Wind Damage to Equipment - any advice welcome.

[Craney]

On returning to my house today after a trip away I discovered quite an upsetting scene.

The neighbour's car port lifted off in the wind last night and landed right onto of my rig which was in my back garden.

I know the TeleGizmo cover is good, but it struggled to defend my Samyang 135 against a quarter of a ton of flying wood and plastic.

Here are some pictures of the scene.

Lens, camera ( Atik 414ex) and EFW2  were knocked out of the saddle.

On first inspection the only visual damage I can see is the lens hood is broken and the plastic on the outside of the lens  (filter holder?) has cracked.  The Astro Kraken dovetail has split as well.

 

 

I will need to test the components individually to see if they are fully operational. Hopefully they may have come out of this relatively unscathed.

Anybody got any advice on the situation?   Anybody had a similar occurrence ??

Haven't really had time to think about it just yet.  Literally picking up the pieces.

Oh well !!

Sean.

[JOC]

I think I'd be checking with the neighbour about their house insurance policy.  Hope not too much damage is done and that you are back in action soon.

[Nakedgun]

~

Yes, what has your neighbor had to say about your, as yet, not fully assessed damages?

 

.

[Greymouser]

3 hours ago, Craney said:

On returning to my house today after a trip away I discovered quite an upsetting scene.

The neighbour's car port lifted off in the wind last night and landed right onto of my rig which was in my back garden.

I know the TeleGizmo cover is good, but it struggled to defend my Samyang 135 against a quarter of a ton of flying wood and plastic.

Here are some pictures of the scene.

Lens, camera ( Atik 414ex) and EFW2  were knocked out of the saddle.

On first inspection the only visual damage I can see is the lens hood is broken and the plastic on the outside of the lens  (filter holder?) has cracked.  The Astro Kraken dovetail has split as well.

 

 

I will need to test the components individually to see if they are fully operational. Hopefully they may have come out of this relatively unscathed.

Anybody got any advice on the situation?   Anybody had a similar occurrence ??

Haven't really had time to think about it just yet.  Literally picking up the pieces.

Oh well !!

Sean.

Got to agree with @JOC here, it would seem to me the neighbours insurance should be liable, assuming they have any. Too many do not now a days, even ours ( contents, ) has been allowed to lapse due to my stupidity.  It also makes me rethink my plans for a permanent setup, think about building a Tardis instead.

[Alan White]

I am most sorry to read of this mishap to your property and indeed your neighbours carport, 
I am sure everyone is upset.

Insurance wise, I am sure your neighbour will have a liability as it was the debris from the mishap they befell that caused your damage.

Have you spoken with them on this as of yet, just so they have informed the insurer of the incident and damage to your property. 
 

Wishing you well with this.

[Louis D]

Was this windstorm beyond anything anyone could have anticipated like a strong tornado or hurricane of epic proportions?  If not, the neighbor should be held legally responsible for not adequately securing their car port against typical weather forces for the area.

[StevieDvd]

Your neighbour is liable and may be able to claim on their insurance.

Check what is damaged and a price to replace, if it is not too much they may prefer to settle with you directly rather than through insurers.

I'd be wary of any suggestion that, if you have insurance you can claim via that to get them off the hook.  I had a burst pipe which cost less to fix than my excess but on renewal they increased my premium as I had incurred a loss. I checked this with other insurance providers and several also said this would impact my premium. I did find one that said this was unfair and went with them.

If making a claim on your insurance you'll need to cover the excess and could have a premium rise for the claim (and as above even if you pay it yourself).

 

 

[Craney]

Thanks for the replies everybody.

Been one of those days !!...    Just returning home after trying to sort out another issue ( not weather related )..... and thinking maybe the wind has turned a few plant pots over !!

Neighbour has been helpful in assisting me tidy up my back garden and get rid of the debris.   He has said (verbally) he will also help if it is an insurance matter but until I can assess if there is any real damage to the equipment then I do not want to initiate 'proceedings'.   I took a lot of pictures and invited him around to see the situation before extracting the equipment , so that he could see that there was a bit more at stake than a dent in the lawn.
I have never claimed anything on insurance before.  I was not sure ( until reading some of these replies)  if it was my insurance or his that needed activating.   It was his car-port but the damage was to my property on my side of the fence.   I suppose I should ask him if he is going to claim for wind damage to his property on his own policy.   Do I claim for any of my incurred loss within his claim or do I do it separately ??   Oh dear,  I have never been a fan of this type of thing.

... I need a bit of time to digest things.

Again, thanks for any advice or guidance with this type of thing.

 

Sean.

 

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Oh no! What are the odds. On the basis that’s it’s reasonably minor, if I were your neighbour and on good terms I would without hesitation offer to pay to make good any damage you might have, without troubling insurance companies or even mentioning it to them.

Magnus

[Craney]

27 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

Your neighbour is liable and may be able to claim on their insurance.

Check what is damaged and a price to replace, if it is not too much they may prefer to settle with you directly rather than through insurers.

I'd be wary of any suggestion that, if you have insurance you can claim via that to get them off the hook.  I had a burst pipe which cost less to fix than my excess but on renewal they increased my premium as I had incurred a loss. I checked this with other insurance providers and several also said this would impact my premium. I did find one that said this was unfair and went with them.

If making a claim on your insurance you'll need to cover the excess and could have a premium rise for the claim (and as above even if you pay it yourself).

 

 

Yes, this is the thing about insurance that becomes problematic.   Whoever activates their policy, myself or my neighbour , we do not want to be paying more in the long run than to replace the item directly out of our own pockets.  Seems a non-sense to have insurance that becomes impractical to use.  I suppose it is a question of scale.  To replace a £300,000 house requires bigger pockets than I have, compared to a £200 lens.  But still, there is a principal at stake.

At the moment the damage to the equipment 'looks' minimal.   I am rather hoping it is rather than face the inevitable car-crash that is an insurance dispute. Hey-ho !!

[StevieDvd]

It's a little unclear whether a car port is covered in the UK. It may be counted as part of his building if it was attached to it and possibly covered by building insurance if he has any.

Your last resort should be to get your insurance involved without checking what your excess is and if you are covered. As I said above if they see you have incurred a loss they can hike your premium.

 

 

 

[Shimrod]

13 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

It's a little unclear whether a car port is covered in the UK. It may be counted as part of his building if it was attached to it and possibly covered by building insurance if he has any.

Your last resort should be to get your insurance involved without checking what your excess is and if you are covered. As I said above if they see you have incurred a loss they can hike your premium.

 

 

 

I am going to go against the grain here - I think you will find the neighbour is not liable for the damage unless the property has been poorly maintained. He would be able to claim his damage from his insurance, but @Craney will need to make any claim against his own insurance. My understanding is unless they have been negligent in maintenance they are not responsible for the damage as it was caused by the weather.

 

edit: This references trees but the principle is the same: https://www.frettens.co.uk/site/blog/litigation-blog/storm-damage-to-trees-fences-and-property-who-pays

Edited February 17, 2023 by Shimrod

[Craney]

45 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Was this windstorm beyond anything anyone could have anticipated like a strong tornado or hurricane of epic proportions?  If not, the neighbor should be held legally responsible for not adequately securing their car port against typical weather forces for the area.

Yes, that's an interesting point.  The car port has survived the worst the UK weather had thrown at it for 20 years prior to this date.  I suppose it is difficult to assess how secure a structure is until the moment comes when it does break loose. The question becomes, what is a reasonable amount of security or even checking ?? !!

 If bits had regularly blown off his building and property and continually posed a damage threat, then I could accept that line of reasoning. Here in the UK we tend not to get too many extreme 'wind' events per decade and when we do, we expect there to be  some damage resulting somewhere. not usually the same thing, in the same place.

 

[StevieDvd]

1 minute ago, Shimrod said:

I am going to go against the grain here - I think you will find the neighbour is not liable for the damage unless the property has been poorly maintained. He would be able to claim his damage from his insurance, but @Craney will need to make any claim against his own insurance. My understanding is unless they have been negligent in maintenance they are not responsible for the damage as it was caused by the weather.

I did add may & possibly in my comment. But unlike a fence the car port could be deemed as part of the building and covered, or the owner may not be able to claim at all. It all depends on the policy wording.

But if @Craney finds the cost for repair/replacement is just above his excess (if his policy even covers this)  it may not be worth making a claim or even reporting it if his insurance company then raises his premium.

 

[Craney]

@Shimrod and @StevieDvd

Yep !! ....  I had a feeling that things might not be clear cut.  

[Paul M]

My instinct was that the neigbour would be resposible for third party damage, but from: https://www.theaa.com/home-insurance/advice/neighbour-damage-and-home-insurance#:~:text=Most home insurance policies don,be covered by most policies.

 

"Is my neighbour responsible for damage to my home?
While you might think that if your neighbour causes damage they're responsible for putting it right, it does depend on the circumstances.

If an unforeseen event happens, such as a roof tile falling off their roof in a storm and which damages your property, then the neighbour is unlikely to be responsible. So unless they agree to pay out of their pocket, you may have to try to claim on your home insurance."

Hopefully you stay on good terms with your neighbour!

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Paul M

[Grump Martian]

So sorry to hear of the damage. I wish you well and hope that you get it rectified satisfactorily

[Craney]

53 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Oh no! What are the odds. On the basis that’s it’s reasonably minor, if I were your neighbour and on good terms I would without hesitation offer to pay to make good any damage you might have, without troubling insurance companies or even mentioning it to them.

Magnus

Yeah...  it threaded it's way between two buildings, cleared shed no 1, missed my astro-gear storage locker and also missed my fine collection of ornamental plant pots then fell short of shed no.2.

Actually, it could have been a lot worse.  Unlucky and lucky at the same time.  Initial inspection of the kit suggests minimal damage, but I will have to check if all the component parts still function as they should.   

We all question if our kit is working properly, even when it has arrived in triple bubble wrap from My_Hermes... err... well...maybe not a good example.   The worst case scenario would be little niggly faults that will come to light six months down the line. 

Reading some of the comments, it seems that the situation is open to 'interpretation' and it might be a case of accepting it is  'one of those things' and not dwelling on it.  These things happen and more harm, ill feeling and possible financial loss will come as a result of pursuing it.

 

Sean.

[Craney]

28 minutes ago, Grump Martian said:

So sorry to hear of the damage. I wish you well and hope that you get it rectified satisfactorily

Thanks.  After all is said and done, nobody was hurt.   

Good job I put the Takahashi and QSI back in the shed the night before.   

[Suarez]

You may also be able to buy equipment and have the fees covered by the insurance company.  Or bill for work lost due to incident.

I suggest contacting your company and letting them handle it. Things flow much easier and faster. 

Verify that this doesn't fall under "act of god" clause. Your company will know what to do.

[tooth_dr]

Sean, that was very unlucky!  Hopefully it’s all resolved to your satisfaction 

 

[900SL]

If the wind level was not strong enough to be classed as 'force majeure', and the car port failed due to age, design, rot, decay, corrosion of securing fixings etc the owner has failed to secure his property and is liable in law.

 

 

[Guest]

Here in the States the neighbor would be held responsible for this damage and they would be paying up.  Lots of photos need to be taken of anything that even might be broken or no longer functional.  Have before and after pics ready to go.  

[Carbon Brush]

May I put a possible scenario where neither insurer will pay?

Or at least try to avoid paying.

You knew wind was forecast so should have taken reasonable precautions. That being putting the scope away.

I'm not saying I agree. But having experienced insurers who argue to avoid paying.....😡

[CraigT82]

Are car ports covered under building regs at all? Could be an issue if it was something he built himself, I.e not inspected and signed off. His insurer may refuse to pay out for his damages on that basis if so, although I’d like to think they’d still cover your damages (wishful thinking maybe).

Good luck and fingers crossed for a positive outcome 🤞