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Other - Over $30,000
Claims for property damage of more than $30,000 tend to be claims for damage to homes or to commercial premises.
Our firm has had a lot of experience in relation to these types of claims. For example, Stacks/The Law Firm acted for the owners of a number of the lodges which were destroyed by the landslide at Thredbo on 30 July 1997, when 2000 m³ of mud and rock collapsed below the Alpine Way.The firm has also acted for large numbers of uninsured homeowners whose homes were destroyed in the Canberra bushfires of 2003. On 18 January 2003 fires which had been burning around the edges of the ACT entered the suburbs of Canberra and more than 500 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Unfortunately many of those homes were uninsured and we had to pursue, on their behalf, a joint claim for damages.
Once again the law which applies is the ordinary law of negligence.
Coronial inquests
The biggest issue in cases like this is to determine what actually happened. In major disasters like the Thredbo landslide and the Canberra bushfires, there will be a coronial inquest. Lawyers representing affected parties can seek leave to appear at that inquest to ask questions and to have access to all of the material gathered by the police officers assisting the coroner.
Pursuing your rights
Typically the damage which you will suffer will not be part of a major disaster and there will be no coronial inquest.Assume you decided to take advantage of government subsidies for insulation. You engaged a home handyman to install bats in your ceiling. He simply placed them over the top of ceiling lights and the trapped heat resulted in substantial damage to your home.
If you have complete fire insurance then you will probably simply claim on your insurer and leave it to the insurer to pursue any claim against the home handyman.
If you don't have household fire insurance, or if the insurance cover is inadequate, then you will want to pursue your rights against the home handyman.
What our clients say
Recent Successes
What are the facts?
The most important thing in cases like this is to find out quickly what actually caused the damage. That means taking detailed statements from all relevant witnesses. We have particular expertise in taking those statements, in getting all the crucial information and in understanding what evidence will be admissible in court and what evidence will not be admissible.Once you know the facts, the law is usually quite straightforward. Disasters can occur for reasons outside anyone's control - such as through a bolt of lightning - but usually a careful investigation will reveal that someone was at fault. As long as that person has assets or is insured, then damages can be recovered with a view to restoring you to the position which you work in before the accident.
Are you insured?
There are so many different insurance products available these days that often times the person responsible does have insurance coverage, even if he or she does not realise it at first. For example, household insurance typically covers the owner of a home for fire damage but also covers all family members against any claim for damages if someone is injured on the property.Similarly there can be damage to commercial property. Whether you are the owner or lessee (person who rents property from another) of the business premises where you work, any damage to the property itself is probably going to be covered by insurance. But what if you are out of business for six months whilst the repairs are carried out? What if you are operating a restaurant in those premises and you can't carry on your business six months although you still have to pay your key staff (unless you want to lose them) and other fixed operating expenses?
When would you seek legal assistance?
If the accident looks like it was the result of someone's fault then you want a lawyer quickly involved before the evidence disappears. And not just any lawyer. You want a lawyer with experience in pursuing this sort of claim. Stacks/The Law Firm lawyers have this experience.
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