Injured in a neighbour's house - neighbour refusing to engage

[galway_blow_in]

hi there , i havent posted on this site in a while but would appreciate the views of those who perhaps may have some experience in this particular area

two months ago i was over at a mans house a few miles away , i was borrowing a small piece of equipment , in truth i could have bought this item for ten quid but we have helped each other out now and again this past five years , the man in question has a small plant hire business and did some work re_ landscaping for me down the years with his mini digger

anyway , another neighbour of his was present at the house and i was invited to help remove a heating oil tank from a shelf in the nearby garage , i took one side of the tank , when the tank was half way off the shelf ( four feet high shelf ) , a solid block fell from underneath and straight on to my foot , i quickly left but did not attend hospital that evening as if you show up in UHG late on friday , if you lucky you get seen early saturday morning , so instead i went to doc on call the following day and got a referral for an xray , the xray showed no break despite the fact the weight of the block is 20 kg and it fell four feet , the health professional advised me to take panadol and that i should be fine in a fortnight , anyway the pain went from bad to worse so i had to return to my GP a fortnight after the accident as regular pain meds were not working , she arranged for me to have an MRI and sure enough there is a injury , its commonly known as a bone bruise and according to my GP takes six months to fully recover but worse case scenario can take more than a year , its more complex to deal with than a break according to my GP so im waiting to see an orthopedic , the pain is unbearable at times and im spending quite a bit on pain medication and cannot drive long distances due to the drowsiness caused , im also off work , anyway , those are the details of the injury but here is where i need advice , the person who owns the property where this happened has behaved in a most intransigent manner and has completely turned nasty

they absolutely refuse to take responsibility for what happened and will not provide insurance details , in fact they outright lied about not having insurance , claiming that while they have home insurance , they do not have liability insurance , ive sought advice on this from insurance brokers and solicitors and none have ever heard of someone having home insurance without having liability insurance for a guest becoming injured , ive had my solicitor formally write to this person and they rang me completely indignant that i would send them a solicitors letter , barring the fact that sending a solicitors letter is routine when it comes to making an injury claim official , anytime i tried to raise the issue via phone calls in the weeks after the accident , they made mealy mouthed comments and hung up abruptly as if i was the one causing them a disruption , some people appear to view insurance claims as a terrible attack on them and this person seems to be one of them

anyway , my question is this , this person has refused to provide insurance details , from talking to my solicitor i understand that i can take a civil case against them , this involves bringing them to the civil courts but apart from the long wait , were they to claim poverty ( this person is neither very poor nor very wealthy , slap bang average i would say ) , would i be left with a pyrrhic victory ? , i foolishly let my health insurance go back in 2014 so had to pay out of my own pocket the cost of the MRI and the same will apply should i need to see an orthopedic more than once

thanks for reading

 

[Brendan Burgess]

They are not obliged to discuss their insurance details with you.

Your only course of action is to take a civil case against them.

Don't engage them in any further discussions.

Your solicitor should issue proceedings. Your solicitor will probably advise them to notify their insurance company. They should refer it to their insurance company if they have insurance. The insurance company will contact your solicitor.

Or they might just act thick and not engage at all with you. You will get a judgement against them in default of defence.

You can then send it to the Sheriff and/or get a judgement mortgage lodged against any property they own.

Brendan

 

[noproblem]

Just being the devils advocate here so don't take offence. They could very easily deny everything. Have you any proof, apart from your sore foot that this happened as you say on this persons property?

 

[galway_blow_in]

Just being the devils advocate here so don't take offence. They could very easily deny everything. Have you any proof, apart from your sore foot that this happened as you say on this persons property?

very good point , not only do i not have proof , they had a friend present who i have not met before and who could theoretically back up any claims of my not having been there

only evidence i have is medical evidence , i did not visit this property with anyone else !

 

[T McGibney]

Conflict between neighbours rarely ends well, particularly when it escalates to legals. I don't know what else to say really.

 

[galway_blow_in]

Conflict between neighbours rarely ends well, particularly when it escalates to legals. I don't know what else to say really.

my father had his own business and employed about three people on an ongoing basis when i was growing up , two of them hurt themselves on his premises ( health and safety were not prioritized as much back then ) and claimed , he didnt take it personally , one of them was his brother in law

this person asked me to help them with a chore , they neglected to point out a loose missile and it ended up causing injury , they actually rang me the night it happened so were concerned about it for a time , was only when i asked about insurance that they turned sour , i dont even know what the cost to me will be yet but i thought it prudent to at least head off any long term risk so i simply inquired about there insurance situation , i suspect they would be out no more than five hundred euro due to there insurance premium going up for a few years with a claim

as far as im concerned they chose to make it a big deal , im hardly expected to simply grin and bear a potentially permanent weakness in a limb , in a minority of cases , bone bruising of the foot can result in arthritis setting in , its a relatively serious injury and an extremely painful one

 

[T McGibney]

I know all that and understand your plight but my observation about neighbours stands regardless.

 

[galway_blow_in]

I know all that and understand your plight but my observation about neighbours stands regardless.

while undoubtably true , the other person made it into a conflict , not up to me to now raise a white flag , for all this person knew , i could have broken every bone in my foot

 

[T McGibney]

while undoubtably true , the other person made it into a conflict , not up to me to now raise a white flag , for all this person knew , i could have broken every bone in my foot

I'm not arguing with you, btw.

 

[galway_blow_in]

I'm not arguing with you, btw.

i know that T

i want to stress that i have never made a claim against someone in my entire life , its not something i am doing lightly , i accept that a very significant amount of personal injury claims are bogus and its a contributor to the hefty premiums in this country

 

[T McGibney]

Hopefully your neighbour will realise that too. Unfortunately common sense tends to go out the window in such situations and the very mention of an insurance claim, no matter how merited, tends to scare the living daylights out of people.

 

[galway_blow_in]

Hopefully your neighbour will realise that too. Unfortunately common sense tends to go out the window in such situations and the very mention of an insurance claim, no matter how merited, tends to scare the living daylights out of people.

the same people would not be the slightest bit put out were they to accidently drive into the back of someone and subsequently have a claim made against them , my solicitor told me people are often very sensitive about home insurance claims but in reality , the increase in premium should be no higher than for a motor insurance claim

 

[Bronte]

as far as im concerned they chose to make it a big deal , im hardly expected to simply grin and bear a potentially permanent weakness in a limb , in a minority of cases , bone bruising of the foot can result in arthritis setting in , its a relatively serious injury and an extremely painful one

Is it more painful than a c section or giving birth naturally. I've often wondered how much I've cut off my life by having had c sections.

Even if you've no insurance are you not covered via PRSI etc?

 

[galway_blow_in]

Is it more painful than a c section or giving birth naturally. I've often wondered how much I've cut off my life by having had c sections.

Even if you've no insurance are you not covered via PRSI etc?

i honestly dont know what to do with this post or where to begin

 

[LS400]

Do you have a settlement amount that you would be happy with?

The reason I ask is that I cant see how this will end well within the community, and unless your looking to achieve significant funds, ask yourself if its really worth the impending grief.

It will be told that, GBi comes to give me a dig out and now want to claim of me flippen house insurance.

In fairness, you did go to him, to Borrow something of his...which he was going to lend to you, as he will tell all who will listen, and it is per-sieved, as you put it, "personal"

Not saying your not entitled to compensation, I dont really know what level of discomfort you are in on a daily basis, and if its improving, only you can answer that, but if your going down that road, you must go all the way.

 

[galway_blow_in]

Do you have a settlement amount that you would be happy with?

The reason I ask is that I cant see how this will end well within the community, and unless your looking to achieve significant funds, ask yourself if its really worth the impending grief.

It will be told that, GBi comes to give me a dig out and now want to claim of me flippen house insurance.

In fairness, you did go to him, to Borrow something of his...which he was going to lend to you, as he will tell all who will listen, and it is per-sieved, as you put it, "personal"

Not saying your not entitled to compensation, I dont really know what level of discomfort you are in on a daily basis, and if its improving, only you can answer that, but if your going down that road, you must go all the way.

i dont know what id be happy with , it only happened two months ago but ive spent close to a grand so far and im spending thirty euro per week on painkillers , my solicitor has told me the injurys board will offer 15 k or nothing for this kind of injury , thats assuming recovery is as expected , so i dont think its even a case of what id be happy with , besides , whether i was awarded 5 k , 10 k or 50 k , it should make no difference to the person who,s insurance is being claimed against , there policy will become more expensive for a number of years regardless

as for how this plays out in the community , i cant control how people view anything including this issue , in my experience some people dont care about the facts of a case , they will take a view or a side regardless so in the minds of some people , had i had a block roll out from the roof of this garrage and it landed on my head , rendering me with some sort of brain injury , i would still be out of order to seek damages , like i said , some people will ignore facts and details and form a particular view , its not something i would worry about , as far as im concerned any fair minded person would see that im the one with an injury , one i sustained through this others persons negligence , they feel slighted because apparently no one should ever seek to lodge an insurance claim if said person has done a few jobs down the years for the claimant ( jobs they were paid for i might add )

as for the level of discomfort , im almost fit to cry at times during the day , its that painful , the meds im on are that strong , i was warned by both my GP and the local pharmacist that i really should not drive while taking them due to the drowsiness they cause , i sleep about four hours a night and have to get up and rub cream on my foot as im limited to how many painkillers i can take during the day , its been the worst two months of my life and the pain has not reseeded one iota , im looking at minimum six months recovery according to my GP

this other person will get over having a claim made against them ( assuming they cop on and provide insurance details ) but i might have a fragile foot for life , arthritis is a threat in cases like this

i am not full sure yet if i would pursue this person in a private law suit , its something i would have to consider were they so to refuse to provide insurance details but to be honest , someone acting so beligerently deserves little mercy , it would be an incredibly aggressive act on their part , if i i did pursue them , it would not be out of concern for what the community thought , the community might think of it once for a half a minute having heard it in the pub , most dont get too bothered about what doesnt effect them personally

 

[noproblem]

Maybe he has no insurance and in that case, what do you intend to do?
I can see a scenario whereby he could say, yes, GBI came to my house to borrow something which i've no problem in him having. While here he saw me doing something and came over to help but for whatever reason he hurt himself but I never asked him to help me and he walked out with the borrowed item, went home and nothing at all was wrong so I cannot understand what he's talking about now and you can ask a friend of mine who was there too and he'll back up what i'm saying. It will be your word against 2 people and everything else that might come into play. I wouldn't be using what you've written here either as a sort of back up evidence either as it will surely backfire. Not saying who's right or wrong in this but unless you're very badly injured i'd be inclined to hold a friendship rather than anything else. Think long and hard about it and go and have a good chat with him, not a confrontation.

 

[galway_blow_in]

Maybe he has no insurance and in that case, what do you intend to do?
I can see a scenario whereby he could say, yes, GBI came to my house to borrow something which i've no problem in him having. While here he saw me doing something and came over to help but for whatever reason he hurt himself but I never asked him to help me and he walked out with the borrowed item, went home and nothing at all was wrong so I cannot understand what he's talking about now and you can ask a friend of mine who was there too and he'll back up what i'm saying. It will be your word against 2 people and everything else that might come into play. I wouldn't be using what you've written here either as a sort of back up evidence either as it will surely backfire. Not saying who's right or wrong in this but unless you're very badly injured i'd be inclined to hold a friendship rather than anything else. Think long and hard about it and go and have a good chat with him, not a confrontation.

1. he told me he had home insurance but claimed to not have liability insurance , ive looked into this and its not possible to have home insurance without having liability insurance , otherwise every home owner in the country would be at risk of there postman slipping and breaking something and subsequently suing for damages

2. my borrowing something is not in anyway relevant here , it doesnt absolve someone of negligence

3. him believing i was ok is also irrelevant as first of all injuries often take time to develop ( especially crushing injuries ) but more importantly he isnt a medical professional , ive been told by medical professionals that im injured

4. in the event of a court case , he and his friend could lie and say i either never showed up that evening or that i wasnt hit by a block , its not beyond the bounds of possibility but it would take incredible chutzpah

 

[Monbretia]

I haven't been involved with selling insurance for a while but we always advised people that the public liability part of the insurance is part of the contents cover so a person would have to have buildings and contents cover, you'd be surprised how many people have only buildings cover and some even have none at all!

Now that may have changed in intervening years, any insurance brokers here to confirm or deny the situation with PL?

 

[galway_blow_in]

I haven't been involved with selling insurance for a while but we always advised people that the public liability part of the insurance is part of the contents cover so a person would have to have buildings and contents cover, you'd be surprised how many people have only buildings cover and some even have none at all!

Now that may have changed in intervening years, any insurance brokers here to confirm or deny the situation with PL?

if the insurance company confirms to my solicitor that the policy doesnt cover this , then that would change things but ive spoke to my own broker and the broker who deals with my mothers insurance and also my solicitor , all three stated that they never heard of a situation where home insurance would not cover this kind of thing

time will tell , if its a strange set up where public liability is excluded , then that would require a rethink