Brown Wooden Gavel on Brown Wooden Table

The Cost of Non-Compliance

Not addressing health and safety in a home can land an owner in hot water.  And by hot water, I actually mean the potential to face criminal charges, unlimited fines and/or imprisonment.  Yikes.

And if the above sanctions don’t encourage you to comply with relevant housing legislation, don’t forget there are also civil cases where tenants or guests have taken the owners to court with a view to claiming damages.

In 2010, the blind adventurer Mark Pollock went to stay with some friends.  As is typical and can be similar to someone on holiday, he may have had a drink.  Needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, Mark was disorientated and fell from a second storey, low level open window, suffering catastrophic spinal injuries.

In his ruling, nearly 5 years after the incident, the judge stated that “an open window did create an obvious risk”, dismissing the insurance companies claim that “an extensive use of hindsight was required” awarding Mark the £2,000,000 he claimed for.  Mark actually limited his claim to this amount because it was the limit of his friends’ insurance policy, and he didn’t want them to have to pay anything personally, despite Mark needing significantly more to allow him to live a ‘normal’ life. 

There are more cases that can be cited where owners have been taken to court.  Nearly 4 years after a tenant broke their back from a fall with a combination of painted external steps, rain and no guarding from a drop, a similar hearing took place.  On oath, whilst the letting agent, when questioned, said the steps did not cause him any concern, they did, following the accident, recommended remedial works the judge concluded that “what a reasonable man, not least a reasonable landlord, ought to have realised” was that the property wasn’t safe.  Or the tenant whose hand went through a half glazed door not realising that the glazing, whilst intact, was not strong enough to withstand pressure to push against it.

There are a number of take aways from highlighting these cases:

  1. Firstly, make sure your property is safe from a variety of hazards.  These hazards will be bespoke to your property and dependent on its age and characteristics. 
  2. Secondly, be careful who you rely on and their competence to advise you.  Don’t rely on someone like a letting agent or a fellow FHL owner from facebook telling you what worked for them, particularly if their property is non-comparable. 
  3. Thirdly, read again the time taken from incident to trial and consider whether the stress, anxiety and guilt would be worth it.  These incidents could have been predicted if a proper risk assessment had been carried out, and then works undertaken to mitigate them, rather than accidents happen at life changing cost.

Our job is to safeguard FHL owners and their guests, minimising the risk and the likelihood of an incident occurring so accidents like the one’s highlighted don’t occur.

Safe Stays are trained to risk assess properties and assist owners in finding suitable fixes, covering Fire Safety, Food Hygiene, Falls, Stairs and so much more.  Give us a call to see how we can help you risk assess your property and protect you going forward.

Peter Gibson

References:

Pollock V Cahill & Anor | 2015 | England and Wales High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Drysdale V Hedges | 2012 | England and Wales High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Alker V Collingwood Housing Association | 2007 | England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division)