"Phil L" wrote in message
. uk...
Cicero wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message
k...
ARWadsworth wrote:
Any ideas how much my local council will charge me to replace a 18
inch by 18 inch window in a front door? It is the sort of glass that
has wire mesh through it.


After reading the thread and knowing the circumstances, I can safely
say that the council will not replace the glass, they will more
likely change the door and even possibly the door frame too, after
all, they are getting paid to do it and if it were my house this is
what I too would do, they're highly unlikely to keep costs down.

Expect it to be no less than £500


snip

==========================
The Council will have to take some kind of legal action to make you
pay for the damage and almost certainly they have an obligation to
claim only for the actual damage. They can't claim for a new door and
frame just for their convenience. Even a sledge hammer used on a
pane of glass is not likely to cause damage requiring a whole new
door and frame.


Maybe the frame wasn't damaged, but the door could certainly have been
almost destroyed - georgian wired glass? - add a few tubes of silicone and
well screwed in internal beads and it's fairly safe to say that the inside
of the door will be beyond repair, but this is just conjecture, it could
have been on a thin bed of old putty and fell out with the first crack.
The door frame is questionable but not impossible, if it's showing signs
of
rot, the council will not hang a new door on a rotten frame and simply
claim
that it was knocked out of square by the sledghammer.

Since you've been charged with causing criminal damage it will
probably be up to the Court to make some kind of order for
restitution - if you're convicted. They may not make any such order
and if they don't the Council may feel that it's not worth pursuing
you for the cost.

IANAL but I am a landlord, and anyone causing criminal damage to any of my
properties will pay for the full cost if caught, I can't imagine that a
local authority would be any different.


====================
I agree that the Council will want their full 'pound of flesh' but they are
obliged to mitigate their losses. If the door and frame were in poor
condition I doubt if they could claim the full cost of a new door and frame.

As far as compelling crooks to pay for criminal damage is concerned, the
operative words are, 'if caught'. We seem to live in a society in which
causing criminal damage is seen as just a little bit of casual pleasure for
bored juveniles.

Cic.