Caravan Hit Whilst In Storage

[GeorgeandAde]

Returned to the storage compound today having last visited approx.3 weeks ago to find that someone has struck my caravan.
Always parked with the wheel lock on....corner steadies wound down tightly to blocks of wood.
At first my thoughts were that the van had moved due to the high winds we had experienced recently but after closer inspection,noticed that the front cover I use over the tow hitch had been torn.
Obviously,this is where it had been struck and moved the caravan about 2 feet to the side(As you look at the front of the van,the left hand front corner had moved to the left and the rear right hand corner had moved to the right....if that makes sense).
Have checked the front where the cover was damaged and thankfully,it looks as though it was just a "glancing blow" with no damage done.
I rang the onsite owner and she came out within 2 minutes.Very apologetic and offered to inspect every van in the compound for any obvious damage,but explained that although she was sorry for the accident happening on her land,there was really nothing that she could do.(unfortunatly,there are no cctv cameras installed.
I did find a caravan with the same colour paint,exact height of my towhitch,and with a badly dented rear awning rail........but I know that I cant prove anything.
Dont want to mention the storage site but if your reading this and im sure you must have known you did it............thanks for hitting my van,thanks for not leaving a note(even anonimous would have been better than nothing),and maybe YOU may experience having your pride and joy hit one day.

Could have been worse though....... the front left hand corner of my van ended up approx.12" from the side of a £35,000+motorhome.

 

[Gagakev]

Unfortunatly there are people in this world with no morals!!
Sorry to hear of your findings.
Although you state there is no damage would it be best to get the chassis area checked? especially as the steadies were down they may have twisted, just a thought.

 

[Surfer]

I think this may happen more often than you think if you have a driveway with caravans parked on either side. Someone does a U turn, mis-judges and clips the tow hitch on the caravan with the front of their car. Our storage has CCTV and has picked thsui up on more than one occasion. We even had a lady that drove into the compound gate buckling it and drove off without saying anything to anybody. She was asked to pay for the damages and then banned from the site as the owner had picked it up on CCTV.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello GeorgeandAde,

I am sorry to read of the damage and inconsideration of someone who judging by the amount of movement must have known they had collided with your caravan.

You will almost certainly have incurred some expense for inspection and any repairs that may be necessary, and all through no fault of your own. In fact you had taken a responsible position by storing your caravan at a storage site, where you should have reasonable confidence that your caravan would be at reduced risk of damage.

This is one of those situations where some clarity in the law would be helpful. Site owners are running a business, and the site is their business premises. All businesses are responsible for the activities that occur on their premises, and they have a duty of care for customers and their property, and of course Health and safety under the Factories act and business premises regulations.

Where a site owner controls access (by key or other means of of access control), they are taking on the responsibility of reviewing the suitability of the persons they permit access to the site, and by inference the people the owner allows on site he/she deems to have appropriate skills and training to operate safely on the site. The converse being that a person the owner knew was likely to do damage would be excluded.

This selection process means the site owner does have responsibility for the people and actions of those people on their site. Consequently if another site user damages customer property, the site owner has a responsibility and culpability for allowing avoidable damage to customers property.

Even if you cannot identify the person that caused the damage, I believe you might have a claim against the site owner. It would then be up to the site owner to identify the person who caused the damage as they are responsible for the site.

I suggest you seek professional legal advice about this.

 

[Surfer]

Good advice by John as the site owner should have third party insurance anyway.

 

[Shirker]

Seems a little OTT to be talking about solicitors and getting a claim in against the owner when the OP hasn't mentioned damage or signs of it. Isn't jumping to "get a claim in as someone must be liable" one of the contributing factors to screwing up the country with an automatic claims culture?

 

[ValA.]

Can you be absolutely sure that the damage to the cover isn't also due to high winds? It's really surprising just how caravans can be moved in really strong winds, such as we've had recently. On our hilltop storage site one caravan at the end of a row was moved about twelve feet - and it did have a wheel-lock on! It was simply moved by the wind. Ours has been moved sideways about fifteen inches at the front, and was in the middle of a row!
We've moved it off the site now, and have taken it to France. The site was actually aware of the potential for movement and a good deal of space was always insisted upon, between all the vans.

 

[forestgump]

get to heavy with owner then you will be looking for new storage i would ask the person that you tink did it may be drop a hint that some one has dropped you a hint.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Shirker,
I disagree,
The OP is obviously concerned about the possibilty that damage may have arrisen however it was caused. We all know that repairs are expensive, and if you claim against your insurance we also know how they push up your next premium.

I posted as a heads up, so if it does transpire that damage was caused by another site user, at least the OP has some advice to work on. Let us hope that no damage was caused,in which case the advice won't be necessary.

As for "getting a claim in as someone must be liable" If some one has been negligent causing real damage, then this is a perfectly normal and proper course of action, And its is about time that site owners actually face up to their real responsibilities to their customers in these matters rather than trying to take your money but shoulder none of the respnsibility.

I certainly do not support no win no fee ambulance chasers. I agree they are pushing up costs everywhere.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thank you for all your replies and concerns.
I contacted the owner yesterday and explained that I had found a caravan that had possibly been the one that struck mine and she said that although we had no concrete evidence,she would leave a note on the said owners van,asking that due to the damage on their caravan,did they think that it had possibly taken place in the storage compound,and await their response(if any).

Gagakev......I think that it was just a "glancing blow"as it appears to have only torn my hitch cover with no evidence of scratches underneath.
I never leave the handbrake on and the corner steadies were wound down onto blocks of wood,which(I would imagine)once the feet had cleared the wood,they would not have made contact with the gravel again whilst van was moving creating no resistance.

Prof.John L......I do agree with your comments on the owners responsibilities,but they are "friends of friends" and this site is ideal for me to store caravan which I may not be able to do if I start "getting heavy" with them.(I must admit though,it would be a different story if a lot of damage had been caused)Im just glad that the bodywork hasnt been damaged.

Val A..........Yes,high winds was my first thought as I pulled up behind my caravan,but after seeing the damage done to the hitch cover,and the fact that I have a caravan stored one side of mine and a motorhome stored the other side,Im sure it wasnt the wind.

Thank you all once again and maybe the site owners will get an admission from another caravan owner on the storage site......(not holding my breath though)
Adrian

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Adrian,

I appreciate your position re your relationship with friends etc. These are the typs of circumstances where relying on friendships can become complicated. This is an example of where business and pleasure conflict.

 

[hgv dave]

hi all
just a tale of what happened to my van.............nothing as bad as georgeandAde..........i had a cover on my hitchlock,it was only a nylon cover but when i visted my van i noticed that the cover was torn on closer inspection someones tyre size was inprinted on the hitchlock cover as well,it seems as the guy directly opposite to me must have been reversing his outfit onto his slot and his wheel had caught my hitchlock luckily the only damage done was to the nylon cover,it could have been much worse and like georgeandAde nobody held there hand up to it.........well thats the way the world works these days.

hgv dave

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Sorry to hear you had the same experience Dave.
Ive had the hitchlock checked and it seems the only damage(like you)is the covers been torn.
After inspecting every van in the storage site,I found one with the exact colour paint on the side of his caravan,exact same height and damage to his offside rear awning rail(in line with the line of paint from my cover).
Cant prove anything and maybe he didnt even know he had done it.