Hi any advice would be of great use,

Today while entering the car park of a private club my sister has gone over a speed hump and hit a protuding flap that covers retractable bollards, this has appeared to ahve done quite alot of damage to her car. The damage consists of cracked sump, gearbox fault and exhaust system.

The flap was not secured to the ground and photos have been taken of it and where it is in relation to the hump, the flap went the opposite way to the traffic coming into the car park so became an immovable object. She has contacted her insurance who are going to tow the car for repairs, she has been told over the phone by them that she will lose 2 years no claims and pay 175 excess. She has been told that she will ahve to get the insurance details of the club and persue them, she feels the flap should be secured so it does not pose an obstruction and that it his poorley sited in relation to the hump.

The room was hired by her works for a party, she would like to know her next best course of action as she feels that she shouldn't lose money through this as this was not her fault.

Any input would be of great help sol

A private car park is not governed by either the Police nor the MIB. She will have to submit a claim to the owners of the car park. If she has comprehensive cover she will need to have the repairs done by her insurers and they will claim the monies back. However, she can claim herself for the Excess on her policy and any out of pocket expenses not covered by the insurance such as hire during repair etc. If she needs any help finding out the owners details etc I will be happy to help

She may need to do a Land registry search which I can help with if she cant gain the info through the Land Registry website

If the accident was non-fault then you should not lose your NCB provided there is 3rd party from which to claim.

Although I wouldn't advise it if your firm booked the facility you may, as well as having a claim against the club, a claim against your employer. This may be neccessary later if it's found that the club has no (PLI) public liabilty insurance because when booking the club your employer has a 'duty of care' to you which includes ensuring the venue has PLI.

As a point of interest the police do have enforcement powers on private land where the public have access such as a car park. If you are found to be committing a driving offence (such as DD or uninsured) whilst on private land to which the public have access then you are still commiting an offence to same extent as you would be on a 'public' road