Free Traffic Legal Advice

Live cases legal advice => Non-motoring legal advice => Topic started by: Riz101 on September 19, 2023, 03:28:16 pm

Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Hroogar on January 23, 2025, 07:57:24 pm

Yeah, that will have been fat fingers, sorry. Marking it “dumb” doesn’t even make sense.

I know that feeling only too well.  :-\
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Hroogar on January 23, 2025, 07:54:44 pm
what has contentious probate got to do with anything?

I posted about my woeful life in the non traffic legal advice section. Sadly no-one replied and it’s still rumbling on

The ******* emailed me the other day to say the reason they have not distributed the estate is because my brother hasn’t replied with his bank details.

I wrote back to say I care not if his inheritance sits in their bank account for 20 years.

So not linked to this post but my solicitor keeps talking about costs after the event. But I never understood what ‘THE EVENT’ is classed as.

Feel free to read and comment on that other post. No-one has done so far.

3 years plus of sheer hell and my mother still hasn’t been interred.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on January 23, 2025, 07:38:47 pm
Costs follow the event means that the loser of any particular claim or application normally pays the winner’s costs.

So it's as simple as that.

I'll revert to my post about this then - "This will raise a laugh... CONTENTIOUS PROBATE!"

Thanks SP.

Just noticed you marked my reply as DUMB!

I have a lot of respect for you and can only assume perhaps wrongly that you hit the wrong button or have misconstrued what I wrote…

 :(

Yeah, that will have been fat fingers, sorry. Marking it “dumb” doesn’t even make sense.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on January 23, 2025, 07:22:56 pm
what has contentious probate got to do with anything?
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Hroogar on January 23, 2025, 07:11:16 pm
Costs follow the event means that the loser of any particular claim or application normally pays the winner’s costs.

So it's as simple as that.

I'll revert to my post about this then - "This will raise a laugh... CONTENTIOUS PROBATE!"

Thanks SP.

Just noticed you marked my reply as DUMB!

I have a lot of respect for you and can only assume perhaps wrongly that you hit the wrong button or have misconstrued what I wrote…

 :(
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Hroogar on December 02, 2024, 09:46:56 pm
Costs follow the event means that the loser of any particular claim or application normally pays the winner’s costs.

So it's as simple as that.

I'll revert to my post about this then - "This will raise a laugh... CONTENTIOUS PROBATE!"

Thanks SP.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on December 02, 2024, 09:42:10 pm
Costs follow the event means that the loser of any particular claim or application normally pays the winner’s costs.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Hroogar on December 02, 2024, 09:38:27 pm
Thankfully we’re not the US, where being mildly inconvenienced seems to result in millions of dollars in compensation.
The much bigger problem in the US is that costs don't follow the event, which as you might imagine can have very perverse consequences.

I have just posted a thread.

Can you explain to me what costs follow the event means EXACTLY?

What is the EVENT? Can there be a chain of events. You'll probably understand what I am getting at if you read my post and, if not, I shall explain.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: cp8759 on October 14, 2023, 04:48:38 pm
Thankfully we’re not the US, where being mildly inconvenienced seems to result in millions of dollars in compensation.
The much bigger problem in the US is that costs don't follow the event, which as you might imagine can have very perverse consequences.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on October 14, 2023, 03:48:38 pm
Hmm ok, I was told "medical assessment" which I assumed to be a doctor/consultant report but may have turned into a full psychiatric investigation.  :-\

Who knows? We’re pretty old school here so I select my own appropriate experts. I think in England a lot of firms use clearinghouses to do that for them.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 14, 2023, 03:24:47 pm
Hmm ok, I was told "medical assessment" which I assumed to be a doctor/consultant report but may have turned into a full psychiatric investigation.  :-\
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on October 14, 2023, 03:10:58 pm
I'm also surprised that members seem to dismiss this event as an inconvenience as opposedto a traumatic experience. have any of these members been stuck in a lift?

Traumatic enough to result in a recognised psychiatric illness? That’s the key point and without a report from a consultant psychiatrist saying so any claim is going nowhere.
that's interesting, and not something that was mentioned to me when discussing a possible claim.

It’s pretty basic stuff. Thankfully we’re not the US, where being mildly inconvenienced seems to result in millions of dollars in compensation.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 14, 2023, 01:25:57 pm
I'm also surprised that members seem to dismiss this event as an inconvenience as opposedto a traumatic experience. have any of these members been stuck in a lift?

Traumatic enough to result in a recognised psychiatric illness? That’s the key point and without a report from a consultant psychiatrist saying so any claim is going nowhere.
that's interesting, and not something that was mentioned to me when discussing a possible claim.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 14, 2023, 12:44:07 pm
*
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: H C Andersen on October 13, 2023, 09:57:13 am

Were you there or is your information secondhand?

Who operates the museum?
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on October 13, 2023, 09:48:00 am
I'm also surprised that members seem to dismiss this event as an inconvenience as opposedto a traumatic experience. have any of these members been stuck in a lift?

Traumatic enough to result in a recognised psychiatric illness? That’s the key point and without a report from a consultant psychiatrist saying so any claim is going nowhere.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 13, 2023, 09:39:13 am
I would suggest there should have been a specific procedure in place for the museum staff to action in the event of lift failure there must be coshh assessment. negligence on behalf of museum operators jumps to my mind.
I'm also surprised that members seem to dismiss this event as an inconvenience as opposedto a traumatic experience. have any of these members been stuck in a lift?
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: H C Andersen on October 13, 2023, 09:20:23 am

Finally they were out after the agony of more than an hour..

'they' were out, not we were out.

OP, were you there?

Was the museum operated by a public body or private company? This would determine the type and extent of any complaints procedure (short of litigation) and whether access to an ombudsman is an option.

Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: guest46 on October 13, 2023, 07:58:29 am
As above -my question was in the context of effort-in vs low (likely) benefit-out.

Given the circumstances were (debateably) not the fault of the museum, absent a claim against the lift manufacturer or maintainer, I don't see any worthwhile damages being forthcoming.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: cp8759 on October 13, 2023, 12:33:01 am
There is a big difference between being inconvenienced, event to a very significant degree, and being injured. Being placed in a stressful situation would not, as far as I understand it, suffice to give rise to actionable damages.

In any case I am very skeptical that any amount that could be claimed would warrant the cost of litigation.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 12, 2023, 10:55:45 pm
I was focusing on the suffering due to the rescue attempt (which sounds poorly thought out to me) which would have been traumatic, confined space  noise dust not to mention claustrophobia.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on October 12, 2023, 10:47:58 pm
A case for?...........
damages, pain and suffering. ??

What injury has been suffered that would give rise to a claim for damages?

mental suffering and stress. as I understand it no physical nor financial injury need occur.
emotional distress

Has to be a recognised psychiatric injury. Whilst not impossible, I would be surprised if someone got PTSD (for example) by being stuck in a lift for a bit.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 12, 2023, 10:14:56 pm
A case for?...........
damages, pain and suffering. ??

What injury has been suffered that would give rise to a claim for damages?

mental suffering and stress. as I understand it no physical nor financial injury need occur.
emotional distress
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Southpaw82 on October 12, 2023, 10:11:28 pm
A case for?...........
damages, pain and suffering. ??

What injury has been suffered that would give rise to a claim for damages?
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: mickR on October 12, 2023, 09:10:56 pm
A case for?...........
damages, pain and suffering. ??
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: sparxy on October 08, 2023, 04:13:41 pm
Quote
the lift had almost arrived but the door wouldn't open and lift was not moving to come up the final half a meter.

Had they used the key, and opened the doors, then the lift decided it wanted to move again as you were getting out of it? The staff would also have needed to know how to isolate the power to the lift to prevent unintended movement, movement that could have resulted in catastrophic injury had you been part in/out of the lift.

The safest place to be when a lift fails is inside the lift car itself. Even if it decides to move by itself, you're safely inside. There will always be enough air exchange (even if it gets a bit warm and stuffy feeling).
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: guest46 on October 08, 2023, 05:55:15 am
A case for?...........
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: cp8759 on September 23, 2023, 01:00:08 am
Sounds like something best dealt with via a formal written complaint in the first instance.
Title: Re: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: 666 on September 19, 2023, 03:56:25 pm
Do you have any actual quantifiable loss to claim?
Title: Family stuck in a faulty lift for over an hour
Post by: Riz101 on September 19, 2023, 03:28:16 pm
Hi,

My family (3 adults and 2 children) were stuck in a lift of a museum for more than an hour, where we visited as a birthday treat for my daughter.
This included baby who just turned 1 year and high blood pressure patient (mother in law).
The museum staff took it pretty light in the beginning and were saying we have asked the engineer to come out we can't say how long it will take, could be an hour or more and they were happy to just wait.
My family was complaining that it is a small lift and feeling suffocating so I called the emergency service 999 who came out and eventually had to cut the steel door open. This resulted in dust being built up initially while cutting the door and people inside along with the baby started coughing and crying, cutting was stopped then and the glass panel was removed to pass on some masks and ear muffs to people inside.
Finally they were out after the agony of more than an hour, mother in law's blood pressure had already shot up and was not feeling well at all, overall it was a very traumatic experience for my family.

After the engineer arrived around 2.5 hours later, he said why didn't you used a key to open which the museum staff confirmed that they had but didn't know where to insert it (it was a metal key similar to the one used for meter cabinets or loft doors)

Do you see a case here? may be lack of lift maintenance, lack of staff training on using the key to open the door as the lift had almost arrived but the door wouldn't open and lift was not moving to come up the final half a meter.
The lift company contact number was not picking up the call either after first conversation that engineer will be on the way, if they had a person who could've guided the fire staff then most probably there wouldn't have been a need for all that loud banging and hazardous cutting that took place.

The museum has refunded the tickets for the day.

Any suggestions are helpful, thanks