Newbie needs your opinion after altercation with a height restricting barrier (1 Viewer)

[Dippy9]

Your claim is against Waitrose.

No need to involve your insurers, unless you want to make a claim. However, you do need to inform them of an accident but emphasise that this is for notification purposes only and that IT IS NOT A CLAIM. You can claim at a later date if you wish.

Thank you for reminding me that I do indeed need to notify them…I think that I was trying to forget.

 

[Bobbejaan]

You may find that thier insurers will use their get out clause that it is you who are responsibility for any damage etc occurring in thier car park which you use at your own risk. Or a clause similar.
Just check around to see if there are any signs.

and Dippy9 .....

Apart from the simple fact that a "supermarket carpark" legally meets the definition to be considered a "public road or highway" (which works in your favour) .....

A Public Premises (such as a supermarket & carpark) has a "Legal Duty of Care" towards both customers AND any other land users and CANNOT legally escape or evade their Liability for damage and or injury by any such "at your own risk" signs or claims ..... ESPECIALLY when that damage or injury occurs as a direct or foreseeable consequence or result of the "Premises Operators" OWN NEGLIGENCE (>>> Such as, for example >>> Allowing an UNLIMITED height (= NO Restriction) upon Entry for visitors/users, but then preventing those same visitors/users from safely (or at all) leaving due to the Operators imposing a Height Limit upon Exit).

Indeed, I can think of a couple of Civil Court or Tribunal Judges that might well have considered such circumstances to constitute "Unlawful Detention" and awarded additional damages against the Premises Operator accordingly.

..... and also >>>

 

[suavecarve]

Couple of points.
Waitrose should not give you the CCTV owing to GDPR so you need to request they retain the CCTV covering the period of your collision. I would put this request sooner rather than later as no idea how long they retain their CCTV for. It should be 28 days
I would also argue (if I have read your photos correctly) that there isnt a sign on the way in. It is on a gate which is perpendicular to your line of sight.

Do you have dashcam footage ? If not consider going back (in a convertible) with a dash cam whilst the first gates are open and you have your evidence of no height warnings in your line of sight

 

[Dippy9]

and Dippy9 .....

Apart from the simple fact that a "supermarket carpark" legally meets the definition to be considered a "public road or highway" (which works in your favour) .....

A Public Premises (such as a supermarket & carpark) has a "Legal Duty of Care" towards both customers AND any other land users and CANNOT legally escape or evade their Liability for damage and or injury by any such "at your own risk" sugns or claims ..... ESPECIALLY when that damage or injury occurs as a direct or foreseeable consequence or result of the "Premises Operators" OWN NEGLIGENCE (>>> Such as, for example >>> Allowing an UNLIMITED height (= NO Restriction) upon Entry for visitors/users, but then preventing those same visitors/users from safely (or at all) leaving due to the Operators imposing a Height Limit upon Exit).

Indeed, I can think of a couple of Civil Court or Tribunal Judges that might well have considered such circumstances to constitute "Unlawful Detention" and awarded additional damages against the Premises Operator accordingly.

..... and also >>>

LOL…were you a lawyer before you became a Funster?

 

[ianp]

Playing the devils advocate here but it may not be as straight forward as you think as the car park is shown to be 'private land' and is managed by the Britannia Car Park Group. Their terms and conditions of use are notified at the entrance apparently!
This is the situation as the car park is shared by both Waitrose and John Lewis and possibly other stores.
The entrance with the swing barrier is signed for collections so possibly is used by commercial vehicles as well as cars. It also serves as an entrance and exit. The other entrance has a fixed barrier and as of August 2023 had no height warning signage though did have a nudge bar (if that's the correct term for the low swinging suspended bar). The exit only 'gate' ( your collision gate) again (in Aug 2023) was fitted with the fixed bar as in your photo but also had a nudge bar fitted and again had no signage.
I would move carefully here as 'Britannia Car Parks' may be very well versed in what constitutes negligence here and they may not agree with your view...... Having the structure examined and repainted following a collision may be expensive when done on a commercial basis....!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Dippy9]

Couple of points.
Waitrose should not give you the CCTV owing to GDPR so you need to request they retain the CCTV covering the period of your collision. I would put this request sooner rather than later as no idea how long they retain their CCTV for. It should be 28 days
I would also argue (if I have read your photos correctly) that there isnt a sign on the way in. It is on a gate which is perpendicular to your line of sight.

Do you have dashcam footage ? If not consider going back (in a convertible) with a dash cam whilst the first gates are open and you have your evidence of no height warnings in your line of sight

Great advice, thank you. I can’t lay my hands on a convertible but I have a camera and can take video on foot.

 

[Dippy9]

Playing the devils advocate here but it may not be as straight forward as you think as the car park is shown to be 'private land' and is managed by the Britannia Car Park Group. Their terms and conditions of use are notified at the entrance apparently!
This is the situation as the car park is shared by both Waitrose and John Lewis and possibly other stores.
The entrance with the swing barrier is signed for collections so possibly is used by commercial vehicles as well as cars. It also serves as an entrance and exit. The other entrance has a fixed barrier and as of August 2023 had no height warning signage though did have a nudge bar (if that's the correct term for the low swinging suspended bar). The exit only 'gate' ( your collision gate) again (in Aug 2023) was fitted with the fixed bar as in your photo but also had a nudge bar fitted and again had no signage.
I would move carefully here as 'Britannia Car Parks' may be very well versed in what constitutes negligence here and they may not agree with your view...... Having the structure examined and repainted following a collision may be expensive when done on a commercial basis....!

It’s always good to get an alternative view so thank you. I will certainly be treading carefully initially though my experience with Joh Lewis, on the very rare occasion when I have had an issue, is that they are an ethical company. I’m curious to know how you know the dates you mention I.e. August 2023 as I didn’t give a location.

 

[ianp]

It’s always good to get an alternative view so thank you. I will certainly be treading carefully initially though my experience with Joh Lewis, on the very rare occasion when I have had an issue, is that they are an ethical company. I’m curious to know how you know the dates you mention I.e. August 2023 as I didn’t give a location.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the location is Ipswich and the date was that of the recording of Google street view........ put your phpto above into Google and it tells you where it thinks it is....... is it?

 

[Dippy9]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the location is Ipswich and the date was that of the recording of Google street view........ put your phpto above into Google and it tells you where it thinks it is....... is it?

Spot on. The store is at Nacton on the edge of Ipswich.

 

[Trev45]

Welcome to FUN . Most of the members here shop at Aldi or Lidl so having a Waitrose shopper joining is taking the Forum upmarket somewhat . Only joking

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Dippy9]

Welcome to FUN . Most of the members here shop at Aldi or Lidl so having a Waitrose shopper joining is taking the Forum upmarket somewhat . Only joking

Do I need to apologise? I will if I have to.

 

[David BW]

Hello everyone and apologies for the long post!

We are new to the world of motor homes and have recently acquired a Burstner TD 744 which we love. Yesterday we set off for our second trip and stopped at our regular supermarket to pick up some supplies. Our MH is 3m high and this is the first time we have parked at this location in it though we visit regularly in our car.

As you can see from the pictures there is a height restricting gate which limits entry to vehicles of 2.6m. The gate is always open (as you can see from the photo) so we have never even realised it is there or that any restrictions are in place, perhaps it is shut when the store closes but we don’t really know. The access is two way and allows vehicles to both enter and leave. We parked away from the crowd did a quick shop and drove to a different exit to leave as we usually do. This is where we met a fixed height restricting barrier which we did not notice until it was too late. It looks like damage is ‘limited’ to the hab air on unit which will likely need replacing but the rest of the van seems unscathed.

So here’s where I would welcome your thoughts….the exit barrier was painted dark grey and has no signage at all. Furthermore the horizontal bar which would normally give you warning of impending danger was missing. When driving, you do not have the barrier ahead of you but have to turn right to go through it. The picture attached shows the barrier from the road with bits of the aircon cover still on the ground though we’d removed the larger bits of debris. We would prefer not to claim on insurance and
So here’s where I would welcome your thoughts….the exit barrier was painted dark grey and has no signage at all. Furthermore the horizontal bar which would normally give you warning of impending danger was missing. When driving, you do not have the barrier ahead of you but have to turn right to go through it. The picture attached shows the barrier from the road with bits of the aircon cover still on the ground though we’d removed the larger bits of debris. We would prefer not to claim on insurance
So here’s where I would welcome your thoughts….the exit barrier was painted dark grey and has no signage at all. Furthermore the horizontal bar which would normally give you warning of impending danger was missing. When driving, you do not have the barrier ahead of you but have to turn right to go through it. The picture attached shows the barrier from the road with bits of the aircon cover still on the ground though we’d removed the larger bits of debris. We would prefer not to claim on insurance and wonder if at least part of the liability lies with the supermarket.

Thank you for reading this far! The MH is going into the dealer tomorrow so we will find out then just how painful this is going to be.

View attachment 930176View attachment 930177View attachment 930178

Sorry to learn of your experience.

We have just taken our Dometic 3200 hab aircon off as we seldom use electric hook up. I’ll be putting it in the classifieds shortly but you may want to get in early? We didn’t use the same removal method!

 

[Trev45]

Do I need to apologise? I will if I have to.

No need to apologies ,in fact if you are up to a challenge see if you can raise them to your standards . Sadly I suspect you are more likely to find yourself dragged down to their level and be sampling powdered potatoes etc . Once your husband ventures near the middle isle in Lidl I'm afraid you are doomed .

 

[Dippy9]

No need to apologies ,in fact if you are up to a challenge see if you can raise them to your standards . Sadly I suspect you are more likely to find yourself dragged down to their level and be sampling powdered potatoes etc . Once your husband ventures near the middle isle in Lidl I'm afraid you are doomed .

We went into Lidl once, or at least he did. I think he needed a bottle of Prosecco for some last minute change of plan. I told him I’d keep the engine running in case anyone spotted us I’d pretend he was in there asking for directions

 

[suavecarve]

Do I need to apologise? I will if I have to.

Every little helps

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Dippy9]

Sorry to learn of your experience.

We have just taken our Dometic 3200 hab aircon off as we seldom use electric hook up. I’ll be putting it in the classifieds shortly but you may want to get in early? We didn’t use the same removal method!

LOL. I’m sure your removal method was far more controlled. Ours was back at the dealers this morning and the new parts are already ordered. Otherwise a tempting offer

 

[Dippy9]

Every little helps

Isn’t that Tesco? We shop there too

 

[Jo662]

 

[Dippy9]

Thank you

 

[Dippy9]

UPDATE
I had a call this morning from the company which does accident management (repairs & settlements) for Waitrose. It looks like they’re going to pay in full for all the damage done, £2,500. Thanks for all the advice given here, I put it to good use.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[HKF]

UPDATE
I had a call this morning from the company which does accident management (repairs & settlements) for Waitrose. It looks like they’re going to pay in full for all the damage done, £2,500. Thanks for all the advice given here, I put it to good use.

That's excellent news! Well done for pursuing it I'm so happy for you. Well done to the company, too, for not trying to wriggle out of it. Makes a change in today's world

 

[Jim]

UPDATE
I had a call this morning from the company which does accident management (repairs & settlements) for Waitrose. It looks like they’re going to pay in full for all the damage done, £2,500. Thanks for all the advice given here, I put it to good use.

Nice one, and well done Waitrose

 

[Landy Andy]

Lidl or Aldi wouldn’t have done that. Quality shows.

 

[Gina M]

 

[carolyn]

As a fellow Waitrose shopper you will get used to the jibes in no time! Glad you’ve got such a good outcome.

I’m having to get used to Aldi at the moment whilst travelling across France, Belgium and Germany. What on earth will I do once we get to Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria. Nick doesn’t mind where his lager comes from but I have standards.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Widge]

As a fellow Waitrose shopper you will get used to the jibes in no time! Glad you’ve got such a good outcome.

I’m having to get used to Aldi at the moment whilst travelling across France, Belgium and Germany. What on earth will I do once we get to Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria. Nick doesn’t mind where his lager comes from but I have standards.

To quote Charles Brandreth, "I like tescos, becouse it keeps the riff raff out of waitrose"

 

[Dippy9]

That's excellent news! Well done for pursuing it I'm so happy for you. Well done to the company, too, for not trying to wriggle out of it. Makes a change in today's world

Thanks….I'm so pleased we didn’t burden the insurance with it. I had faith (or was it hope?)that they would live up to their reputation and they did.

 

[Dippy9]

Nice one, and well done Waitrose

Well done indeed.

 

[Dippy9]

Lidl or Aldi wouldn’t have done that. Quality shows.

 

[Dippy9]

As a fellow Waitrose shopper you will get used to the jibes in no time! Glad you’ve got such a good outcome.

I’m having to get used to Aldi at the moment whilst travelling across France, Belgium and Germany. What on earth will I do once we get to Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria. Nick doesn’t mind where his lager comes from but I have standards.

Haha, I have standards too. If you’re brave enough to drive through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria you will survive the shopping experience there. In the words of my old school motto…Be strong and of good courage!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}