Drunk driver broke my workshop!

[stew 1Participant @stew]

Good stuff chaps. Some things I’d not even considered there.

I’ll keep you updated with progress. It may help someone in similar circumstances, although I seriously hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else. It’s supposed to rain tonight so we’ll see how watertight it is….

All valuable bits and bobs are now well protected. Could be worse and have happened in the depths of winter.

I member reading in a very old Model Engineer magazine about LBSC leaving his house and escaping to the country from South London during the V1 raids, and although this pales in comparison, you realise what your hard won tools and lovingly created models mean to you.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Hi Stew, A tempary shed may not be so outragous if they have to re-build the garage. Talk nicely to your insurance company. They would have to store your equipment during the work anyway . The cost of transport and storage could well be more than the cost of a decent shed so they may be open to that as an altenative. Do your homework. get at least a rough price for a shed, decide where it could go and if you can errect it and move the machines yourself. Consider if you would / could pay for some of it yourself maybe the “foundation” which might just be paving slabs.
Be up front with the insurance company and you might be surprised. I have had a “no fault” car claim on a classic car where amonst other things the exhaust was damaged. When the the assessor looked at the car he said “the exhaust is rusted, the insurance won’t pay for that”. I was able to tell him that I’d already discussed it with them as I’d been hit from behind when on the way to get a new exhaust fitted (had evidence of appointment) we agreed to split the cost of the exhaust 50/50.

Most important, look after yourself and  get help if it’s all gets too much.

Robert.

[stew 1]

On stew 1 Said:

Hi all.

I bought the house from a chap who had been renting it out to tenants, so all services were fully checked out and ‘proper.’ The gas engineer was satisfied with the installation and had no issue with the setup, so that’s good.
The git who crashed the car had borrowed it off a friend. The Police found he had no insurance, no licence, and was drunk. The car was untaxed and SORN, and had no MOT.

It was however insured… I informed the vehicle’s insurance company. The owner, to my knowledge, has yet to report it!

Claim is going through my home insurance, who will no doubt battle it out with the vehicle insurer.

It’s a quagmire of paperwork, phone calls, emails, victim statements, etc. The driver lives two doors away, and is renting from a housing association, so I’ve reported him. There is a list of ‘previous’ so they’ve served him a section 8 notice to vacate. My other neighbours have been very supportive.

It’s quite the learning curve. I just want a quiet life! 🙄

 

 

You’re lucky that there is insurance. If an uninsured driver has an accident the motor insurers bureau will check if there is ANY insurance on the vehicle and if there is then that policy must suffer the claim regardless of who is driving or even if they don’t know. It’s a good reason to make sure that if you sell a vehicle you do not leave the insurance policy to run its course (as some people do, especially young drivers, to gain that extra year’s no-claims discount). You can end up losing out big time if something like this happens and your only fault would be not thinking to cancel or suspend the cover.

It’s good news for you/your insurer though. Since there’s an active policy there is a way to recover costs. Make sure you inform your insurer that the vehicle has an active policy in case they don’t think to check further than the driver. It might make a big difference to how your own insurer approaches your rebuild and repair costs if they know that another company is footing the bill.

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