Ownership of Signs "an Insurance Question"

[Turk Erhamza]

Graham

Do you have any implied warranty, written or verbal, that accompanies your work?

That would be first and foremost. Second would be look into the statutes of limitations. Three years is a loooong time legally speaking so I wouldn’t worry but then again, I have no experience with UK law.

[Chris Wool]

for him to claim on his own insurance, if he has any.
once paid for its his.

unless some one wants to prove you fitted it poorly, but the fact it has been up for 3 years says quite a bit in your favor

[Peter Normington]

It depends, sale of goods comes down to fit for purpose.
warranty does not come into it
A sign would be expected to last for a certain time, based on cost and industry standards, Wind damage for insurance purposes have specific standards, insurance will normally only pay out if a certain windforce, above normal for the area, has been recorded by the met office.
If your sign was the only one in the area to get blown down, then the customer may have a good argument that it was made/constructed/fitted wrongly.
How much did you charge for the sign is the first question.
and are you confident it was made to withstand "average" weather conditions?
is the second.
just a few things to consider

Peter

[David Rowland]

hm interesting…

how about this… if a client asks for their logo (which is your copyright) to be placed in a location which then becomes a sign where the sign maker chosen the materials and fixings… could it be argued that a client is using you as a ‘service’ and the ownership never transfers, so the responsibility is the sign makers?

CAN OF WORMS, I dont think we had a topic like this before

[Jill Marie Welsh]

The way it would be handled here would be that the sign owner’s insurance would cover the replacement of the sign.
You would give them an estimate for the repair, etc.
Then their insurance company would pay them that amount.
And then they would probably just pocket it and hang the sign up with some nails and duct tape.
Happens all the time.
Love…..jill

[Gary Birch]

quote Jill Marie Welsh:

The way it would be handled here would be that the sign owner’s insurance would cover the replacement of the sign.
You would give them an estimate for the repair, etc.
Then their insurance company would pay them that amount.
And then they would probably just pocket it and hang the sign up with some nails and duct tape.
Happens all the time.
Love…..jill

I have to agree. That’s why we pay more and more on our premiums every year whether you claim or not.

We get a few people claim on there insurance when signs get damaging in winds, I can’t see how they can come back on you after 3 years. Maybe they are just trying it on?

Cheers

Gary

[Bob Clarkson]

quote Peter Normington:

It depends, sale of goods comes down to fit for purpose.
warranty does not come into it
A sign would be expected to last for a certain time, based on cost and industry standards, Wind damage for insurance purposes have specific standards, insurance will normally only pay out if a certain windforce, above normal for the area, has been recorded by the met office.
If your sign was the only one in the area to get blown down, then the customer may have a good argument that it was made/constructed/fitted wrongly.
How much did you charge for the sign is the first question.
and are you confident it was made to withstand “average” weather conditions?
is the second.
just a few things to consider

Peter

That is absolutely spot on Peter, basic home insurance works the same way! The only one I ever had come down too the front panel of the shop with it, I took no responsibility for that as my sign was still attached to it.

Just a quick addition, it’s more likely that the insurance company won’t pay out if the fitting is wrong/poor. But if the fitting is good, which I’m sure it is, and numerous other people have had the same problems in the same area, the shops insurance will pick up the bill.

[Graham Shand]

Thank for your input to all, given the fact that the unit next to this one had it’s roof blown half off, I am only glad I did not do his sign as well or I may have got the repair job for that too. Regards Graham

[Bob Clarkson]

Based on that you’re well in the clear and his insurance will pay, hopefully you should get to do new sign a new sign out of this. Assuming he bothers to claim that is, either way he’ll need something done.

[Martin Pearson]

Graham, you will probably find the guy has an excess on his buildings insurance so if he can get you to pay for a new sign he is going to save his own cash. My old unit the buildings insurance was through the landlord. I had no say as it was in the terms of the lease and the excess was £250.