A guy on my delivery told me

[music4essex]

That the other night on talk sports live(5) he rang in as he is a taxi driver and said that it is funny that with all the snow and bad weather that no ones has stuck up for the posties and he would just like to say his postlady has come out in all weathers to deliver his packets and letters.

I shook his hand and said really appreciate him sticking up for us

Essex mum

[slave]

I've had a few people saying thank you on my delivery, not many though..

Reading the local paper I've seen criticism of mail not being delivered and someone saying thank you for mail arriving. Far too many whingers in this country though and I wonder of all those that have been critical, how many got themselves to work or carried on as normal

[bexhil palace]

How about this then,
A bloke comes into our callers office, and wanted to know why he has had no mail delivery for 3 days.
The guy on duty says because of the bad weather, and dangerous conditions, it was deemed sensible to
defer deliveries until there was an improvement in the weather.Not good enough was the reply,i'm waiting
for some very important documents.
The guy in the office said if they were that important you could have collected them yourself.
Oh no he says i couldn't get my car out until today.

[pinstripe]

How about this then,
A bloke comes into our callers office, and wanted to know why he has had no mail delivery for 3 days.
The guy on duty says because of the bad weather, and dangerous conditions, it was deemed sensible to
defer deliveries until there was an improvement in the weather.Not good enough was the reply,i'm waiting
for some very important documents.
The guy in the office said if they were that important you could have collected them yourself.
Oh no he says i couldn't get my car out until today.

You couldn't make it up.

[jockstrapp]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

[dave7634]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

Thing is now with the law, if you clear the path and then subsequently your postie slips and injures themselves then YOU become liable. However, if you leave alone then you're fine

[haveagojoe]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

Thing is now with the law, if you clear the path and then subsequently your postie slips and injures themselves then YOU become liable. However, if you leave alone then you're fine

Not true on the local bbc radio station the other day they had a solicitor on who stated that this was an urban myth you cannot be sued if you clear your path and someone slips on it, so there is no excuse not to clear it for us.

[smokerjim]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

Thing is now with the law, if you clear the path and then subsequently your postie slips and injures themselves then YOU become liable. However, if you leave alone then you're fine

Not true on the local bbc radio station the other day they had a solicitor on who stated that this was an urban myth you cannot be sued if you clear your path and someone slips on it, so there is no excuse not to clear it for us.

On You & Yours on Radio 4 last week, a solicitor more or less confirmed that - basically, a judge will use his common sense and discreation - so if it looks like you've tried to keep your path clear, you'd be ok....but if you had a leaky overflow pipe and did nothing to fix it, you'd be proper f*cked!

[dave7634]

I stand corrected.

[Richie89]

Got a few thank yous from the usual people on my walk, most just took the piss out of me though.

Thats what you get for delivering in giroland.

[Caniel]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

Thing is now with the law, if you clear the path and then subsequently your postie slips and injures themselves then YOU become liable. However, if you leave alone then you're fine

Not true on the local bbc radio station the other day they had a solicitor on who stated that this was an urban myth you cannot be sued if you clear your path and someone slips on it, so there is no excuse not to clear it for us.

On You & Yours on Radio 4 last week, a solicitor more or less confirmed that - basically, a judge will use his common sense and discreation - so if it looks like you've tried to keep your path clear, you'd be ok....but if you had a leaky overflow pipe and did nothing to fix it, you'd be proper f*cked!

I read about a local bylaw that said it was the responsibility of residents to keep the pavements clear of snow outside their own property. Seems sensible to me but I don't know how true it is.

[jaylime]

The thing is when the snow is shovelled off the path it leaves a sheet of ice,which i find is more dangerous than a foot of snow.

[krussel]

I was delivering in the really bad stuff the other week when one of my customers who lives on the hilly side of my walk pulled up in his 4x4. He has a very steep drive and did not attempt to clear even a path but instead drove his jeep up and down on the snow compacting it to 3 inches of solid ice

Anyway i was not doing his road that day due to the conditions and i could tell by the way he was marching over he had the hump (not going to work himself mind you ) "ARE WE GETTING ANY SERVICE THIS WEEK " He shouted. But before i could reply he slipped and fell straight on his arse by the side of the van . "Sorry not today its too icy mate" i replied and I helped him to his feet, giving him his mail. He nodded, turned and never said another word

[TrueBlueTerrier]

And none of these lazy BAST@RDS will have cleared their paths for the postie

Thing is now with the law, if you clear the path and then subsequently your postie slips and injures themselves then YOU become liable. However, if you leave alone then you're fine

Just to clarify here are some links I posted previously on just this subject

http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/1 ... -clearing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Your local authority is responsible for clearing snow and ice from the public highway and pavement. Under Section 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980, the council must ensure that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice. If the local authority fails to act, you can apply to the magistrates’ court under the same legislation for an order to unblock the highway within a reasonable period – although such orders are very rare indeed.

Private landowners are not obliged to clear snow or ice from the highway, even if the road or pavement passes over their land. Indeed, from a legal point of view it may be risky for private individuals to clear these areas. By sweeping snow from one part of the pavement you can create a danger in another area and if someone is injured, you will be liable for negligence or nuisance.

On your own land, it is a different matter. You owe visitors a duty under the Occupiers Liability Act 1984 to take reasonable care to ensure that they are reasonably safe. This means that if you know someone (such as the postman) is likely to walk up your garden path, and you also know that the garden path is slippery, you must take reasonable steps to clear the path of snow and grit it if necessary.

Property advice from the experts
However, you should not simply brush the snow from your path on to the public pavement. It is also a public nuisance to block the pavement of the road by sweeping snow from your property on to the highway.

Your neighbours are therefore quite right to clear their own paths, but are taking a legal risk in clearing the public pavement – no matter how public-spirited their actions may seem.

This is actually a common misconception.

You as a land owner (or resident) of a property have the responsibility to clear paths on your own property. If you have not and the postman, milkman, paper boy slips (or any visitor) and falls and can prove you have not made reasonable efforts to mitigate a slip hazard (ie cleared snow and ice) then you can be sued. If you did make reasonable attempts then you are safe.

The bit that most people confuse the relevant laws with is if you clear any public footpath even on your property and someone slips then they can sue you if you did not clear it properly and therefore because you cleared it you have accepted the responsibility. This is different because you already have responsibility to clear a path on any of your own land and not on others.

Sources:

http://www.economicvoice.com/the-law-in ... z0cHXFCMVz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The law should be the other way around. You get sued if it can be proved you made no attempt to clear the pavement. That would then mirror the case of when the postman or milkman etc slips in your garden or driveway, because you can at present be liable for not clearing it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3453039.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lord Davies said: "No householder is at all responsible, providing they do not touch the pavement, which is owned by the local authority."

''The Occupiers Liability Act (1984)
which I am told is still in force.

Private landowners are not obliged to clear snow or ice from the highway, even if the road or pavement passes over their land. Indeed, from a legal point of view it may be risky for private individuals to clear these areas. By sweeping snow from one part of the pavement you can create a danger in another area and if someone is injured, you will be liable for negligence or nuisance.
On commercial property, it is a different matter. You owe visitors & customers a duty under the Occupiers Liability Act 1984 to take reasonable care to ensure that they are reasonably safe. This means that if you know someone (such as a customer) is likely to walk up your path, and you also know that the path is slippery, you must take reasonable steps to clear the path of snow and grit it if necessary.

You can see where the confusion arises of course.

[baldrick]

i could tell by the way he was marching over he had the hump (not going to work himself mind you ) "ARE WE GETTING ANY SERVICE THIS WEEK " He shouted. But before i could reply he slipped and fell straight on his arse by the side of the van . "Sorry not today its too icy mate" i replied and I helped him to his feet, giving him his mail. He nodded, turned and never said another word

Perhaps he should have thanked you for helping him up though.