HIRED SCAFFOLDING - LADDER STOLEN - WHO IS LIABLE?

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21 Oct 2012
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Location
Tyne and Wear
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Just discovered a ladder has been nicked off a hired scaffold tower at my house. The roofers who carried out the work have denied any knowledge and the scaffold company says they haven't taken it. Scaffold company say I am responsible and are charging me £70 plus VAT.

This seems crazy - how can the client be responsible for the entire scaffold stack? I'd need to hire a 24 hour security team. At no stage was I told I would be liable if there were any theft. Is the scaffold company correct in charging me for the loss?

Many thanks.
 
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Most hire companies offer thieft / damage insurance, you would have an excess & require a crime number to claim.
Unless you were a regular hirier I am surprised they hired to you without insurance (as it is a very big earrner for the hire company).
Are they charging you the full price or have they discounted it, I dont think you will get away with not paying, but you should be able to make a deal with them.
 
Thanks for the replies. Noseall - believe me that had already occurred to me. Nothing to stop them doing just that. Diyisfun - I wasn't offered any insurance, nor explained I was liable. Still can't believe the customer has to take the hit on this. What would happen to the scaffold company if all their scaffolds got nicked? Are you telling me they don't have insurance?

When you hire a car you pay a premium for theft/damage, sure, but you can't lock a scaffolding rig in a garage overnight. What do they expect the customer to do, keep a 24 hour watch?

If I'd known I was liable I'd have locked the ladder on with a bike D lock.

new info: next door neighbours saw a scaffold truck pull up at 6pm last night, 2 guys spent a while taking the ladder down fully aware they were seen by the neighbours and without trying to rush the job. Scaffolding company denies any of their guys would have done this.

I think they still have the ladder but it's my word against theirs.
 
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regardless of who ever stole it it's your responsibility to take care of the hire equipement and insure it ....
 
What do they expect the customer to do, keep a 24 hour watch?

On many building sites, yes.

new info: next door neighbours saw a scaffold truck pull up at 6pm last night, 2 guys spent a while taking the ladder down fully aware they were seen by the neighbours and without trying to rush the job.

I suppose if you're going to go round nicking scaffolding then turning up in a scaff truck and doing the job nonchalently is the way to do it without arousing suspicion.

Maplin and Screwfix are open on Sundays if you want to get a CCTV camera ...
 
Regardless of what you were or were not told, what does it say about liability on your hire agreement - presumably you signed one and accepted its terms when you hired the gear?

Either way, if you've had something removed from your property without your permission and the owners deny they did it then it's a matter for the police. Your neighbour will need to supply the police with a statement of exactly what they saw and it's up to them to follow it up.

Once you've got a crime number you may be able to claim off your house insurance.
 
If you don't have a written contract specifying responsibility, or a verbal one, then it's the scaffold company's responsibility.

You can bet that they have insurance for theft, but would not want to claim on it for such a small amount. Or may claim on it and off you too.

Of course they will try and pass liability onto the customer, but there is no liability without specific contractual agreement to assume the risk of theft.

The safe keeping of the equipment is the responsibility of the owner unless agreed otherwise.

Refuse to pay and let them try and recover it
 
Ok, I get it, I've been naive. Thanks to all who replied constructively. OwainDIYer, I enjoyed your response. Unfortunately Maplins told me their CCTV cameras don't record events that have already happened. Oh well, you weren't to know that.
 
What do they expect the customer to do, keep a 24 hour watch?

If I'd known I was liable I'd have locked the ladder on with a bike D lock.

.

If you lent property to someone, you would expect them to take reasonable care of it, which doesn't include leaving it out for anyone to take.
It's also foolish to leave any ladder out overnight outside your property.
 
Tony, I've accepted I messed up here - police are currently on the case and it's a lesson learned. But your comment is bemusing.

I didn't just 'borrow' this stuff - I paid for it and entered a hire agreement with the scaffold company, one in which they failed to tell me I was liable for any losses. Perhaps that was naive but are you also suggesting I should have dismantled a 3 story tower of scaffolding and stored it in my 2nd floor flat each evening just to be sure no one took it then erected it again the next day?

And how exactly do you retrieve a fixed 6 meter ladder that's clamped on to a scaffold from a 1st floor lift requiring a 4 meter ladder just to get up to it in the first place? I don't have a ladder that long lying around, nor would the 6 meter ladder fit into the entrance of the flats I live in so where do you suggest I store it each night?

And what is 'reasonable care' when applied to scaffolding? Polishing it? Sleeping on it just in case someone tries to steal it? Maybe I could have tied a string to my big toe so if the ladder moved I'd have woken up? Damn, gotta read that small print.
 

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