Item bought online caused damage to property - can I claim compensation?

[xninjanon]

Hello all,

My first post here so I hope everyone is doing well. I'm struggling a bit here with a small legal issue so any help will be greatly appreciated.
I bought a glass wall art from Wall Art Direct UK. Had a whole host of issues with the delivery but forgetting about that, I installed it on Sunday 29th August and the glass panel fell off the wall on Saturday 11th September. My girlfriend and I returned home after shopping and there was glass all over the room and hallway. The double sided tape they were using to hold the glass with the steel bracket (this was preinstalled by the manufacturer) failed in shear resulting in the glass panel falling off causing damage to my walls that have only recently been painted with fairly expensive Craig & Rose paint and smashing the lamp plug that was switched on in the socket under the wall art. There are a few scratches to the tiles too but luckily no breakages. We're all very lucky that no one was hurt. There is a sofa bed right underneath it and up until the week prior, my sister was sleeping on it. It's traumatic for us to think what would have happened if the wall art failed while she was sleeping underneath it. I can't fathom why such poor quality double-sided tape fixing has been used on a product that has extremely very high-risk severity. For some reason it won't let me attach pictures so please have a look at the pictures on the below link. There's pictures of it when it was up on the wall and when it failed.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kafsSC4VaSFcfsv96

I contacted the producer/retailer - Wall Art Direct about the situation and sent them an email saying pretty much the above. Their response is below:

Thank you for your email and photographs.
Firstly we would like to apologise. Never has this happened before and thankfully no one was injured.
The backing plate we use has been tried and tested spec for the hanging plate below

Type	Hanging plates
Colour	Silver
Material	Steel
Quantity	10
Length	200mm
Brand	Other
Max Load	7.2kg

We have contacted our supplier of the hanging plate to inform them of what has happened and we are awaiting a reply from them.
How would you like to proceed? You can have a full refund or you could change your order to an acrylic type which screws into the wall with stand offs making it secure.



I then responded with the below:

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with any further products from WallArt Direct. I wasn't too impressed with the canvas either, it has creases all around it as if it was stored with weights in the centre but I let that go. I'm not sure why you've not mentioned property damage in your email response but I can assure you just the damages far exceed the price I paid for the wall art itself. First and foremost, I can't begin to explain how traumatic and stressful this experience has been. I'm sure you can imagine this happening in your own home and yourself or a family member being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We've all been very lucky to not have been in the room when this happened. It could very well have killed us. I've been shaking from thoughts of that since Saturday. The glass isn't even safety glass so when it broke - it broke in chunks of varied sizes and some were big enough to kill us if we had been struck from it even if we hadn't been sitting on the couch right underneath the wall art. I don't want this to turn into a legal battle because it's not needed as no one was injured so please let me know how I will be compensated for the damage to my property and additional expenses detailed below. All of these damages are resulting in extra time, effort and money that wouldn't otherwise have been necessary. They will all require material, equipment and labour to fix so I expect to be compensated accordingly.

1. Fitting charges for initial installation including materials such as screws plugs etc.
2. Lamp damage - The lamp plug has been smashed to bits. That was a brand new designer lamp.
3. Wall damage - the scuffs and chips to the wall paint from the glass panel falling and scraping and shards of glass chipping the wall on 3 sides. Furthermore, I now have a wall bracket fixing that will need to be removed and the holes patched, primed and painted. I'm sure you can estimate the costs of other materials and labour but the paint so for clarity - the walls were newly painted using Craig & Rose 1829 Chalky Emulsion - Zeitgeist (https://www.craigandrose.com/1829-zeitgeist).
4. Tile damage - luckily only scratches to the tiles but they are deep so will need to get them checked by a specialist to determine whether it will need replacement or can be repaired.

I got an email the following day from the manager with the below:

Morning, my names xxxx and manager of Wallart-Direct. I have forwarded this over to a legal team to advise of any steps we need to provide moving forward, please allow me 48 hours to gain the information needed to reply.
As standard any item purchased from any online retailer isn't covered under the "if it damages something if it falls ect" So i just want to clarify this.
Just to answer the safety glass point, the reason it went into tiny little square pieces is because it is safety glass. If it wasn't then that's when you would have shards of glass which is potentially life threatening, Safety glass is not.
Please allow me 48 hours,

I've been away with family for a couple of weeks so haven't chased them and they haven't responded either. But I wanted to get some advice from legal experts on whether I am able to claim for property damage or not?



Thanks a lot everyone! If you're taking time out from your lives to read this and even help me then you're a great human being, I really appreciate it! Hope you all have a great day.

[des8]

A rather frightening experience!

He is talking b******s.
Any decent company making & selling products will carry public liability insurance with a products liability extention.

I would suggest you quantify your damages so that if & when you receive advices from their legal team you can tell them how much you are claiming and suggest they refer it to their insurers.

[des8]

What address do you have for this company?

[xninjanon]

What address do you have for this company?

hello mate, thanks for your advice. Much appreciated. Not too sure about their address but this is their website - https://www.wallart-direct.co.uk/

[des8]

So to go back to the beginning:
you purchased a product which has failed and caused damage.
You have a potential claim against the retailer and/or the manufacturer of the product.
Wallart direct sold the product and on their website suggest they also manufacture the "art work"
Quotes "Using industry leading materials and the latest printing technology we deliver high quality yet affordable wall art direct to you."
" Based in the UK, shop with confidence that every item in store is made with care,"
" if you have any questions about our products or services"
"We have created a range of Wallart"
" we use only the finest materials during the manufacturing process"

However if you do not have an address for the retailer, and as a last resort you need to issue a court claim, you will have problems.
As it is not a limited company you will also need to discover the owner
I had already checked their website for an address, (or even a VAT registration number) but there is nothing there to identify them.

Companies House does not list them but there is a registered company called "The Wall Art Co .UK Ltd". I just wonder if there is a connection..
What was the name of the manager ... might be able to trace something from that.

[echat11]

How did you pay for it?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/co...ing-standards/

[islandgirl]

I think I would get the money for the product back first then try to get the rest just in case you cannot issue a court claim

[echat11]

There is certain information all online retailers should provide on their websites -

https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distan...for-businesses

[xninjanon]

How did you pay for it?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/co...ing-standards/

I paid for it using my credit card online. Thanks for this. I will have to do this as their product is not safe for anyone. I told the person I emailed about the issue that they need to recall this. it's a huge safety issue.

[echat11]

You paid by credit card, ask your card provider if you can do a Section 75 claim, (you might need to be a bit determined), you can claim for consequential losses, so don't forget them. Click the bit that says 'start your claim' in the link below.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...t-aZCUb9i8Kwfa

[xninjanon]

So to go back to the beginning:
you purchased a product which has failed and caused damage.
You have a potential claim against the retailer and/or the manufacturer of the product.
Wallart direct sold the product and on their website suggest they also manufacture the "art work"
Quotes "Using industry leading materials and the latest printing technology we deliver high quality yet affordable wall art direct to you."
" Based in the UK, shop with confidence that every item in store is made with care,"
" if you have any questions about our products or services"
"We have created a range of Wallart"
" we use only the finest materials during the manufacturing process"

However if you do not have an address for the retailer, and as a last resort you need to issue a court claim, you will have problems.
As it is not a limited company you will also need to discover the owner
I had already checked their website for an address, (or even a VAT registration number) but there is nothing there to identify them.

Companies House does not list them but there is a registered company called "The Wall Art Co .UK Ltd". I just wonder if there is a connection..
What was the name of the manager ... might be able to trace something from that.

The website is playing up. I responded to you multiple times but it disappeared. I'm wondering if it's because I've put emails in the reply so I'll remove them. Thanks for your message. I did a bit of digging and found an address on the PDF invoice I downloaded from my account on their website - Unit 4, Northfield Way, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, DL5 6EJ
I also found in the DX delivery email it says - Your item from Ipswich Account has been collected by DX Express
The manager's name comes up in my email as - John Thurston

[xninjanon]

I think I would get the money for the product back first then try to get the rest just in case you cannot issue a court claim

If I just ask them for the product refund - Does that not forfeit me for any further claim for property damage?

[xninjanon]

You paid by credit card, ask your card provider if you can do a Section 75 claim, (you might need to be a bit determined), you can claim for consequential losses, so don't forget them. Click the bit that says 'start your claim' in the link below.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...t-aZCUb9i8Kwfa

Thank you that seems brilliant but unfortunately, the item that failed cost me £63.99 so the Section 75 claim won't apply and the card company won't be liable as per that webpage.

[des8]

If I just ask them for the product refund - Does that not forfeit me for any further claim for property damage?

No, the claim for damages could be separate.
The seller has already offered you a refund which you can accept, and still pursue them for damages

[echat11]

Thank you that seems brilliant but unfortunately, the item that failed cost me £63.99 so the Section 75 claim won't apply and the card company won't be liable as per that webpage.

You should still be able to do a charge back, but not the 'consequential losses'. I would defiantly contact Trading Standards via CAB as they are suppose to have a lot of information on their website which is missing.