FLOOR DISCLAIMER

Re: FLOOR DISCLAIMER

Disclaimers of this nature will as far as I am aware not protect you or your servants in the event of a claim of damage. You often see such disclaimers to the effect that ” we shall not be responsible for any damage or claim however caused ” which means that should we wreck your house in the course of our business you will not have a leg to stand on ! I am no legal expert Jackel will know the specifics of this type of cluase but whenever you provide a service you have a duty of care which does have legal standing and should you damage someones property in the course of your business then I would say that the client would have success in getting you to make good that damage, that is why PLI is required as if we could merely get clients to sign away their rights we would not need the expense of PLI
that’s why even if a company has such a disclaimer they still have a inspection to see if there servant was responsible and to protect themselves should litigation take place as a result. I can remember once when I had a car damaged at a supermarket by a car cleaning company who washed the car in error resulting in multiple damage to the vehicle and they had a lengthy disclaimer which they thought would let them off the hook. After three years of legal wranglings they would not deal correctly with the matter and they engaged a top law firm to get rid of me. I took them to court and the court found in my favour and the disclaimer was ignored in court and the judge found that even though we had not entered into a contract with this company and they cleaned the car in error they had a duty of care which they failed to follow and we were awarded damages and full costs !
When moving appliances on flooring that is easily damaged it pays to have a square of hardboard to which place the appliance on

Re: FLOOR DISCLAIMER

Ditto that.

The money you make will not cover the damage you may cause, so don’t bother.

In my experience of Engineers the ones who cause the damage are usually the engineers who don’t know when to give up and will need to be dragged away kickin and screaming rather than admit defeat. 😆

A friendof mine spent nearly 15 hrs on an appliance he’d picked up from a client, he admitted he was just curious as it was an unusual fault.

In the end he only charged £30 or 50 pence and hr rather than take my advice at the beginning and right it off. :rolls:

Re: FLOOR DISCLAIMER

Do a search on here for “Airsled”. 😉

TBH I was told a long time ago the any disclaimer of that nature was a waste of space as, if you take on the job you’ve formed a contract to fix it and when you attempt to remove and cause damage in the course of doing that, you’re liable. End of story.

The biggest reason that disclaimers don’t stand up is that they open the doors for traders to do whatever they like with no recrimination, therefore courts tend to totally ignore them.

Now, you get into the murky waters…

If you explain to the homeowner the potential for damage and ask them if they want you to proceed then they have a degree of responsibility as well. But, in reality, most people are reasonable on this when it’s explained.

Just take a note on the job sheet that you have advised, ask the customer to sign that you have advised them of the potential for damage and you’re as safe as you can be.

Or you go the hard line way and, if you are in any doubt whatsoever I’d advise this, you walk away saying that the risk of damage is too great. In short, you’ve assessed the risk to the home that may be caused by removal and it is too great.

In all honesty, most times especially on warranty and insurance calls this is the only way as otherwise you will almost certainly get a claim for the damage. The reason being that the customer just assumes you’re part of a big company, whatever company you happen to be contracted to, and they think it’s coming out their pocket, not yours.

The manufacturer/insurer/WP meanwhile simply says that it’s your problem, you did it. I have been continually astounded by many on this front as you get no back up when it does go wrong like that and very little backup when you refuse to remove it.

You just can’t win. So, doesn’t matter what you do, someone’s (or some parties) aren’t going to be happy campers and that’ll be that.

The only thing I’d recommend is do unto others and make sure it’s not you that ends up out of pocket over it as the grief from letters of complaint, stupid claims and paying insurance excesses and policy increases are simply not worth the aggravation, time or cost.

K.

Re: FLOOR DISCLAIMER

Kitchen fitters I have come across are not exactly bright.

I had a cooker hood yesterday, could not see the securing screws at the top of the chimney, as they where obscured by the coving around the ceiling.

After I explained to client she rung the fitter.

He explained to me that the bracket that screws to wall was placed on the ceiling, the bottom section needs to be removed and an arm with a long screw driver needs to be sent through the 2 inch gap up to the ceiling.

He stated it was a pig to install.

I stated it’ll be a pig for you too remove then and the client will need to pay us a callout charge for the wasted visit as the installation instructions were not followed and impossible to remove appliance covers to access the motor securing screws.

He argued that the design was crap as most ceilings have a coving, to which I explained most competent fitters would have placed the bracket on the wall lower than the coving and drilled two holes through the chimney allowing the screws to secure to the bracket and allow a quick and painless removal. :rolls:

Now I’m afraid the removal and reinstallation is your responsibility and I suggest you reinstall properly.

Client has paid us and is looking to claim from him the charge and we are returning next week. 😆