Hi, I would be really grateful if someone could give me some advice on how to proceed in this matter.
In early December I was staying at a hotel and my room was entered and some high-value items were taken by someone who was not a hotel employee. The hotel loss adjuster has sent me the below correspondence stating that whilst the hotel believes the contractor the suspect obtained the key from was negligent, as they were employed by a cleaning contractor and not the hotel, the hotel is not liable and my compensation would be limited to the standard £100.
Is this correct and if I were to try and claim against the cleaning contractor what would my chances be and how would I go about this? The value of the goods taken was around £4000 so it's a big loss to me at no fault of my own.
I have provided the text of the letter below.
" Further to our previous correspondence we can advise that we have now completed
our investigations into liability.
Our investigations reveal that the culprits managed to obtain the master key from one
Of the Cleaners whilst they were hoovering their room and swap it with their own key.
On realising the master key did not work, the Cleaner swapped it for another believing
that it had been de-magnetised.
Unfortunately, the culprits were able to gain access to the rooms after this occurrence
using the master key. We understand the culprits were apprehended by police, and a
number of items were recovered.
Whilst we appreciate our Principals Insured owes a strict liability under the Hotel
Proprietors Act 1956 in the absence of any negligence on the part of the Hotel, this is
limited to £100 per person.
It is our Principal’s case that the Cleaner who was a direct employee of Omni Facilities
Management Ltd was negligent as they failed to take sufficient care of the master key
whilst it was in their custody and control.
Whilst this incident was regrettable, we do not consider that our Principal’s Insured has
been negligent, so any claim will need to be redirected to Omni Facilities Management
Ltd, 11 Beavor Lane, London, W6 9AR who have been put on notice.
Offices at: Birmingham, Belfast, Bolton, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Maidstone, Northampton
QuestGates Limited is registered in England, Company No. 4612407
If you still intend to pursue a claim against our Principal’s Insured then we strongly
suggest you seek independent legal advice."
Thank you in advance.
In early December I was staying at a hotel and my room was entered and some high-value items were taken by someone who was not a hotel employee. The hotel loss adjuster has sent me the below correspondence stating that whilst the hotel believes the contractor the suspect obtained the key from was negligent, as they were employed by a cleaning contractor and not the hotel, the hotel is not liable and my compensation would be limited to the standard £100.
Is this correct and if I were to try and claim against the cleaning contractor what would my chances be and how would I go about this? The value of the goods taken was around £4000 so it's a big loss to me at no fault of my own.
I have provided the text of the letter below.
" Further to our previous correspondence we can advise that we have now completed
our investigations into liability.
Our investigations reveal that the culprits managed to obtain the master key from one
Of the Cleaners whilst they were hoovering their room and swap it with their own key.
On realising the master key did not work, the Cleaner swapped it for another believing
that it had been de-magnetised.
Unfortunately, the culprits were able to gain access to the rooms after this occurrence
using the master key. We understand the culprits were apprehended by police, and a
number of items were recovered.
Whilst we appreciate our Principals Insured owes a strict liability under the Hotel
Proprietors Act 1956 in the absence of any negligence on the part of the Hotel, this is
limited to £100 per person.
It is our Principal’s case that the Cleaner who was a direct employee of Omni Facilities
Management Ltd was negligent as they failed to take sufficient care of the master key
whilst it was in their custody and control.
Whilst this incident was regrettable, we do not consider that our Principal’s Insured has
been negligent, so any claim will need to be redirected to Omni Facilities Management
Ltd, 11 Beavor Lane, London, W6 9AR who have been put on notice.
Offices at: Birmingham, Belfast, Bolton, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Maidstone, Northampton
QuestGates Limited is registered in England, Company No. 4612407
If you still intend to pursue a claim against our Principal’s Insured then we strongly
suggest you seek independent legal advice."
Thank you in advance.
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