Council issuse and need help drafting a letter please! ;-)

[djmacca]

Hiya folks!!

nice site and this is my first post so be gentle"!¬¬ lol



My issue is this............i need help in drafting a letter to my local council please,ill tell your more below..


Few weeks ago outside my home i came in from work one day and noticed that a roadside sign had become very dangerous ( sign displaying the town your entering),it was all rusted and corroded at the base and was leaning to one side.
I reported this issue to my local council (street scene) they came out after a few days and took some snaps of it,then drove off.

1 week later after waking up the sign had fallen over onto my car and caused some damage to my car roof and the paintwork,now your prob thinkin i shouldnt of parked there but its not the point is it!!!

Any ideas where i stand on this one guys and also can anyone help in drafting a letter for me please as im new to this sort of thing... Ive listed below on what i have collected so far...

1.photos of the corroded sign
2.photos of the sign on my car causing the damage (various angles)
3.2 quotes from 2 garages detailing the work needed and cost!!

many thanks in advance people and i hope somebody can help me on this one!! thanks again!!

Ste!!


P.S admin/mods i hope this is in the right section!!!!


thanks!

[jampot]

Actually, parking there, KNOWING there was a dangerous sign within 'falling distance' of your car, *might* be an issue.

I think it fair to say that the council would probably not be liable for any damage caused, unless negligence could be proven (much like, if your tree fell on my car).

However, if they KNEW about the problem with the sign, and still did nothing, you could argue negligence...

The problem is, if someone else reported the sign, and you didn't know about it, you could possibly have a strong case to get the council to pay for all of your damage - since their negligence in not fixing something which they KNEW to be dangerous is the only thing to be decided, and you would merely be an innocent bystander.

However, as it was you that reported the sign to the council, yet continued to willingly park your car there, it could be argued that you have either accepted the risk, and are partly responsible for the damage to your car.

I think you need to be clear about why you continued to park there. If this were to go to court, it is the first thing you'd be questioned on.

[djmacca]

1st thing many thanks for your reply!! very kind of you!

The thing I might add is this.... if the sign was that dangerous why didnt they take it down there and then,and not wait for weeks,then the damage!