Are the council liable?

StinkinHippy

So I was driving down the road in town this evening and the wind destroyed one of the big gantry signs over the road and a sheet of the sign itself hit my car.

Is there any way to avoid respraying the arch and replacing the front lens out of my own pocket is what I'm basically asking I guess. I guess it would be local council property, but is it just an 'act of God'?

penski

I think first step might be to see whether you can prove the sign hit your car?

If you can't, it might be a non-starter.

StinkinHippy

Kills that then. Guess I'll hunt for a guy with a sprayer

FishFish

If it happened it happened and you do not need to be able to prove that it did. Maybe the council and maybe the Highways Agency but get your claim in. What is not in doubt is that the sign was dismounted.

y2keable

whatever you do, don't tell your insurance company about it, especially don't claim off them for it. They'll tell you that they'll take care of it but it'll go against you as a fault-claim and you'll be paying more in the long run.

StinkinHippy

Finally got a hold of the right department of Amie today, and have a claim form in the post. So hopefully it will all be taken care of.

As for claiming on my insurance, it's a motability lease car.. So beyond the £100 excess it wouldn't cost me anything until such time that I'm not driving through the mobility group. Still not keen to pay out anything though.. Especially since a more detailed investigation has revealed scratches on the roof too.

FishFish

Glad to hear it is going well. Ages ago I was on the M62 over the Pennines and one of the massive motorway signs was picked up by the wind (well it was the worst storm to hit UK in years) and just throws it across the Mway like a leaf. It must have weighed 250kg and if it had hit a car it would have destroyed it.