• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

Tel: 01343 544 077   Fax: 01343 548 523   E-Mail: mail@grigor-young.co.uk  

G&Y Logo

Solicitors and Estate Agents

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Individual and Family Services

      • Accidents and Injuries
      • Employment Law
      • Family Law
      • Mental Health
      • Powers of Attorney
      • Wills Executries & Trusts
      • Notary Public
      • Adults With Incapacity
      • Guardianship
    • Business Services

      • Agricultural Law
      • Debt Recovery
      • Employment Law
      • Environmental Law
      • Leasing
      • Licensing
      • Notary Public
    • Property Services

      • Our Property Service
      • Property Search
      • Property Advice in Moray
      • Estate Agency
      • Conveyancing
  • Property
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Property
  • Property Search
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Claims For Damage Caused By Falling Slates

You are here: Home / Personal Injury Claims / Claims For Damage Caused By Falling Slates
View across the roofs of Nos 1 to 7 North Street, Elgin, Moray

6th April 2016 //  by Peter Brash

From autumn 2015, the UK Met office and Irish Met office have been running a pilot project to name wind storms.

Between November 2015 and March 2016, the British Isles have been blasted by Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond, Eva, Frank, Gertrude, Henry, Imogen, Jake and Katie.

By using a single authoritative system for the naming of storms, the hope is that we will all be able to communicate more clearly about the approach of severe weather.

This will, in turn, put us in a better position to protect ourselves, our property and our businesses.

Stormy weather increases the risks to people and property

Chimney pots and slates get loosened and blown down.

Many houses in Moray have no front garden and anything falling off a roof will land either on the pavement or in the roadway.

What if something falls off a neighbour’s house and damages you or your property? Can you make a claim against your neighbour?

There is no automatic right to claim

Over this last winter, we have had several enquiries from people who have had their cars damaged by slates which have fallen from a neighbour’s roof.

Many people who approach us start with the assumption that, just because damage has been caused by something which came from a neighbour’s property, it must be possible to claim against the neighbour – or their insurance – successfully. Unfortunately, it is not that straightforward.

The general rule is that there is no absolute requirement to maintain your property in a safe condition. There can be no liability without negligence.

So, for example, if your car is damaged by a slate which has been blown off the roof of a nearby house, you will not be able to make any claim against the owner of the house unless you can show that they have been negligent – in other words, that they have shown a lack of reasonable care.

The homeowner must be able to foresee that a lack of care on their part is likely to cause injury or damage to another person or their property. If slates are falling off their roof and they are not aware it is happening, it will be very difficult to show negligence.

The importance of reporting any incidents

It’s important to report a ‘fallen slate incident’ to a neighbouring owner, even if it did not cause any damage to you or your property, on this occasion.

We find that, in practice, that sort of incident is only rarely reported to the neighbour. But it can be important in terms of building up evidence that the neighbouring owner had knowledge of the problem affecting his property and thereby making any later falling slate incidents foreseeable by the neighbour (which helps prove negligence).

We have had examples of a ‘near miss’ incident with a slate one week (which was not reported to the neighbour) and then the following week a slate causing damage to the vehicle of the person making the enquiry. These are hopeless cases.

The ownership of the neighbouring property is important

If your neighbour is a tenant of the property, it is unlikely that they will have responsibility for maintaining the fabric of the building.

Any report about items falling from a building should be made to the owner of the property rather than the tenant.

Self-help: a better option?

Of course, anything involving a potential claim against a neighbour is bound to be awkward simply from the point of view of not wanting to fall out with your neighbour if you can possibly avoid it. This is a very important consideration!

In practical terms, you might be better to focus your efforts on self-help protection than on the potential for making a claim against your neighbour in negligence.

Whilst you perhaps don’t want to go to the extent of wearing a crash helmet at all times (or full body armour), if your car tends to be parked in a driveway at the side of your house, you might want to consider erecting a carport or a garage or raising the height of your boundary wall if that will prevent items from a neighbouring roof falling onto your property.

Summary

The main point of this article about claims for damage caused by falling slates is to emphasise that there is no automatic right to claim against a neighbour if something has fallen off their roof and damaged you or your property.

You need to prove negligence and this would probably require knowledge on the neighbour’s part, for example, that their roof was in a bad condition and frequently shedding slates.

In most cases, it will not be possible to show negligence on the part of the neighbouring proprietor and you will be left to make good your own losses, either from your own pocket or from insurance, if you have it.

How we can help

If you have any questions arising from this article, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can speak to us by phoning 01343 544077 or you can send us a Free Online Enquiry.

All initial enquiries are without charge and without obligation.

Category: Personal Injury ClaimsTag: Insurance

Previous Post: «Grigor & Young's Apprentice - 1853 - 1858 Employment Law In Elgin (In 1854)
Next Post: Moray Property Sales Volume Shows Increase Moray Property Sales Volume Increase Above National Average»

Primary Sidebar

Also on our website:

Accidents and Injuries

Related Posts

  • Pricing of Personal Injury Compensation Claims under ‘After the Event’ Insurance
  • Hands Holding OS Map of Elgin MorayWhy A Specialist Local Solicitor Is Best To Handle Your Personal Injury Claim
  • A941-Elgin-to-Lossiemouth-Road-View-from-the-busHow personal injury claims are about what you can prove not what you say
  • Ladders-of-different-height-and-onlt-one-clearing-the-wallReducing financial risk for personal injury claimants in Scotland
  • 3 Reasons not to put off consulting a Solicitor even during lockdown
  • Multicoloured squares and rectanglesGetting legal help after an injury
  • Work Christmas Party (what to be aware of)
  • Upside down motor car at the northern outskirts of Elgin, MorayRoad traffic accidents (What to do when an accident occurs)
  • Woman with wrongly-adjusted head rest driving carReduce your risk of Whiplash Injury by doing the Head Rest Test
  • Argument between a Seagull and a Heron at Lossiemouth, Moray2 major changes for personal injury litigation from new Scottish legislation

Footer

Where to find us:

Grigor & Young LLP – Elgin
No.1 North Street, Elgin, Moray IV30 1UA
Tel: 01343 544 077 Fax: 01343 548 523

DX 520656 Elgin

Grigor & Young LLP – Forres
100 High Street, Forres, IV36 1PD
Tel: 01309 672 126 Fax: 01309 676 384

DX 520700 Forres

Our Team

Peter Brash
Stuart Bruce
Lindsey Carroll
Ann Cruickshank
Douglas Delaney
Carol Holmes
Elin Jones
Katie Kennedy
Richard Miller
Marie Morrison
Kirstie Reilly
Audrey Robertson
Greg Robertson
Donna Skelly

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Property
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Join us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Terms of use
Privacy Policy

Grigor & Young LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in Scotland (Number SO306314).
Registered office: 1 North Street, Elgin, Moray IV30 1UA.

© 2020 Grigor & Young LLP