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A runaway trolley damaged my car - is the shop responsible for the repairs?

A runaway trolley was left at the end of a row of trolleys opposite my parked car, in a marked parking bay, at Asda. I was sat in the car waiting for my wife who was in the store. The weather was sunny, but a gust of wind rolled the trolley down the slight gradient towards my car. No one was in the immediate area and the trolley was about 15 foot away. By the time I noticed it rolling towards me, it was too late. It dented and scratched my car. On returning the trolley to the row, I realised that they did not require a pound coin, or it would have been secured by the locking chain. Does this mean I have a claim against the group for negligence? I don't see why I should lose my No Claims Bonus for what could be an expensive repair to my car. It's fortunate that it was serviced and a body check report was done a week ago by the main dealer.

Asked on 14 May 2018 by John Thompson

Answered by Honest John
It's a tricky one because there is no negligence by ASDA. You could argue that you should have spotted this, and being aware of the weather conditions, expected something like this could happen. As such, you should have parked elsewhere. If it was not parked where it was, it would not have been damaged. The flip side of this is, the supermarket has a duty of care to prevent damage or injury to others whilst on their property. Are there signs that read something like 'park at your own risk'? A gust of wind would be seen as an Act of God. I would contact ASDA and request their public liability insurance details. They will not want to provide this, as they will have a high excess, and will be technically self-insuring. You may well find this tactic will assist you in having them compensate you for the damage. I would not expect success, but there's no harm in trying.
Tags: insurance
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