Hi

On Friday evening a double kitchen wall unit full of cups and glasses etc came away from the wall when I was under it, bashed me on the head and eventually landed on the floor smashing everything inside and damaging my kettle and toaster on the way down.

Thankfully I wasn't seriously hurt, although I'm suffering with a stonking headache still, and thankfully my son wasn't under it as it could have been a lot worse.

I'm in a rental property and reported it to my agent first thing the next day. There was no one in the lettings team in that day so someone in the sales team arranged for a contractor to come round to help clear up the mess and see if it could be put back up, but the unit is broken and the stud wall it was fixed to is crumbling.

I contacted my contents insurer to see if I need to claim under my insurance to cover the cost of everything that was broken but they said I need to tell my landlord that they are liable as the unit was a permanent fixture and therefore their fault if it fell.

I'm going to give the agents a call on Monday to try to get this sorted out but wanted to check where I stand first.

I've totted up the cost of everything that was broken and it's close to £500.

Should I be pursuing the landlord for compensation to replace everything or should I just bite the bullet and claim under my accidental damage cover but lose my no claims bonus and risk my premiums going up?

Thanks,

Nas

Sounds like there is damp or water getting into the plasterboard. Needs to be replaced, replastered and then wall unit replaced with correct fittings. Don't ever put too much in these wall cupboards, if they are not fixed onto a solid wall.

If you had £500 worth of items in this cupboard, the landlord might say that you had overloaded it and that you are partly responsible.

Don't forget if you claim under your own Contents Insurance Accidental Damage, you will have the excess, plus likely increased premiums over several years to face.

You should approach the landlord first of all, but I suspect difficult to prove they were legally liable. They might pay you, but this is more of a moral decision. BUT you should insist that the walls are checked by a contractor for damp or water damaged, plus wall fixings checked. You don't want other cupboards falling down causing more damage.

Get you head checked by a doctor. If it took an impact, you should show some caution.