can i sue council for negligence and how do i go about it?

[agray35]

back in march i got offered a new council property and went and viewed it. i complained about the back fence as i have 5 children and it was falling down and being held up by a door. 2wks ago i finally moved into the property to find the fence still the same. i have been uo to the council a few times to report it as a repair, on friday i was told the HMO has been out and seen the fence and has removed it from repair as it in their opinion is satisfactory. I have taken pictures of the fence and showed a government H&S executive and they confirmed the fence is NOT satisfactory. on saturday i ended up in A&E with my teenage son as while bringing in my washing caught his foot on the door and went over on his ankle athough the injury was minor it could of been a lot worse and it could of been my 4yr old. i have picked up a claim form from the council but i am unsure whether i should get a solicitor involved to handle it or just fill in the form and leave it in the councils hands??

[dothawkes31]

BTW, was this Government H & S executive viewing the photo with an imnpartial eye or is it a mate?

[4getmenot]

micmac lets not jump to conclusions she may work part time because thats all she can do with the children and so gets a bit of help from council.......so she should save up and mend fence herself

[dothawkes31]

5 x child benefit a week is enough to buy a fence panel and get it put in.

[sherrardk]

If everything else is satisfactory (heating, electricty, no damp, etc) I would think repairing a fence is a small price to pay to have somewhere better to live.

[micmak]

We will see forget. Maybe I am cynical. forget that last statement, I am cynical.

[4getmenot]

:-)

[agray35]

wot difference does it make wot my circumstances are? the question here is....r the council at fault are they negligent for not repairing a fence they are meant to maintain. the H&S executive was an impartial eye NOT a mate

[sherrardk]

Will you stop moaning - the time you have spent on here you could have fixed the bloody thing.

[B00]

Short answer- no they aint.

Longer answer, get off your bum and fix it yourself- get your teen son to help you.

[4getmenot]

No they are not

[poodicat]

Are you working agray?

[Barmaid]

If you would like to answer my questions agray...........

[agray35]

sherrardk.................U KNOW NAFF ALL ABOUT ME SO DO ME A FAVOUR N DONT FRIGGIN JUDGE ME!! WHY SHOULD I REPAIR SOMETHING THAT IS THE COUNCILS PROPERTY AND THEY SHOULD MAINTAIN. ALL I WANT IS FOR MY KIDS TO BE SAFE AND SECURE IN THEIR OWN HOUSE IS THAT ASKING TO MUCH FROM THE COUNCIL??!!

[dothawkes31]

If you owned the property and wanted to have a new fence you wold speak to your neighbour, go and speak the them and ask them to go halves on a new panel.

[sara3]

evidently, it is.

you're going to have to sort it out yourself.

[cherrychapstick]

but like people have said it can be fixed yourself , what are the injuries? how big is your garden?

[sherrardk]

By the same token you know naff all about me. I might not know anything about you but I have been it similar circumstances but I was not lucky enough to get a council property. If the fence is unsafe and the council was unable/did not wish to fix it then surely you should fix it to keep YOUR kids safe - or is that the council's responsibility too?

[B00]

I'm sorry agray, but you're not gaining any sympathy here.

From your own admission your 4 year old is unable to play in your own garden as the fence is not safe. Any decent parent would cobble something together to enable the child to play out. I'm utterly amazed you're not ashamed of yourself for doing nothing about it yourself. However I'm probably correctly assuming it's far easier to whine to others about "poor hard done by you" than it is to help your family yourself.

I repeat, you should be ashamed of yourself.