Items damaged by council contractors

[MamaMoo]

My council fitted a boiler and damaged a lot of my items. All 3 damaged items were purchased recently (26/10/2010, 15/12/2010 and 26/03/2011) and so haven't really depreciated in value. 2 of the items are no longer available for sale (one company was bought out, but the same item is still available for sale, just with the new brand name) and the other company has discontinued the colour I bought. Am I right in assuming when writing my letter to claim cost of replacement, I can request an alternative item (only in the case of the discontinued items) for the same, or a lower value?

The items are still working, but are now horribly scratched and dented, which, for such new items, is unacceptable in my view, especially as it was all down to the contractor's negligence.

Also, how is the best way to go about this?

Edited May 29, 2011 by MamaMoo

[MamaMoo]

My council fitted a boiler and damaged a lot of my items. All 3 damaged items were purchased recently (26/10/2010, 15/12/2010 and 26/03/2011) and so haven't really depreciated in value. 2 of the items are no longer available for sale (one company was bought out, but the same item is still available for sale, just with the new brand name) and the other company has discontinued the colour I bought. Am I right in assuming when writing my letter to claim cost of replacement, I can request an alternative item (only in the case of the discontinued items) for the same, or a lower value?

The items are still working, but are now horribly scratched and dented, which, for such new items, is unacceptable in my view, especially as it was all down to the contractor's negligence, and prior to this they were in pristine condition.

Also, how is the best way to go about this?

Should I request the value of the items new, or a percentage of the value new? If requesting a %, what % is appropriate?

[cerberusalert]

I was in a similar situation & I billed the electrical contractor for the replacement of the goods. He paid up without a problem because although he had public liability insurance it was cheaper to pay 'out of pocket' rather than through his insurance.

 

Also report the incident to your council.

[MamaMoo]

I was in a similar situation & I billed the electrical contractor for the replacement of the goods. He paid up without a problem because although he had public liability insurance it was cheaper to pay 'out of pocket' rather than through his insurance.

 

Also report the incident to your council.

 

Just out of curiosity, could you tell me what your items were and how were they damaged (was it just cosmetic, or were they broken completely) and also what was the value.

Mine is a severely dented £700 fridge freezer (9 weeks old) a £200 fitted hob, which is now badly scratched (7 months old) and an £80 microwave, dented and scratched (5 months old) I'd post photos but I'm too new apparently :/

[cerberusalert]

It was a fitted wardrobe, a tv and a bed.

 

They tried to move a 'fitted' wardrobe to get behind, it collapsed onto the bed & the tv which was on top was smashed against the wall.

 

I contacted the council as the main contractor & they told me to claim against the sub-contractor. If he hadn't of paid I would have then gone for the council.

[cerberusalert]

Do you have legal cover on your household insurance? If so it might be an idea to contact them for advice too.

[MamaMoo]

Thanks

And no, I don't have legal cover I have my home insurance with the council as they do a cheap insurance for tenants.

[cerberusalert]

I'd have a word with the council first if your insurance is through them.

[MamaMoo]

I have spoke to my Tenant Liaison Officer, who thinks that as the items are only cosmetically damaged, that they are under no obligation to replace the items, or compensate me in any way.

He is also adamant that the damage to the fridge was already there. I have a photo from 6 weeks ago showing no damage, but they say they have a photograph from before the works showing they were there, however there have been people in and out of my house with cameras, and the photo could have been taken at any point.

Is it up to me to prove that the damage was not there beforehand, or is it up to them to prove that it was (ie with a date stamped photograph)

[cerberusalert]

I'm going to move your thread to the Legal forum to get some input from others.

[cerberusalert]

Thread moved.

[MamaMoo]

Thank you

[MamaMoo]

Bump

[Robert56]

Hi, I hope I am posting this to the correct forum. As I was moving into a new property, I felt it necessary to replace both the door locks. In the process of doing this, the engineer accidentally smashed one of the 8 glass panels of the porch. His company said that they would replace the panel but the window firm who is taking care of this said that the new panel will not match the same colour of the other 7, which is going to be most inconvenient. My question is to establish the responsibility of the company I have employed to change the locks: would it be reasonable to demand that all the panels be replaced at their expense? By shattering to pieces one panel, they have in fact caused a much greater damage and a large expense which I find it hard to meet at this point.

Thanks

[dx100uk]

Hi, I hope I am posting this to the correct forum. As I was moving into a new property, I felt it necessary to replace both the door locks. In the process of doing this, the engineer accidentally smashed one of the 8 glass panels of the porch. His company said that they would replace the panel but the window firm who is taking care of this said that the new panel will not match the same colour of the other 7, which is going to be most inconvenient. My question is to establish the responsibility of the company I have employed to change the locks: would it be reasonable to demand that all the panels be replaced at their expense? By shattering to pieces one panel, they have in fact caused a much greater damage and a large expense which I find it hard to meet at this point.

Thanks

 

this thread is almost 2 yrs old rob

 

you post wont get see here

 

can I suggest you start your own thread

 

there is a little video below to help you

 

dx

[citizenB]

This thread is now in "General Legal Issues"

 

It is purely an administrative move.