Two tyres were slashed on my car on Tuesday night while it was parked in the company car park. The company deny any responsibility for the damage as cars are parked are at the owners risk but I noticed that no sign is on display stating this. When I spoke to the security guard he said that the sign was still in reception waiting to be put up.
Does this mean that I am in a position to claim for the damage as
the sign was not on display?
Thanks for your help.
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Were they negligent or did they fail a duty somewhere ?
Probably not.
As a general point, putting a sign up does not help you avoid responsibility for something, however much NCP might wish it did.
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Sorry but this sounds a bit of blame culture here again. You are parked, some ned slashes your tyre, how is it your company's fault?
If someones tyres get slashed on the street outside my house does that mean its my fault?
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I'm with Mark too. There are two ways the company could be liable here, other than straightforward negligence.
The first is an implied term in a contract that you had with them that your tyres would not be slashed - i.e., that they would take responsibility for all persons who might enter onto the site, lawfully or otherwise. The second is that they did it themselves.
The first one stands no chance of being upheld in court, the second no chance of actually being true.
In the end, why should their insurance pay, rather than yours? And if you don't have insurance, why should they?
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Although as others have said you may not be entitled to any money I don't belive you should just let the matter drop. You need reasonable confidence that your car will be safe while at work otherwise it's going to affect what you and others in your office do. Raise it with your boss (as well as security) and suggest CCTV etc. they may well be keen to install a cheap system just to stop staff going out and checking on thier cars every quarter of an hour.
Not very helpful at the moment I know but at least it might stop it happening again
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The only way I can imagine liability on the employer is if 1. they required the em'ee to have transport handy for response say, to a call out or investigation (e.g. you're on call) and 2. they were negligent in keeping intruders out. A history of damage or thefts might show negligence, in this scenario. But if the car park is purely for commuting convenience, then unlikely to attract much of a duty of care, as others have said.
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Maybe I'm being stupid but.... is it really worth causing so much friction with claims of legal action against your employer for the sake of a couple of tyres?
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Depends how much longer you want to work there...
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Two tyres were slashed on my car ... When I spoke to the security guard ...
What was HE doing? Or is he just another jobsworth in a cap?
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Mark asked the question concerning failure of duty. PU, you may want to comment on this.
I would have thought it all depends on how secure the site needs to be.
For example, if you work for a defence contractor, such as BAE SYSTEMS, and the security boundry encompasses the car park, then the fact that a potential intruder was able to get on site, commit criminal damage, then leave undetected would be seen as a major security breach. Therefore logically it should follow that the employer is not taking reasonable care to protect your property (or for that matter classified items). You may be able to argue liability with the company's insurers through your union.
However, if you work for a consumer electronics company, and the security boundry (not the site boundry) excludes the car parks, ie just includes areas of value to the company, such as the factory, office blocks etc, then your case is IMO much weaker.
In any case, if you are a member of a Trade Union it may be worth consulting with them. The other issue that it could have been a fellow employee that did this.
At the defence organisation I used to work for, the whole site was security controlled. A union member had permission to park his trailer in the car park. The trailer duly went missing, and the individual requested that the company put £50 towards a replacement, he was honest and pointed out that it was not in great condition. The company refused and he then put it into the hands of the Union, who referred it to their solicitors.
An out of court settlement was reached at £500! The member received the entire sum with no deductions.
In addition, find out if they have CCTV on the area you were parked in. If they do I believe you have a right under the Data Protection Act to access for that footage.
Hugo
Hugo
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The Data Protection Act covers information pertaining to you as an individual i.e. footage of you could be covered. However, CCTV footage of your car would not be covered as it is not a "data subject" under the Act.
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