Plot holders guide

[Jimbojones]

Hello everyone!

I have just been reading the plot holder's guide and was wondering if anyone knows, I have a plot on a council owned allotment site, should they have public liability insurance or are we as plotholders responsible for providing public liability insurance.

Thanks!

Jim

[Peter]

If you are worried about YOUR liabilities on YOUR plot then join the NSALG and get insurance through them. They will aslo cover your lottie shed.
The council SHOULD have a generic public liability insurance covering all property it is responsible for.

HOWEVER, it will not, as a rule, accept liability for injuries caused by reasonable wear and tear or malicious damage UNLESS they were notified of the problem prior to the injury occurring and did not fix it within a reasonable time.

Talk to your landlord, nicely. Don't put the fear of god in them as you may find your rent going up to cover a higher insurance premium.

On a more serious note, this issue is why so many "bad things" are done by councils nowadays and why their services cost so much. What was once seen as an acceptable risk or something "any fool" could avoid is now seen as "someones responsibility".

Someone slips on a slug and breaks their hip.
Is it the councils fault there was a slug on an allotment path?
Was it the fault of the plotholder who picked it off his lettuce and threw it on the path?
Was it the fault of the slippee, who should have looked where they were treading and worn shoes that did not have a smooth sole?
Or do slugs just happen to be a normal and acceptable risk at an allotment site?

Yes you should be able to hold the council liable if the concrete fence post with cracks in it they have been told about for two years falls onto your car as you drive past it and there is no other route available.

Common sense does not seem to be common anymore though and its every no-win, no-fee lawyer for itself.

[Jimbojones]

Thanks Peter
We are in the process of joining the NSALG and have just had our first AGM of our year old association. Our council just try to block anything we try to do. We have an old building used as a community room and have brick sheds which we pay rent for. 1 block has just been demolished by a community group, and 1 has had the roof blown off and this is falling down. The council just keeps saying it has no money and the brick sheds are our responsibility. We tried to get a grant for the community room and this has been blocked by the council at the moment as they say if we do any work on the community room, we have to lease it and take responsibility for liability, maintenance and upkeep of it. We pay the highest rent in our area, £52 next year and this should be put back into the allotments but at the moment the breakdown we get is £30 for the plot and the rest goes on the cutting of the main path-come-road around the plot and the remainder is the rent for the sheds, which some people don't even have and are still charged for. Hopefully we may get some useful advice from the NSALG and if anyone here has any, it is most welcome. At least we have had good crops this year despite the terrible weather we have had eh!

Jim