Council Car Park - Damage Caused To Car

[Iggle Piggle]

A car was damaged by a branch hanging low from a tree. The offending branch was low and couldn't be seen as the driver reversed into the last space in a row.
What compensation can be requested against the council in this situation and how? (The damage would cost about 30 quid to make good.)
Not worth instructing solicitors and small claims would be too much hassle, probably.

[CrapAtCryptics]

Many car parks have a damage disclaimer on display - did you see anything?

[Baldric]

I always thought it was up to the driver to park safely, but I guess as usual when it goes wrong there's gotta be someone else at fault.

[hc4361]

Not a hope of claiming compensation for damage to your car. Just be thankful it was only £30 and not much more.

[douglas9401]

Could you draw a wee sketch please, IP?
I'm struggling to undertand how the branch was hanging low but the part connecting it to further up the tree wasn't visible either.

[Iggle Piggle]

Well Baldric, the same could be said for a professional driver running over a nail! If the thing is not in view of the driver, apart from stopping the car and thoroughly checking the space as a pedestrian, then completing the parking maneuver, there is little a driver can do...

[Iggle Piggle]

Douglas, the tree is adjacent to the last space of the row. In good, trimmed order it causes no problem but due to weather or whatever, one branch was just a few inches from the floor. Does that make sense?

[Buenchico]

It would be hard to establish negligence on the part of the council.

As an analogy, if you trip over a raised flagstone (on a council-owned footpath) you don't have an automatic right to compensation from the council. The flagstone might only have become damaged a few minutes earlier by a lorry driving over it, leaving the council no time to become aware of the problem and arrange for it to be fixed. In order to get compensation you'd have to show that the flagstone had been displaced for some time and that the council either knew about it or, at least, should have known about it (and should had done nothing about it).

So if the branch was only hanging low because of recent winds and rain, it would be unreasonable to expect the council to know about it and thus there was no negligence on the part of the council.

You could try a simple letter to the council, seeking compensation, though (preferably accompanied by photographs of the tree and the damage to the car). It might work, simply because the council might take the view that it wasn't worth the time and hassle of getting into a dispute over such a small sum. (My father tripped over a flagstone, ripping the knee of his trousers. He sent a letter to the council - enclosing his trousers! - and received compensation. However that was half a century ago and councils are now far more likely to stick to the rule of "no proof of negligence = no compensation").

[Baldric]

The branch must surely have looked suspect when the space was spotted, or are you saying the driver wouldn'y have noticed something smallish like, say a motorcycle in the space and gone ahead and parked anyway.
Driver at fault.

[Baldric]

///one branch was just a few inches from the floor.///

Sort of Motorcycle or maybe Smartcar sized then?

[bednobs]

baldric, smrtcars are small, but hardly a few inches from the floor. My 6 foot two husband fitted in mine :)

[Baldric]

bednob, my point is if it were close to floor level the driver should have seen it as it could have been anything in that area, dog, cat, tripped up pensioner, driver should be aware. but then I'm sure you knew that anyway.

[EDDIE51]

As the car reversed into the space the branch must have been visible in the rear view mirrors, the tree and branch can't have been invisible. Just a case of not looking where you were going. I can't see a chance of compensation.