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| Submit Comments | Comments (29) | « Previous Story | Next Story »

Lyndsay Lowe,35, suffered muscle damage to her neck and her boyfriend Andrew Munro, 39, suffered cuts on his arm and a head injury when a section of the ceiling in Exchange Court fell in, due to water damage.

Couple plans to sue over Arndale ceiling collapse

January 19, 2010

A COUPLE injured when the ceiling caved in at Manchester's Arndale Centre have had an apology from centre bosses for their handling of the incident.

Lyndsay Lowe,35, suffered muscle damage to her neck and her boyfriend Andrew Munro, 39, suffered cuts on his arm and a head injury when a section of the ceiling in Exchange Court fell in, due to water damage.

But they claim they were ‘brushed off’ when they called the centre.

The couple, from Ashton-under-Lyne, went straight to hospital after the incident which they say ruined their night.

Andrew, a self employed painter and decorator, was off work for a week.

When no-one from the city centre shopping centre rang to check on their condition or explain the collapse, they made the call themselves - but were told to write a letter.

Apologised

Manager Glen Barkworth has apologised to the couple for not responding to their complaint and assured customers the ceiling is safe.

Lyndsay, a mum of one from Mansfield Street, said: “They just brushed me off when I called and said they didn’t have time to deal with it.

“I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t our fault the ceiling fell in, they should have called to see how we were.”

The couple were on their way for dinner when the accident happened.

Lyndsay added: “It was such a shock. Suddenly there was a loud crack and we were covered in plaster. There were lots of people around and it could have been worse.”

Lyndsay and Andrew are employing solicitors to handle claims for their injuries.

Distress

Dad of one Andrew said: “It caused a lot of distress.”

Mr Barkworth said: “I have apologised to Miss Lowe on behalf of Manchester Arndale for not dealing satisfactorily with the phone call she made to the Centre.

“The safety and welfare of our customers is paramount, as is our commitment to customer service.

“The ceiling area in question has been removed and reviewed by our engineers.

"All other areas have been checked and we can ensure full safety to our customers and staff.“

| Submit Comments | Comments (29) | « Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 25 of 29

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And while they are sueing ..... better give them some Councilling too !!, what an ordeal !!, poor things .....

I. Gillan, Tameside
21/01/2010 at 00:58

If they want to sue, that is their perogative.

bubbob, manchester
20/01/2010 at 19:06

so quick to judge !!

If your clothing was damaged in a shopping mall wouldnt you at least want an apology ? If you suffered an injury that is going to take weeks to heal , wouldnt you want an apology ?

I know as a decent person that if someone was injured in my building i would straight on the phone offering an apology for something that happened due to lack of maintentance in my building. Why should this couple have to write a letter of complaint when an incident report would have been taken at the scene ?

This happened before the earthquake in Haiti , and there is nothing to say that they havnt sent a donation ? If there were 50 people injured it would have been a dufferent story but as it was just 3 its supposed to not be an issue ?

They were actually told to claim by the Arndale centre manager ! Looks like some people have too much time on thier hands these days.

intrigued, manchester
19/01/2010 at 21:18

Why are people bringing Haiti into this ?

If Andrew Munro tells his bank manager/landlord that he cant pay his mortgage/rent for that week because he was injured and couldnt work, will the response be "Dont worry about it there's far worse happening in Haiti" ?

Of course not ! what is happening in Haiti is nothing to do with this and the comparison is frankly childish

d1v1s1onby0, Wigan
19/01/2010 at 18:40

..IF THEY HAVE BEEN INJURED AND IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO IT...

You're partly right. They have to prove that the incident WAS the fault of someone else(be that an individual or a corporation). It's not good enough that it's not their fault. Someone has to be at fault for them to be able to claim.

However, they weren't injured as such. But I'm sure they can persuade a medical expert to write a report detailing their horrific injuries,with a bit of persuasing from a PI solicitor.

sallyg, Lancs
19/01/2010 at 16:48

To the injured couple................I hope you both get well soon following your disaster and trust any prospective compo will cover Andy's lost wages and perhaps leave something to those suffering amid the ruins in Haiti???

Copy Cat, Castleton
19/01/2010 at 16:23

I was once told by my instructor that fires are caused by three things - men, women and children. The same adage will apply to accidents. If no-one were to be held accountable for acts of carelessness, lack of maintenance, neglect of responsibilities etc then the world would be a much more dangerous place to live in. It is the fact that someone is held accountable in law that has seen rigorous modern safety procedures put into place. Anyone who has suffered and been injured as a result of someone else’s omission or neglect of duty is perfectly entitled to some form of redress be it financial or otherwise. Loss of earnings, damage to clothing or property, loss of amenity and incidental expenses are all considered when coming to a settlement figure. It is not an arbitrary figure plucked out of the air to appease people but a perfect right to cover for their consequential loss. What does annoy me is the fact that the property owners instead of quickly accepting liability in an open and shut case (not necessarily this one) will prolong the case and increase the costs whereby only the legal representatives of both parties become the main beneficiaries. Don’t blame the victims for your increase in insurance premiums; look a bit closer to those who benefit professionally from such cases.

SteveDB,
19/01/2010 at 16:06

Health and safety legislation is the reason for more H & S awareness by companies and shop etc, I still see claim blame specialists taking pictures of holes on the pavement to support their case. I have a mate who had a nice sideline in identifying potential fall spots and flogging the info in the pub before a few weeks later putting in a report to the council about the hole so they could fill it in but only after the claim had started. We all pay through higher insurance and most solicitors make over 1000% of what is paid to the "poor" unfortunate, it is as bad as the arranged car crashes how much has that put on the cost of car insurance in the past 5 years. I myself am still claim free but realise I am paying for others who only think of themselves and become serial claimers. My old dad a pensioner had a small accident in his car with a private taxi some months ago, the damage to his car cost £15 to put right, when he got his renewal the insurance had gone from £194 to £780, when he questioned this he was told there was a personal injury claim lodged by the taxi driver of nearly £5000, after my dad's statement the insurance company are now disputing the claim and my dads renewal is £230.

Knowall, stretford end
19/01/2010 at 15:59

"It is a reward in many cases"

Who are you ? and how are you qualified to make such statements?

"Happened to a mate of mine who was already planning his holiday but got walloped for £3k instead"

Hmmm - the solicitor has insurance to cover these cases where they dont win. So the ONLY way your mate could have been landed with a bill is if he withheld material information from the solicitors that came to light and resulted in the case being lost and the insurance not paying out.

Maybe you need more honest friends ? either way you shouldn't judge every claim by those standards.

The fact that there is such an obligation for shops / workplaces etc to be safe - with a financial implication if they're not in the form of compensation payouts has resulted in more companies taking safety more seriousley as the only language they understand is £££.

This has resulted ultimatly in less injuries, to the benefit of everyone

d1v1s1onby0, Wigan
19/01/2010 at 14:56

nn, Stockport what do you mean they are 'entitled to it'. Entitled to what exactly? Money? Is it their divine right to get a cash reward and profit from their accident? It is a reward in many cases - easy money, not compensation.

Besides the court will decide if they are 'entitled' to it but you, like most, see it as a right that you should receive money for even the smallest mishap. Not everybody gets compo and many are left with costs to pay. 'No win no fee' sounds great until you lose and it becomes 'lose and you pay all costs'. Happened to a mate of mine who was already planning his holiday but got walloped for £3k instead.

As for my crash I didn't claim because I was relatively unscathed and didn't fancy claiming from the estate of a dead man. Maybe I am too soft.

Audenshaw Bob, .
19/01/2010 at 13:24

WHETHER THEY ARE CLAIMING COMPENSATION OR NOT,IF THEY HAVE BEEN INJURED AND IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO IT... AND AUDENSHAW BOB,WHO TOLD YOU NOT TO CLAIM YOU WERE ENTITLED TO IT SO YOU SHOULD OF CLAIMED!!! DONT KNOW WHY ALL OF YOU ON HERE ARE MAKING A BIG DEAL ON COMPO!! DEARY ME!! nn, STOCKPORT

what a PLANK!!!

mort
19/01/2010 at 13:19

"DONT KNOW WHY ALL OF YOU ON HERE ARE MAKING A BIG DEAL ON COMPO!!" - nn, STOCKPORT

Perhaps because, ultimately, we all pay for it.

By the way, you might want to try using the key marked 'Caps Lock' on the left side of your keyboard from time to time.

andy waytomakeacomment, Greater Manchester
19/01/2010 at 13:19

nn, STOCKPORT
19/01/2010 at 13:04

Maybe we should all take out public liability insurance in case we step on a butterfly and cause a volcano to erupt.

Mike, Manchester,
19/01/2010 at 12:46

Oxford English Dictionary - 'accident' - event that is unexpected; unintentional act, chance, unfortunate. It seems this word will soon be disappearing from our vocabulary. Surely the 'accident' was a due to an 'act of god' and therefore no one is to blame. I fell down my own stairs at home last week, badly pulled my shoulder, maybe I should make a claim on my own house insurance? Sue myself, as obviously someone is always to be blame in this day and age. Thanks to people like this, fences are being erected on our cliff tops, there are more signs than are possible to read, kids can't climb trees to pick conkers...the list is endless, and so is my despair.

Blunt,
19/01/2010 at 12:17

Can somebody please explain the relevence of "mum of one" and "dad of one"? Does being a parent mean you should be immune to misfortune? Does it mean they should get more sympathy and compo?

The Arndale should offer to cover his weeks wages as a gesture of goodwill, to consider suing the company for a few scratches and bruises and a missed night out beggars belief.

Jiggerz, Mancunia
19/01/2010 at 12:04

It's all the fault of these ambulance chasing TV ads. Who decided that they should be allowed on Tv along with loan-shark ads? In 1965 I was knocked down by a lorry. My parents could have claimed compensation but didn't. It was different times and although badly hurt, the driver was very shocked and apologetic, and as a four year old it was my fault but I wasn't to know that. At school a bit off the roof of a gym fell on me and gave me a small scar on my arm. It was an accident and there was no thought of any compensation.

Lets hope that if this goes to court and if they win, that the judge grants them just 1p because it appears to be just an accident and there was no malice. Greed should have no place, but in modern society it's all too common.

arachne, The Web
19/01/2010 at 12:02

I have been in two bad car crashes (didn't any claim compo).

After my crashes a solicitor phoned me asking if I felt any distress, suffered trauma, flashbacks, anxiety, trouble sleeping, pain, said I should see a doctor etc.

This woman in Arndalegate said 'It wasn’t our fault the ceiling fell in, they should have called to see how we were.” Well the drivers who crashed into me never phoned to see how I was. Perhaps that is because in the second incident the driver was killed. It put my bruises into perspective.

Audenshaw Bob, .
19/01/2010 at 11:00

People should be able to go about their everyday lives shopping, with-out having to fear the roof falling on their heads. I hope that the managers of the Arndale have improvised and now supply potential customers with safety hard hats, with warning signs posted stating`You are now entering a hard hat zone and hard hats must be worn at all times' as they go about their shopping. Good luck to this couple with their compensation claim. They look as though they could do with the extra cash.

Careless Whisper,
19/01/2010 at 10:13

The interview with them reads like one of those No Win No Fee adverts:

"It wasn’t our fault the ceiling fell in" "It caused a lot of distress." "There were lots of people around and it could have been worse"

It was water damage, it's one of those things. I don't see how the Arndale could have prevented it unless they do hourly inspections of all the building to make sure it's safe, which is impossible to do. I hope the courts throw the case out.

Dave ,
19/01/2010 at 09:58

They should accept it was an accident & donate every penny of their ill-gotten compo to the D.E.C.

want to leave, Stretford
19/01/2010 at 09:51

Must be the vicar’s wife on censorship this morning, cant anything past her.

And I bet you don’t all see this comment

Tezza, Tyldesley
19/01/2010 at 09:45

ha ha.....Cain Dingle

mort
19/01/2010 at 09:41

peace man were dealing with ceiling this is my feeling,it did fall on there heads and they are rightly entitled to compo...take the arndale for what you can get...they do.

john hall
19/01/2010 at 09:40

I bet they are glad that they went into the Arndale that day; this could pay for a nice holiday for the two of them.

If this man is a self employed painter and decorator then yes he should be compensated for the days he has lost but that’s all.