, sold my car in the mean time, Mrs still has the same car but its not been a priority to chase it
up.
This week or realised its almost 12months since it happened so fired off an email replying to Sainsburys email saying they would update me.....
Asking what the hell is going on and it doesn't take 11 months to get details from 'their insured'.
They come back and say the land lord is not at fault so there for will not entertain a claim......fair enough but the offer me £100 compensation for
them taking so long to tell me this......
I accept this as its 100 quid more than I had before I started out!
But can I personally pursue the chavy tenant for the repair costs? They have moved on and I don't know where he lives but I have found him on
Facebook.
They don't have a pot to wee in so would it be worth my while chasing them or is it going to result in a payment if about 87p per week for the
foreseeable future.....??
Do I give up and suck it up or stick it out?
ATB
Locoboy
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02GF74
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 07:26 PM |
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If it took you one year to chase any potential pay out, then maybe you are not so hard up?!
It sounds like you need some legal advice, CAB maybe, but i suspect you will need to stomp up cash to chase any compo.
How much are you out of pocket? Is small claims court not an option? Sounds like there is little chance of getting cash from the chavs, so youd need
to claim from the landlord who will either need to chase the chavs or make insurance claim..... and theres no guarantee he do either.
Dunno but i reckon £ 100 is as good as it gets..
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 07:42 PM |
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Think you've left it far too late.
You'd have to prove money lost on your car when selling it and whether they will repair your misses car. If they don't write it off.
Take the money and caulk it up to should of done something a bit sooner.
Ben
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Wadders
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 07:57 PM |
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As said, bit late now, however i wouldn't have accepted that it was not the landlords responsibility. It was his property and his insurance
after all. If say a gas blast from his property had levelled both houses i'm sure they would have had to foot the bill so whats the difference.
insurance ombudsman springs to mind.
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locoboy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:09 PM |
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The reason nothing was done sooner is that, we were in the middle of getting the house on the market, it has since sold so the drive way clean up was
no longer a concern, I then sold my car so that was no longer a concern, the Mrs had an incident with a bollard when reverse parking, only bumper
scuff but didn't bother repairing it so the importance of the glass rash kind of wore off somewhat. But it's the principle of it now.
I'm justified in leaving it a long time in that I have emailed proof that the insurance company said they would update me when they knew
more......who am I to say how long these things take? Only when ithe was approaching 12 months did I think, bloody hell this is taking the mick!
ATB
Locoboy
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r1_pete
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:13 PM |
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During high winds a few years back a ridge tile blew off our roof, smashed my car windscreen, and then bounced on and damaged our next door neighbours
car.
There was no cover up or awkwardness, but, our house insurer would not reimburse him for the cost of repairs to his car or his insurance excess, they
claimed his damages, and those to my car, were covered by separate insurance and were not their risk.
It does seem a grey area, as our first contact with our home insurer said both car excesses at least would be covered, until we came to claim, and
then the stance changed.....
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locoboy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:14 PM |
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Waders,
the insurance compaby did explain that if the landLord was neglegent for example he had failed to maintain his roof and some tiles slipped and damaged
the car then yes a claim could be made, but as it was purely the acts of the tenant then he could not be held responsible.
In the event of the tenant blowing my house down with a gas explosion I would need to claim on my own house insurance I'm sure, as they were not
insured.
[Edited on 9/12/14 by locoboy]
ATB
Locoboy
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nick205
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:15 PM |
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TBH if you hadn't followed up for 11 months, have since moved house and sold one of the cars I think you're doing rather well to get the
£100. IMHO I'd move and spend your time on something more productive.
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big_wasa
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:18 PM |
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Suck it up  Insurance is a con, all of it.
You know there is nothing to gain financially and you will be chasing any compo' for ever.
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AntonUK
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:18 PM |
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Personally, given the situation of the other party and the timescales involved I'd take the £100 and put it down to experience.
Build Photos Here
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mookaloid
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:25 PM |
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I guess your car insurance paid out and you are just trying to get your excess back?
I would say that you had very little chance at the time and probably no chance now.
The reasons are:
1. that's the way insurance works - you claimed, you got paid out. The insurance company have decided that it's not worth their while to
pursue this any further. If there was a chance of them mitigating their loss by going after someone they would have done so.
2. the people responsible have no money and you probably can't find them.
Suck it up and move on
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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morcus
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:29 PM |
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As a Tennant his insurance would only have been contents if he'd had any surely? I've rented a few places and buildings insurance has
always been the land lords responsibility (They don't have to have insurance as such but they're legally obliged to maintain the property
which includes things you'd claim on insurance for).
I would agree with the others and say its probably too late and chasing the former neighbour won't get you anywhere as you'll be more out
of pocket even if you win which isn't guaranteed.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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locoboy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:29 PM |
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The whole point was why claim on my own insurance and risk aflecking my premium when I was a victim and the other parties insurance company said they
would be backeen in touch........The importance of it diminished to where we are now, no claim was made on my policy at all because I was under the
impression it was an ongoing claim against the land lord over the road!
ATB
Locoboy
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locoboy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 08:40 PM |
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Sorted then, I'll tell the Mrs she has an extra £100 in her Christmas stocking this year then. Thanks for the input :-)
ATB
Locoboy
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perksy
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| posted on 9/12/14 at 10:03 PM |
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To be fair there ain't much point in suing someone if they haven't got any money.
Even if it got to court the judge would be asking why it had taken you so long to pursue it.
Normally you'd claim off your own insurance/s and they should then pursue it or if you had legal cover you might be able to
use a solicitor.
Sadly i think you'll have to let this one go.....
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motorcycle_mayhem
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| posted on 10/12/14 at 10:07 AM |
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I have walked away from a lot worse than this, with quite horrendous personal costs, financially and mentally.
My experience has been that the rich will cause me issues and have the means to ensure I get nowhere with redress. The state sponsored lot will simply
disappear into the ether, again, no redress.
The only issues that I've pursued have been created by hard working, tax paying, legally abiding people, these have been sorted amicably without
having to escalate.
I've had no success with any insurance company, for whatever. It's always been someone else's responsibility.....
I would smile, forget your troubles here, they really aren't an issue. The Care Home and a urine soaked bed are far too close to us all, to
worry about such things. No one was injured here.
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Brook_lands
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| posted on 10/12/14 at 11:59 AM |
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You have up to 6 years to pursue a claim through the small claims track so while there may ne a question as to why you left it for a year you are
still within time.
A claim can only put ypu back into the same position you were before the incident occured, if you have fixed the damage and have a bill then it is
easy to prove your loss, if you have sold one of the cars without fixing it then it will be more difficult to prove that you would have sold it for
more except for the damage.
You can only claim against a negligent party, that would appear not to be the Landlord so you would have to go after the tenant.
You will have to instigate a small claims court claim, minimum cost £25.
If they no longer live in the area then it will be heard in the court nearest to where they live, travel cost for you if you attend which can be added
to the claim.
Then there is a hearing, which may mean time off work if you attend (lost money or holiday possibly)
You win (not a certainty because you would have to prove they were negligent and because small claims is a bit of a lottery), but they don't pay
cos they have no money. 28 days later they get a CCJ (are they the sort of people who would care)
You go back to court to enforce the order (more time and cost)
Court gives you an enforcement order, baliff attends where ever they are living (assuming they are still there or can be found) and finds they have
nothing of value to take and sell.
You get nowt.
I think you have probably got £100 more than you could have, in all likelihood you could blow that and more on a claim which may be an hollow victory
because they won’t or don’t have the means to pay.
Ok its not fair or just but then life rarely is.
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