Car Damage on Private Property HELP!!

[leo75]

We own and run a small business centre and need some initial advice regarding who is liable for £600 of damage caused to a Tenant's customer's car last week.

The damage occurred when an un-secured entrance gate was blown into the customer's car. We have a disclaiming notice in the car park, and all the tenants are advised to secure the gate. None of the tenants are admitting opening the gate on that morning but we are waiting for cctv from a nearby business which could identify the tenant opening and not securing the gate.

The owner of the damaged car has written to us asking for our insurance details but we have not yet replied. In his letter he mentions that he saw the gate 'moving in the wind' yet he still entered the site. Also, no one witnessed the incident, although there is damage to the gate which will need attention as it is now difficult to lock-could we make a counter claim? And if so, against the car driver or the tenant?

If we identify who didn't secure the gate, are they liable or ourselves as owners?

[sequenci]

Hello there, welcome to CAG. This is my initial thought:

 

The fact that the driver has admitted that they saw the gate blowing in the wind is likely to scupper their ability to hold you liable (in my opinion). The risk was clear to him, it was obvious.

 

I'm really not sure you'll be able to do anything regarding the damage to your gate. Again this is just my initial thought.

 

I'm sure other folks will come along to give you their opinion too. This isn't really my area so please don't consider my thoughts authoritive.

[reallymadwoman]

To prove liability for the damage to the car or the gate, the claimant would need to prove that the other party was in some way negligent - they did, or did not do, something which a reasonable person in the same circumstances would or would not have done.

 

So, for the damage to the car, the owner could possibly claim against the person who left the gate unsecured, but I doubt very much if they could prove liability against the owner of the gate unless there was some reason why the gate could not be secured and you knew or should have known about it and a reasonable person would have known that it may cause damage to someone's property. If you have public liability insurance I would pass the claim on to them with a covering letter stating liability is denied. There is probably a condition in your policy that you do not correspond with or otherwise contact the claimant directly.

 

If the CCTV shows who might have left the gate unsecured then it might be reasonable to pass that person's contact details to the car owner, but there is still no guarantee he will get his car repairs paid for. It comes down to the reasonable person thing - would an average person realise that not securing the gate could cause damage, or was this an exceptionally windy day, for example? If the car driver could see the gate moving but still chose to drive past it then he/she may well be at least partly responsible for the damage themselves.

 

The same comments apply regarding liability for damage to the gate. If you identify the person and can prove they were negligent, you can recover the cost of repairs but they may not have insurance to cover this type of incident, so you may have to decide if it's worth the cost of pursuing a claim very far especially if you have insurance to cover the repairs. Again, it would probably be easier to let your insurers deal with it.