Query regarding costs incurred while evacuated from house - ** SCOTLAND **

[Gaz74205]

OK, I'll start at the beginning.

 

On the 9th of June, Part of the masonry on my building all fell off. picture, and a little more info, on this link from the BBC news.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27766612

 

the houses are bought. the one I live in being owned by my friend, who also lives there. there was no factor for the building. as I understand it, a factor is like a building manager, and would have dealt with getting this sorted. lacking one of those, one of the other residents took this position upon himself and is acting on behalf of everyone else who is affected. the entire side of the street was evacuated, and nearly 5 weeks later, we are no further towards having this sorted. the communication from the guy is beyond awful, and as far as any of us can tell, all that has been done is one survey of the damage. from what he has said, he also seems to be dragging his feet, trying to get it done on the cheap. this strikes me as odd as surely insurance would cover it.

 

what recourse do we have to get him to communicate what's going on here?

 

next, i start a new job soon, and due to this evacuation, i am currently staying with my mother. my travel costs will be nearly £300 a month, rather than the £50 it would have been had i not been evacuated.

 

can i claim that expense from this guy who is dragging his feet getting stuff repaired? by that i mean can i demand full info from him, and if it turns out he is not getting this fixed ASAP and has no good reasons for the speed its all taking, can i then sue him for the expense i will incur as a result of his slowness?

 

I've probably not worded most of this very well, so anything thats unclear, or any further info you need, please ask.

[citizenB]

Ouch, that must have been a little scary. Pleased to hear that no one was injured.

 

I will try and find someone to help.

[Gaz74205]

scary?? lol! the stairs on the left of the image are to my front door, just to the left and below those stairs are my room window, and right next to that is my bed. my head was feet away from where it all landed! i work nights and trust me, that is not a good way to be woken up lol

 

thanks for the help!

[citizenB]

I guess an alarm clock would have been less stressful !!

 

Have left a message for the Scots on the Site team. I am sure someone will look in over the weekend.

[citizenB]

Does this help ?

 

Could it be that they are trying to claim from the company responsible for building the property' date=' thus the collective. All they need to do is send a letter Recorded Delivery, with all the signatures of the residents. Explain that if information isn't forthcoming then they will appoint their own surveyor/assessor.[/quote']

[Gaz74205]

no, what i want to know is if the guy is not having this fixed as quickly as it could be done, can i say that he is responsible for any travel costs incurred by me since i will be living elsewhere longer than is necessary? the building itself is ancient, i think its a good few decades (or more!) past claiming it was a builders error lol

 

as for all the signatures, well the entire side of the street was evacuated, i think it was getting towards 200 people. even if i knew them all, they are all evacuated and living god knows where.

 

the guy who is dealing with all this is a resident who pretty much appointed himself to deal with it on behalf of everyone and no one objected.

[rebel11]

I don't see how you can hold him accountable for travel costs. Remember nobody objected, it sounds like he's not being paid to carry out the work.

 

It sounds like a bit of a mess, no names, no addresses, no contact details etc. Write to him requesting a weekly update or find a professional firm to do the work.

 

This could go on for a very long time. If everyone has gone away, who's chasing him up? Get the council involved.

 

 

no, what i want to know is if the guy is not having this fixed as quickly as it could be done, can i say that he is responsible for any travel costs incurred by me since i will be living elsewhere longer than is necessary? the building itself is ancient, i think its a good few decades (or more!) past claiming it was a builders error lol

 

as for all the signatures, well the entire side of the street was evacuated, i think it was getting towards 200 people. even if i knew them all, they are all evacuated and living god knows where.

the guy who is dealing with all this is a resident who pretty much appointed himself to deal with it on behalf of everyone and no one objected.

[steampowered]

I think the first thing to get straight is who is liable for any damage caused to your property. You'd have to demonstrate that this person was either negligent, or that you have a contract with them that was breached. Once you can demonstrate either of those two things then I think it follows that you should be reimbursed for any damage caused (including all travel costs). I don't think the fact that there is delay is by itself enough to create a legal claim.

 

I would get in touch with whoever is dealing with this to ask when the issue would be fixed, and to put them on notice that you are incurring costs (with an estimate of what costs you are incurring) and that you will look to recover these from them. You should do it in a formal letter (retain a copy) or at least an email to make sure that you have a proper record if this ever reaches court.

[rebel11]

Hi steampowered

 

No individual is responsible, it's down to it being a fairly old building, no doubt the insurance will cover if the tenants have it. One of the tenants has taken the responsibilty to sort out the damage, but no one is being kept inform on progress. Sounds like there's zero communication all round.

 

I think the first thing to get straight is who is liable for any damage caused to your property. You'd have to demonstrate that this person was either negligent, or that you have a contract with them that was breached. Once you can demonstrate either of those two things then I think it follows that you should be reimbursed for any damage caused (including all travel costs). I don't think the fact that there is delay is by itself enough to create a legal claim.

 

I would get in touch with whoever is dealing with this to ask when the issue would be fixed, and to put them on notice that you are incurring costs (with an estimate of what costs you are incurring) and that you will look to recover these from them. You should do it in a formal letter (retain a copy) or at least an email to make sure that you have a proper record if this ever reaches court.

[Gaz74205]

OK, I'll try and lay out all the facts, I've got some more since i first posted. on the 9th of june, the incident occurred, as seen in the BBC link above.

 

The council safety people secured the entire side of the street against access as it was considered dangerous. they did this under the appropriate law, and then began speaking to the owners of the properties. I am not an owner. I live with a friend, he owns our flat.

 

Rather than continuing to deal with many people, the council safety people asked for one person they could deal with. this is all fair enough and most likely standard practice.

 

My issue is that the guy who is dealing with it all, does not live in the building, rather owns a flat and rents it out, and this, along with what has been done so far, makes me think he's not as interested in getting it done asap as he could be.

 

on the 18th of june, an inspection was carried out, organised by this guy. 9 days it took to get an inspection done? 25th of june, the report was issued. i have a copy, but frankly, if you dont work in that industry it's pretty unreadable. the next thing to happen was not till the 11th of july, over 2 weeks later. this was a meeting, that the guy attended with the council people, and my friend, as an owner, was sent an email about.

 

4 points. none longer than 2 sentences, and none of which make any sense. for example, point one says another survey is to be arranged. no explanation of why, and no comments on the results of the previous survey. the rest i'm not even sure what it's all about with no further context. further explanation was requested, and as of yet has not been provided.

 

so 5 weeks after the incident, there's been a single survey done.

 

I'm not expecting all my travel costs or anything, but if this drags on, as looks likely, for months on end, does there come a point where i can say this is not progressing in a timely manner and unless it can be explained exactly why it is taking so long, with very little having been done, that the person who is dragging their feet and not getting this done as quickly as possible is liable for additional travel costs i incur as a result of it all taking so long.

 

I dont want to seem unreasonable, but surely there is a duty to get this resolved as quickly as possible, so nearly 200 people can move back into their homes and get on with their lives.

 

if they are not doing that, costing me significant additional expenditure, do i have a case to try and claim that from them, or more likely, their insurance?

 

Any questions or anything have at it

[caro]

I don't understand why your grind isn't dealing with their own insurer. Why is some random guy, who may or may not be handling matters, being left to sort it for so many people?

 

When I had to move out of my home due to flooding, I claimed off my house insurance for extra travel costs.

[Gaz74205]

my friend, in his infinite wisdom, does not have insurance. i have insurance for specific items, but not for the house, as it isnt mine.

[caro]

my friend, in his infinite wisdom, does not have insurance. i have insurance for specific items, but not for the house, as it isnt mine.

 

Ouch!!

 

I still don't understand how the other guy can be held responsible if he's sorting it on a voluntary basis. There's nothing stopping individuals taking responsibility for their own properties.

[rebel11]

Hi Gaz

 

Get hold of the 'council safety people', the council owe the residents a 'duty of care', get them to tell you whats going on, bypass the volunteer.

[Gaz74205]

there is. the reason he's dealing with it is that the council wanted one person taking responsibility. while the entire side of the street was evacuated, the dmage is much more localised. its not something that people can get repaired separately, it all needs done together. there is no way people could try to get individual bits done on their own.

 

There's also the issue of communication. its awful. multiple emails and texts being needed before there is any response at all. if there is a reason for it to take so long, fine. but i want to know what that reason(s) is. if its taking so long cause he's being slow about everything, as he hasn't been evacuated, what with not living there, then that is surely him being the cause of my additional expenditure?

[Gaz74205]

rebel, i'm going to do that, but then they dont have all the info. only what is giving them to after actions taken by this guy. for example, this new survey. until its done, they know nothing about it. and if it takes him 2 weeks to arrange it, they will have no idea why.

 

it all comes back to him, and the slowness of everything he is doing.

[rebel11]

Hi Gaz

 

Also contact your local MP, give them his contact details, phone, text, e-mail etc, so they can apply pressure. It could be that it's beyond his capabilities to do the job, thus lack of communication.

Instead of making things happen, he's reacting to events, not driving things forward.

 

rebel, i'm going to do that, but then they dont have all the info. only what is giving them to after actions taken by this guy. for example, this new survey. until its done, they know nothing about it. and if it takes him 2 weeks to arrange it, they will have no idea why.

 

it all comes back to him, and the slowness of everything he is doing.

[steampowered]

As this person is only a volunteer, I do not think he owes you any duty of care. As a result you probably can't sue him no matter how long it takes or how bad the communication is. If you are not satisfied with how things are progressing I think you need to take this into your own hands as suggested above.

 

The council may prefer to have a single contact but can't insist on it.