After a bit of advise regarding some damage to our Coachman Pastiche - a couple of weekends ago we booked at a site which will remain nameless but is owned by a big club.
We were told by reception to follow the site person who would take us to our pitch. The gentleman instructed my husband where to drive to park on the assigned pitch. There was a rather large slope down onto the pitch and as my husband drove down it the back shirt of the van dug into the ground and caused a crack and a piece to break off the shirt. Obviously this is going to cost us a few hundred pounds to get it repaired and we feel that the site should be liable as they told us to drive down the slope.
All the gentleman could say was "oh your tow hitch must be higher than normal - we dont usually have any problems".
Our towcar is a a Japanese crew cab type. I have taken several photographs of the lie of the land and also the damage to our van.
Do you think it is worth us persuing this with the club (we are members) or do they have something in the small print to get out of this sort of thing?
The CCC have a duty of care, if you are instructed to place your van in a particular place with the warden watching then you can expect to be warned of any problems. I would write to them and tel them you expect them to recompense you for the damage. If they prevaricate it is worthwhile getting professional advice and seeing just how far you can push them.
Deffo go for it. If perhaps you clipped the side then "maybe" your fault for not going wide enough but fact it he directed you down a slope and you followed his directions. It was his responsibility to ensure there was enough ground clearance.
Where there's blame there's a claim
------------- Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
It was his responsibility to ensure there was enough ground clearance.
agree fully,if your being guided by a man of experience employed by the company.then the lay of the land should be known to him and any danger pointed out.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
In effect he was taking the role of 'banksman' so would be responsible for giving you safe and precise instructions which you would then be expected to follow.
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
Sorry to pee on the bonfire but whilst the nuances of being on private land are a mystery to me I can tell you that elsewhere it is entirely ultimateley the drivers responsibility.
Yes a "banksman" with a certain duty of care is pretty useful, sometimes essential but it is up to the driver to risk asses and if neccesary move at very slow speed and stop regulalry to check.
They may come back with some good will settlement but essentialy if he said "park there" it is entirely your decision to check if it is achievable.
Seek professional advice and you need to word very carefully points like did he INSTRUCT or ADVISE you what to do, it makes one hell of a difference.
If I'd been in his shoes I would have pointed out your pitch & the slope, advised you to be careful and asked if you required any assistance as I was essentially there to point out the pitch which all rigs in my experience had got onto safely.
I can assure you if I could demonstrate in court that in all probabiity I'd done that I'd be absolutely fine.
If the club is not held to be at fault, can the next time any of us are "instructed", or whatever other word you choose, by the warden/HSM does that mean we can politely decline and say we choose not to follow their "instructions" as there may be possible damage to our unit?
Hi everyone and thanks for your replies to my post. I think that we will write to them and send the photographs and see what sort of response we get and then decide how we will proceed. Whatever the outcome I think that this has been a lesson painfully learnt that in the future we will never just follow a wardens instructions (yes he did instruct us where to drive) without first checking the lie of the land ourselves.
Quote: Originally posted by colinlob on 30/9/2008
If the club is not held to be at fault, can the next time any of us are "instructed", or whatever other word you choose, by the warden/HSM does that mean we can politely decline and say we choose not to follow their "instructions" as there may be possible damage to our unit?
Yes, if you can justify telling them their instructions are unreasonable or unachievable. Easy as that.
You may find yourself in differing levels of debate but ultimately its your call.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Damaged caravan
