Help needed re damage from skip contents

[gwyntaxi]

I think you would struggle to prove negligence if seeking compensation for your loss under another persons duty of care.
If you insurance company has agreed to arrange for the repair, I suggest this is your best way forward.

It's all very well letting your insurance pay for the damage, but then you lose your no-claims discount or at least part of it, I would be inclined to agree that it the land owners responsibility as he has allowed the skip to be placed on his site and because he has charged a fee for van storage he is liable.

 

[Barclaybasher]

It's all very well letting your insurance pay for the damage, but then you lose your no-claims discount or at least part of it, I would be inclined to agree that it the land owners responsibility as he has allowed the skip to be placed on his site and because he has charged a fee for van storage he is liable.

Just insist that your insurers declare in writing that it is a 'no fault claim' - I did last year and was assured that it would not affect future premiums - and it did not.

 

[Conal]

Re: “no fault” claim. I don’t know if it is the same sort of thing but someone hit our car and (eventually) accepted full responsibility. We were promised our no claims policy would not be affected. It wasn’t but, when it came to renewal, the insurers (Tesco) increased the premium as a direct result of this stating that the actuary had said we were more likely to have another claim. I told what I thought of this and found another insurer.

 

[TR5]

That sounds reasonable

I wouldn't bank on not having to pay additional premiums, even when defined as a 'no fault' claim. You can have protected no claims, and retain the discount, but they will still increase the base premium. We have a situation at present where a heavy ridge tile came off in the high winds on Sunday, damaging our roof, and two vehicles. Our house insurance won't cover the vehicles as they are not 'third party claims' as they are our own vehicles. So we have to make 3 claims, one on the house insurance for the roof, and two separate vehicle claims, resulting in 3 excess payments!!
On enquiring as to the premium increase on one vehicle, even though we have not claimed since 1969, we have maximum protected NCD giving 54% discount, the premium increase on the one vehicle alone is around £200 even after the discount, almost doubling the policy cost, and will be at a reducing rate over 5 years. Unless the damage is well in excess of £500 for that one vehicle, it is not worth us claiming.

Whatever course we take, one ridge tile is going to cost us a four figure sum, even though we were fully insured and protected (we thought)!

 

[Barclaybasher]

Aviva (through Comfort) wrote my vehicle off last year (uneconomic repair) and paid an agreed sum, me keeping the vehicle. They then refused to renew cover as the vehicle had been written off. I have a commercial policy direct with Aviva and I insisted that the premium should not be affected. I was assured on the phone that the commercial policy that was due for renewal in January would not be loaded and it wasn't. With the 'no fault' proof from Aviva I then insured the written off van with another company for far less than I had been paying Comfort.
It took some determined calls and emails but I got there.

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[Ingwe]

So far its been sugested that God, the site owner, the skip hirer and the skip company could be liable and you should go to the expense of hiring a lawyer when your insurance company will do all that and repair your vehicle....

My sister is in legal dispute with a cowboy roofer - 2 years so far and counting....

Save the stress and let the insurer sort it

I’m with the Wino. I believe it is the land owner or the entity which allowed you to park the van there who is legally responsible. They let you and the skip onto the land. They should have public liabilty insurance. To the extent that the skip hirer, if not the same entity as the land owner, is to blame for overfilling the skip, then the landowner can seek to be indemnified by the skip owner.
But as others gave said, you could claim on your insurer and let them decide whether they pursue whoever was to blame.