My TAXI nudged a fence - court papers ***Settled by ADR***

[maybelate]

Hi,

I started my own taxi company approx. 1 year ago and

 

I am a one man band,

 

very recently I reversed into a fence when I was dropping off a fare.

 

I went to see the owner of the property,

who was a lady, and I offered to replace the damaged fence panel.

 

The lady said, o.k., that's fine, it was probably rotten anyway.

 

I went back the following day to get the fence panel measurements (2 pieces of wood 6" x 71"), but

 

later that evening I received an email from someone else claiming to be the owner of the property

saying that he can't shut his gate, which is approx 15' away from where I hit the fence, and

 

saying that he want's my insurance details so that he can get the fence repaired professionally

as he has received advice from his neighbour who is a carpenter,

to say that there is serious damage to the structure to the stockade of the fence.

 

I am more than happy to repair the damage that I have caused to the fence

but this person is definitely trying to pull a fast one.

 

I spoke to my insurance company today who advised me to get pictures of the fence,

which I have done, and

 

it shows that the fence is seriously rotten, and tied together with string in several places to keep it together.

 

The only post that isn't broken is the one that the panels that I hit are attached to.

 

I'm not really sure where to go with this now, as

 

I know that the damage that I did to the fence is very minimal

but the person in question seems to want to try to claim for a new fence out of this.

 

Do I go through my insurance, as excess is quite high and this will also impact on my no claims bonus?

 

The person doesn't want to be reasonable about this and seems to want to get as much as possible out of this.

 

I' not even sure who the person that it sending me emails about this is,

he claims to be the property owner but both times that I have been there

there has only been the same lady present and she doesn't seem to know about anything that the person sending the emails has said.

 

Can anyone help me to decide what to do next please?

[citizenkain]

maybe someone is winding you up,contact him and tell him you want to meet him at the fence and find out what his problem is,take someone with you as a witness

[lookinforinfo]

There is a thing called betterment in the Insurance industry. In your case, it will be that the owner of the fence cannot and up with a better fence than the one he has now. I can see no reason why your Insurance

company would agree to replacing the entire length of fence which is what the apparent owner is asking for since you only hit one panel. Whatever you have to replace, one would expect that the owner would

have to make a contribution towards to allow for the fact that they will be getting a brand new fence which is replacing a rotten old fence.

 

Probably best to let your Insurance company hammer it out with the owner then pay the bill yourself if there is anything to pay.

[maybelate]

thank you for your replies, if I pay the bill myself after the insurance company have dealt with the issue will it still affect my ncb? my renewal is due next month and I would have earned one year NCD.

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

you go thru you ins company and your premiums will rocket.

 

dx

[maybelate]

this is what I'm afraid of DX, I really believe that the damage I caused would only cost £20 max. to repair, and I have offered to do this, but the other party is being totally unreasonable. Can you please advise what you think the best course of action would be?

 

Thanks for your help on this, much appreciated.

[sailor sam]

If it was me I would offer to pay for the damage I caused. If the TP isn't happy with that, I would invite them to take me to court. BUT I would make sure I have as many pictures of the fence as possible to use as evidence to defend the claim.

[maybelate]

thanks Sam, I have offered to replace the panel that I damaged, and the lady that I spoke to originally agreed that she would be happy for me to do that but the person who has been sending me emails after that said that the damage that I caused has damaged the whole fence and he is demanding my insurance details so that he can get his "rotten" fence professionally repaired.

[sailor sam]

AFAIK legally you only have to provide your name and address to anyone with reasonable grounds to ask for it.

[maybelate]

Well I did this at the time of the incident Sam, and I offered to repair the damage, as far as I was concerned I did everything that I should have done at the time and the lady that I originally dealt with seemed happy with this but I'm concerned about this other person's response and where he is trying to take what was a very minor incident and I'm really lost as to what my next move should be.

 

Thanks again for all your help and advice with this.

[i hate bailiffs]

In the past I replaced a fence that was destroyed by a car accident

 

The home owners insurance paid for the claim

then got the money back from the car insurance company

[maybelate]

I went to the property and took some pictures of the fence as suggested. The fence is old and rotten and held together in places with string and just about the only panel that isn't broken is the one I hit. The owner of the property is sending threatening emails which demand my insurance details and state that if I don't give him the information by Friday he will report the matter to the police. I really don't know what to do now, I have offered to pay for the damage but this person is determined that he wants to go through my insurance, which I really can't afford to do, and especially not for such a petty amount (the damage I caused should be a cheap and easy repair). If I report the matter to the insurance company and then let them argue the damage amount with him but then pay the claim myself will it still impact on my NCB? Sorry to sound vague on this but I've not been in this position before and I want to do the right thing but at the same time don't want to let him rip me off!

 

Thanks

[sailor sam]

The police won't be interested providing that you exchanged details (names and addresses) and the incident wasn't the result of a traffic offence. The latter would need someone to make a formal statement accusing you of such.

 

As I see it you have a couple of options. You could call his bluff by saying that you have made what you believe to be a reasonable offer and if he isn't prepared to accept this, you invite him to take you to the small claims court. Obviously your pictures of the state of the fence will assist the judge in deciding what level (if any) of repair you should pay for.

 

Or you could source a local fencing contractor and ask him to do an estimate to repair the section of fencing which you damaged. He would be able to assess the general state of the fence and include an 'opinion' of this in his written estimate. Make sure he is aware that his attention is limited to only the damaged section. Your pictures may be good enough for him to assess it without actually visiting the site.

 

Your legal obligation is to put the owner back into the position he was in before the incident, nothing more, nothing less.

[reallymadwoman]

If you feel the emails are intimidating or threatening, you could also go to the police yourself. I doubt they'd do anything, but you could at least write back and tell this person that you've already been to the police regarding their harassment of you.

[ericsbrother]

You could respond by telling them that you have photographic proof of the fence's condition and that you will report their attemt to defraud you of they presist in their ridiculous claims and that your offer af amking good is strictly limited to the part you impacted upon..

[lookinforinfo]

Ericsbrother, I feel your letter is a bit strong since it may be that his gateway has been affected by the collision. If it is the owner then his request to have the whole fence repaired would not be fraudulent just

misguided. After all, the fence was doing its job before the accident and he was able to get in and out of his gateway without hindrance [though we have no way of knowing if the condition was only created at

the time of the accident].

The fact of the matter is that the fence was already in poor shape so the owner [whoever it is] cannot expect to get a brand new fence out of it. The fence should have been replaced earlier and then it would be quite clear what the taxi driver would have to do to put the fence back to the way it had been.

 

As it is the OP will probably have to come to an agreement with the owner to resolve the matter. That is one advantage of using the Insurance company since they have the clout to do this much easier than the

driver. Once the amount is agreed, the OP pays for the work to be done and that should not affect his NCB since he paid the claim.

[maybelate]

Thank you so much for your advice on this, I am still trying decide where to go with this, I am considering speaking to my insurance for there advice.Will have to respond to day decision's decisions.

[Ell-enn]

If you have legal cover included in your insurance ring them and ask for the legal dept - they will put you through to one of their solicitors who will be able to help.

[Ell-enn]

The legal assistance cover will probably be with your home insurance rather than your car insurance, although it may be in both. Try the home insurance first as you will be covered for personal liability.

[lookinforinfo]

In addition to Ell-ens excellent advice, if your insurance company doesn't offer that facility then if you are a member of the AA or RAC for example they have give free legal advice too.

[maybelate]

Thank you for all of your replies once again. I don't have home insurance but I do have legal cover on my taxi insurance. I spoke to them when the incident first happened and they advised me that I should speak to my insurance agent who can argue the case with the TP. The problem is that this is a very new business, the insurance is expensive and I am worried that if I have to go through the insurance my premiums will rocket and I won't be able to renew the policy. The TP says that he has made a claim for the incident through his home insurance and he is demanding that I give him my insurance details. I am going to send him an email once again offering to get a local professional carpenter to asses the damage that I have caused so that I can pay to have it repaired privately, thereby leaving my insurance out of the equation, but I think his response will be negative and that he will again threaten to report me to the police.

[reallymadwoman]

I think that if he goes to the police and if they show any interest you have plenty of evidence that you have done all you can to resolve the situation, so stop worrying about that aspect.

 

I also think the time has now come to put an end to this. I would be writing, by recorded delivery if possible, to this person summarising what you have previously offered to put matters right and his response so far. State that you have photographs and full details of the damage caused by your vehicle. End by saying your offer to repair the damage caused by your vehicle stands and you are not prepared to enter into any further correspondence so if he is not prepared to accept he must take whatever action he considers appropriate.

 

Incidentally, if he has claimed from his household insurance, he should no longer be contacting you direct since his insurers will want to take over.

[maybelate]

Thanks reallymadwoman, I will see what his response is to my final email offering to get a professional carpenter to fix the fence (just sent) and if he still isn't happy I will do as you suggest in your post. Thanks again.

[reallymadwoman]

He could well be one of those people who try to bully you and intimidate you, but when challenged will back down. I seriously doubt this will ever get near a court. He's trying it on, and he knows it.

[maybelate]

Well we will see:| Sometimes can't believe people:-x