Guinea Fowl Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 I was driving to the local lake to take my daughter and wife for a walk, came around a corner and there was construction work going on next to the road ( A big housing estate and marina, I think). Anyhoos, the lads were putting up a fence at the time, when one of them was chasing some sort of channel against the fence line with a angle grinder and some of the debris came flying-up and hit my car. There is now a few small chip marks in a tight group on the windscreen, not chipped right through the glass but deep enough to make it obvious and ugly. The windscreen have a heating element in it so I don`t even want to know how much it would cost to replace. I stopped and went to ask the one bloke if I could speak to a site supervisor and he told me where the site office entrance was, just a few yards down the road. So of I went and spoke to a lady which took my name and address, she then took me to who I think is some sort of site manager. This ***** then just said to me, that it could not be possible as the lad in question was working behind a van and that no debris could of gone onto the road. Well **** me when I turned around to stop when it happened the same lad was grinding at such an angle that the spark`s went from one side of the road to the other, all this dude then said was that I should write a letter and then if his lads plead not guilty then I should go to my insurance company and if the lads say it were them then they will pass it back to their insurance. Like they would ever take responsibility, when me and the wife then drove out the site the lads had a bloody screen up in a flash protecting the road, a bit ******* late if you ask me! So what is my chances with these folk, because I don`t want to make a claim on my insurance thus effecting my no claims and so on, Could there also be somewhere like the Council to report this matter to or not. I just think that they were cutting corners by not protecting the public by not putting up safety screens until the damage was done, and therefore they should pay for damage caused not me. Kind regards, GF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev 1 Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 I had the same from the council,as the ride on mower bloke cracked my windscreeen with a stone flicked off his blades, Rang the council and they said that would not of happened as the cutting bloke inspects the grass before he cuts it....... What a load of Tripe..... So brick wall and banging head come to mind i'm afraid.... :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Your screwed - your word against theirs. They will spin it that you were on the sniff for a free windscreen and some compo and that you are the bad guy. In cases like this it's always best to get a camera phone out and record them doing it wrong if only for a few minutes before making a complaint - this applies in all cases because once you put the balloon up, they will immediately fix / stop whatever they were previously doing wrong. Classic example is local authority slip and trips - you report a problem with a local pavement and no matter how deep the hole is it will just go on their "list" and they will get round to it with the next scheduled inspection. You report an accident and the pavement / road in question will be fixed by close of business the next day. Once you have your evidence (photo or video) then the way you do it is sneaky. You make the complaint and go formal - at no point in time do you ever let them know that you have photos or a video of them doing it wrong - because you want them to commit in writing to the lie they are to tell. Once they lie and have committed themselves to a permanent medium i.e. writing then you get the evidence / video out. The video doesn't actually prove your case. You can't video the damage actually happening to your car being caused by them unless you have a time machine. But what you can do is prove them to be liars, and that will do all the same because your case looks better on the balance of probabilities. Here endeth the lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinea Fowl Posted December 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks mungler. I was thinking in the line of what you just said, unfortunately I had no camera on me at the time, I might just have to go and sit next to the local canal and scout them out while fishing with camera in hand. Grrr, I feel like pulling that fence apart late at night ( not that I would even consider something like that!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Galore! Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Sorry mate, not much chance getting your windscreen replaced, you might want to try writing to their head office[ they should have a complaints dept]. failing that get in touch with a local newspaper, drag them in the dirt so to speak. i know a chap who once had a falling out with a builder so he super glued all the locks on the site, not that i'm coercing you to do something illegal or anything.. how about the local hse, nothing site managers hate more than an inspection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinea Fowl Posted December 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Well I`ll write the letter and take it from there, as I am not just going to give it up cause it`s might be for nothing. Winning to me could be anything from them paying for damage to just causing them a big headache. The HSE sounds like it`s worth a try, or maybe just lock my self to the container that is the site office, like all the tree huggers and make a big stink like that. or would the locking to the container thing put a SGC at risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaconBoy Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 firstly i'd speak to the contracts manager(site agents are normally s*^t scared of them) as above,get HSE involved(or at least mention them to the contracts manager) all management on sites go into panick stations when the HSE are mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmiller Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Yep i would threaten with the HSE and say you do have proof and if they can sort it without this then you will. Also go to the developer, If you can tell me who the developer is i may be able to find you a contact. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev 1 Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 yep as above, thats a good shout... :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 If you have comprehensive insurance, most will repair 'screen chips for free rather than risk it cracking and costing them more. And get it done pronto because icy weather is due soon - and you don't want water expanding in the chip trust me, been there done that. I know it's nice to think you can make them pay for the damage but this way at least gets a quick and free result, and a chip could just as easily have occured elsewhereoff the road anyway and insurers take this in their stride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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