Caught a snowy kerb last night and propelled myself and bike into a restaurant window (Kendal). The window shattered and collapsed around me cutting my arm and shoulder (10′ by 8′ of glass , could have been much worse). While I was at Lancaster hospital being patched up the Manager of said restaurant visited my place of work to get my name and address ‘for the insurance’. Anybody know what the position is in such cases ? Thanks , Mike

Anybody know what the position is in such cases ?

He’ll probably try to make a claim of your own insurance (you would normally be covered under your house insurance for this sort of accident).

Claim ‘act of god’?

You broke it you pay for it, accident or no accident.
New glass fitting and and lost business…….as tmm says your house insurance should cover it.
As you say it could have been much nastier from your point of view.
Are you in the CTC or BCF?
Or do you have cover on another policy. Some posh bank accounts credit cards may have some cover.

And launch an immediate counter suit for a) not cleaning the snow off the pavement outside his business b) using such unsafe and easily shatterable glass !

Maybe they are contacting you to see what you want after your starter?

😉

And launch an immediate counter suit for a) not cleaning the snow off the pavement outside his business b) using such unsafe and easily shatterable glass !

should have been toughened glass in a shop front.

“Waiter! Waiter! There’s a cyclist in my soup.”

lucky escape!

as above you may have cover via an insurance policy. Personally I’d wait to see if I heard anything.

Manager of said restaurant visited my place of work to get my name and address ‘for the insurance’.

shouldn’t have been disclosed due to data protection rules, however you are not exactly running away from the incident

shop insurance may pay out, or
shop/ insurer may chase you
or you have insurance and declare it to the restaurant

should have been toughened glass in a shop front.

I think they need to worry more than you do.

i would query why it wasn’t toughened glass, i am assuming a large shop front glass rather than a few little panes.

then threaten to counter sue for injuries sustained. Or be nice and have a word with your insurance, they may then refuse on the grounds that the shopfront was substandard and the owner negligent.

as avdave2 said

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg212.htm

Start picking out a new bike for next season……….if feel a claim coming on.

Part N of building regs so I’m told in t’ office.

I would have thought that it’s more likely that his insurance wants the details rather than him wanting claim directly off you. Whether his insurance company will want to pursue you is another matter but as has been said, your home insurance may well provde cover.

He may just have been asked to get your name for the records – doesn’t mean they are going to claim against you. E.g. a previous company policy had the approach that ANY workplace accident we should immediately inform them with full details. They were very proactive and would actually offer private medical treatment etc to reduce the risk of subsequent litigation. The insurer may reasonably want to speak to you to verify it was an accident and not vandalism. If you do not have insurance that covers this I would be surprised if an insurer could be bothered to pursue it through the courts.

I don’t think anyone suggested that the glass broke in a way that indicated it was ‘sub standard’ surely the requirement is that it is of a certain thickness by area and that it ‘shatters’ (which is what the OP described) rather than breaks into 3ft long shards.

Even ‘proper’ glass in a 10×8 window will get a bit of mementum falling from 8ft up onto you after it’s done the decent thing and broken into small pieces.

Which restaurant?

Toughened glass will still shatter and the sharpe edges can cause minor cuts and abrasions. A laminated glass would be a better solution for a shop front.

geoffj – Deja Vu , opposite Evans . wwaswas this broke into 3 ‘ shards , worse, I didn’t hit it that hard , I was sort of hopping left with the bike and shouldered the window .

If you think you have suffered damage then I’d be talking to the restraunt then…

deja_vu_shop_front_mod by jh_buchanan, on Flickr

If a car had lost control in the snow and gone through the window we wouldn’t be doubting the correct course of action?

Hope you recover from your injuries, but either you or ideally your insurer would seem to be liable for the cost of the window from what you’ve told us.

Sorry

swadey (former insurance company claims manager)

Doesn’t look quite like that now!

Clearly you are liable [ morally certainly] and I assume legally.
Imagine you are sat at home and a cyclist comes through your window I assume you would all just get the cheque book out then?

Main thing is you crashed and you are [relatively] ok ….always the best way

Ooops, main thing is you are OK. I’m not sure I’d want one of those pains of glass coming down on me.

Been meaning to try that restaurant too. Let us know ho you get on in case it needs to be black listed!

Old windows, can’t see why they’d need to meet current legislation, but may be bloody expensive to replace…

Can i just ask how you managed to do that, which way were you coming from\going too ?

I have been commuting in to work for the last 2 weeks in kendal and the roads have been lethal, you must have been going at some rate to ‘propel’ yourself through a window.

As br says, glass wouldn’t need to have been toughened or even laminated.

How did the restaurant manager know where you work? Anyway, as above, would be an insurance claim by the restaurant and their insurers may claim from your insurance. If you were working at the time, then they may claim from your work insuance I guess.

Hope you’re OK. Oh, and watch out – it’s likely to happen again… 😆

Anyone else spotted the irony in crashing into Deja Vu. Surely they knew it had already happened before and should have been waiting outside to catch you as you fell.

Won’t the restaurant have insurance to cover this?

Can’t understand why they contacted (or how they knew) where you work. Are you a liveried cycle courier?

My view – accidents happen and it was your fault. How would you feel if the same thing happened and someone fell through your house window. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to claim on your house insurance.

That aside, that is a big pane of glass to shatter which brings all sorts of other H&S issues to the fore. You were very lucky in one sense but a low window like that in a public place shouldn’t just shatter 😯

Won’t the restaurant have insurance to cover this?

Probably but the Ins co. is going to try & mitigate it’s losses if it can

I’d have thought a restaurant has to have safety glass – toughened or laminated fitted in case a customer falls against the window.

Given the circumstances you are morally liable for the damage to the window but I’d be asking the question why it clearly wasn’t safety glass.

I’d be inclined to point out the 1992 Health, Safety and Welfare Regulation 14 requiring that “every window or other transparent or translucent surface in a wall, partition, door or gate should, where necessary for reasons of health or safety, be of a safety material or be protected against breakage of the transparent or translucent material; and be appropriately marked or incorporate features to make it apparent.” This regulation applies to a wide range of workplaces including offices, shops, schools, hospitals, hotels and places of entertainment. Despite this, reported incidents of glass breakage are on the rise.

I suspect you’ll not hear any more from them unless you decide to pursue a claim yourself.

Was your bike damaged?

should, where necessary for reasons of health or safety

And there is the getout, who deems where neccessary ?

Any glass over 11 inches wide needs to be safety glass,and fitted in certain places, either tempered or laminated, its possibly an old window, so the replacement should be the above spec.

A clear plastic shatterproof film can be applied to windows to stop them shattering,and causing injury.

Really glad your ok, when i was a kid a neighbour fell dowen the stairs and throught he window at the side of the front door, she bleed to death and the postman found her next day.

Burglar jumps through open window and lands on a knife on the worktop cutting himself.

Cyclist jumps through window, cutting himself on the glass.

I presume everyones familiar with the 1st anecdote about why the american legal system sucks, so why are we blase about the 2nd?

Old glass does not have to conform to the currents regs, so it is a non-starter to say it should be toughened glass.
It will have to be replaced with toughened, or laminated glass, as that will be fitting a new pane, so needs to be to current regs.

Alan.

Glad to hear tat you are okay. 1st things 1st is that no one has been seriously injured or worse.

I am speculating as are most here that they will want to make a claim about this. It was an accident but you did fall through their window so it would hardly be fair that they take a hit on their insurance for it. As has been said, amusing the same happened to you at home you would want to claim of the other party and not off your own insurance. There normally is cover as part of your normal contents insurance I reckon so just let them sort it between themselves. I would call your insurance company to give them a heads up and ask what they need from you in the way of details of the accident etc.

Not sure how clipping the kerb becomes the responsibility of the restaurant so they could be counter sued. This view of “I tripped therefore I will sue” really hacks me off. Take responsibility and do not pass the blame.

I would expect that the new glass will be of a safer standard such as toughened. New fitting will be to the new standard but there will not be automatic upgrade/replacement of existing glass. K glass on all new double glazed units is an example.