Car Damaged - Really P*ssed Off

[clutdav]

Howdy everyone,

I am not a happy bunny at the moment. I was attending an offsite business meeting yesterday at Norwoodhall and as I was reverse parking my front bumper was ripped off - not pleased!

As you come up towards the hotel you drive up a tarmac'd driveway from the main road. As you approach the carpark areas you have to drive off the tarmac and into gravel parking bays defined by cut down logs. In doing so you drive over a small concrete divider which stops the gravel from getting onto the main driveway. The space that I attempted to reverse into had a big (5" +) dip on the other side which I could not see.

So once my front passenger wheel had cleared the concrete divider I was greeted by a huge bang and scraping noise. Needless to say I shat myself, stopped immediately and went round to check the front of my car......

To find the front passenger side of the bumper ripped off and at 90degs to the front wing - still stuck on the concrete lip. So I drove off it and back up onto the tarmac driveway - sourced another parking bay and inspected the damage. At this point I am absolutely fuming.

I realise this thread is useless without pictures so (please excuse the poor quality the pics are from my iPhone): -

This is the concrete lip in question - you can clearly see a chunk taken out of the top and the white scrape where my car ended up.

This is the hole that greeted and ended my front bumper - the hole is about 5" deep and I used my car keys to give it some scale.

As you can see here the dip onto the gravel parking bays is not consistent. I was unaware of the big dip as my rear wheels never encoutered it due to the angle I reversed into the space.

So it ripped my front bumper skin off to 90degs. It pinged back some of the way once I had driven back off the lip. But as you can see it nolonger aligns.

This also snapped my carbon splitter in to and broke the retaining tabs on the foglight covers.

Close up of splitter. Totally minced...

I had to make some DIY repairs to keep the bumper in place as after the meeting I was going to pick up my wife and 4-1/2 month old daughter.

So I calmed myself down and went into the hotel to complain. My details were taken and I was informed the General Manager was on duty until 7pm and that she would still be there after my meeting had finished at 5.30pm. So meeting finishes and the GM has gone home - but left me a message to say they (Norwoodhall) don't accept any responsibility for damage occurring in the carpark. And she left here 20year old duty manager to inform me.

I don't see why I should have to claim this damage on my insurance - my understanding is that as it is private land they have a "duty of care" to maintain their carpark to an acceptable level that does not cause damage to patron's cars. Can you imagine the damage that would have been caused to a Porsche?? So I popped into Kinghorn this morning to have a quote prepared. Thankfully the bumper skin is not damaged and they even managed to reposition the skin back on for me on the spot. However, I need a new splitter (Chargespeed CF Bottomline Type 2 - £475 supplied from SRB), arch liners, liner undertray and bumper guides + fitment. Thankfully I don't need a new bumper, washers or headlights. So it is going to be a hefty bill.

I get a call back from a very unhelpful GM this morning at 10.30am approx and get the company line that they do not accept any reponsibility and that I should phone my insurance company.

Does anyone have any legal background that they can share? Does the hotel have a responsibility under law to maintain their carpark appropriately? Any help is greatly appreciated.

I am so flippin angry.............

Dave

[pmacFTO]

I'd guess that it's Private Land and so does not have any legal obligation in relation to that aspect of the car park - Health and Safety issues would be more likely to be picked up on....you could write a letter at least and see what they come back with - make sure there are no signs saying they take no responsibility for cars parked there either.

[xraydave]

That looks nasty, can only say that a similar thing happened to me, but in a BMW and at the vets, and I ended up paying for it myself as the vets simply did not care, parking at own risk etc, it was about £1000 as I needed a new bumper and fixings etc, but was less hassle than claiming, although I had protected no claims I'm sure thay would have put my premium up anyway.

Good luck, hope it all gets sorted soon

[scoobzie]

don,t get caught kicking someone,s balls

Edited April 2, 2009 by scoobzie

[ScottyRB320]

Not good!

The company can try the old "No liability" party line all they want however in the eyes of the law this is no defence.

If for example a patron had tripped over the hole then they would be negligent under a common law duty of care.

This link below is an excellent website - similar case

http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/...-s-risk-clauses

Post your exact circumstances and the team should come back to you swiftly with a repsonse (Might not be able to as it is Scottish Law)

I had a similar experience a few years ago with my 997 Turbo in a Car Park at the Council offices in Stirling.

They tried to fob me off and i took the advice of a local solicitor and lodged a small claim at the local court - (Costs peanuts to buy the forms and submit and you can represent yourself from memory i think it is a maximum of 1.5k claim???? May be wrong)

As soon as the council got the summons they paid up, worth doing to prove how serious you are.

Regards

ScottyB

[thewelsho]

Absolute shocking man! I hope you get that sorted. Seems like Scotty is on the right tracks. Keep us posted with your progress.

JW

[sti pretender]

Might be worth a chat with your insurers if it doesn't affect your no claims then they will go after the hotel to recover the costs.

[Guest CRAIG D]

Sorry to hear and see this. I did the same years and years ago when i have a corsa (got to start somewhere)

i had 2 17" wheels replaced buy a pub in edinburgh.

As said on previous reply they will try the old we take no responsablity piss but if you stick to your guns they will give in.

Id be very weary about contacting your insurance just yet till you have a responce from the people that own the carpark. Any excuse the insurance can find not to pay out they will take it.

Hope it works out

LOVELY MOTOR TOO

Edited April 2, 2009 by CRAIG D

[thefastone]

Christ! Ive never been keen on their carpark, but I never realised that it was as bad as that! You'd think that their reputation and the kind of clients that they bring, the carpark would at least be maintained to a certain standard, and by the looks of things they have not maintained the car park at all, which wouldn't surprise me...

I'd go after them, they have to have public liability insurance that covers such a thing, and Like someone said, all it takes is for someone to trip over that kerb and they have a lawsuit on their hands...

Hope you get somewhere with them Dave!

[ur.a.bus]

the first picture looks as if it has a damp patch, possible oil? looks like someone might have burst a sump doing the same thing

[clutdav]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys and all the advice. I have been in contact with a family friend who also is a solicitor. He believes I have a strong case against the hotel in question. I have also sent a question into the website that scottyb suggested in his post. So we will just have to wait and see what take they have on the situation. I'll keep you all posted.

If anyone has had any other experiences of this nature please post it up or send me a pm if you don't want your comments public.

Many thanks again everyone.

Dave

[ed-209]

I've been down this road before with cumbernauld town center, you simply ask the hotel to supply details of their public liability insurance it's and offence for them to refuse to supply the details.

My original post was

http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=89667&hl=

In the end there insurance paid out over £800 but it did take about 10months as they keep messing about.

Best of luck mate.

[StewartyBoy]

Evrything in life is a contract. Drive into a carpark and if it says "Beware of drop in paving, liability is with driver" then they DO have a right to fight their case that they've warned you and you did not heed the advice.

However, the drop in paving is their liability if they have not warned you about the danger. They are liable for paying for the damage to your vehicle, the parking surface will be rendered inadequate and you will get a payout.

Any other legal advice drop me a message.

[x444wrx]

Hi mate im a store manager with Tesco's the hotel should have public liability insurance and as ed-209 previously mentioned it is an offence for them not to supply you with the details of this if you or your solicitor asks to see the details. i know its your car thats damaged but they should be treating it as if it was an personal injury or a something which poses a risk to personal injury....they do have a responsability to look after and maintain the carpark for health and safety...... what would have happened if you or the missus or kid had tripped and fallen and seiously injured yourself?? if it damaged your pride and joy the danger is there. they also have a responsability to provide clear and visble signage warning of danger and also declairing that they accept no responsability for loss or damage. get your solicitor to get in to the ****ers. cheers JV ps nice scoob gutted for you mate.

[camcq]

I had a simmilar instance when i done deliveries for a private company, and my boss at the time got the same squeal as you. But he then went on and claimed thier insurance on the public liability side. And won it straight off, as its similar in term off you falling and hurting yerself. But iam sure he went thru his own insurance first thou.

Anyhow shame on the damage eh? wot a cun+

[G-ManUK]

every scoob owners nigtmare with the front splitter!

sounds like they've got no warning notices and the 'car park' isn't exactly kept in good condition - think you have a case mate...

Might be best to go to your own insurers and get their help to go after the hotel - don't take no for an answer and insist the hotel are at fault - keep your photos - they look pretty damning to me..

if you don't want to go through your own insurance, Scottyrb320 has the right idea - if you are getting no luck with the hotel or their insurers, issue a Small Claim against them.. (try writing to the hotel insisting they tell their Public Liability insurers and enclose photos (make sure you refer to them in the letter) - that way, the hotel can't try to tell the insurance company that everything is tip top when it obviously isn't)

if you want any advice on this PM me...

[StewartyBoy]

Any results on this one?!