An email with a photo of a cracked drive
Two weeks after collecting a skip from a house, your office receives an email with a photo of a cracked block-paved driveway and a quote for repair. The homeowner says your lorry did it, either when the skip was dropped or when it was lifted. She wants the repair paid for.
Your office asks the driver. He remembers the house, vaguely. He thinks the drive was already uneven, and he put boards down, he always does. But there is no photo of the drive before delivery, no record of where the customer asked for the skip to go, and nothing signed. It is his word against a photo of a cracked drive.
Why claims are so hard to defend
A skip lorry is heavy and driveways vary, so damage claims will happen. The difficulty is that the evidence needed to assess them fairly is never gathered at the time.
- No photo of the surface before the skip is placed.
- The customer's placement instruction is verbal, and nobody records it.
- Boards or protection are used, but there is no record that they were.
- The customer is not asked to confirm placement, so they can later say it was the driver's choice.
- Claims arrive days or weeks later, when memories are unreliable.
How you respond to a claim, and whether your terms or insurance cover it, is for you and your advisers. What we deal with is having the facts.
What an undefended claim costs
Paying for a repair that was not your fault is a direct loss, and a pattern of payouts can affect your insurance. Refusing a genuine claim without evidence damages your reputation. Either way, time goes into letters, calls and sometimes site visits.
Drivers feel it too. Being accused without evidence either way is stressful, and drivers who take care have no way to show it.
How we capture the evidence at the drop
What we build adds a short delivery step to the driver's job that takes less time than the conversation with the customer.
- Before placing the skip, the driver takes two or three photos of the surface, which the app stamps with time and position.
- The driver records the placement: on the drive, on the road with a permit, or elsewhere, and whether boards were used.
- The customer, if present, confirms the placement on the driver's screen. If they are not present, they receive a text with the photos and placement, and a link to confirm or query it.
- At collection, the driver takes another photo after the skip is lifted.
- When a claim arrives, the office opens the booking and sees all the photos, placement details and confirmation side by side.
- Each claim and its outcome are recorded, so you can see if claims cluster around a particular lorry, driver or type of surface.
| Moment | What is captured |
|---|---|
| Before placing | Surface photos with time and position |
| Placement | Location, boards used, customer confirmation |
| Customer absent | Text with photos and link to confirm or query |
| Collection | Photo after lifting |
| Claim | All records on one screen with outcome logged |
When the next claim arrives
An email arrives with a photo of a cracked drive. The office opens the booking. The photos from delivery show the same crack running across the blocks before the skip went down, and the customer confirmed placement on the drive, with boards, on the driver's screen. The office replies politely with the photos.
A different claim a month later shows the drive intact before delivery and damaged after collection. The office handles it under your normal process, knowing it is genuine, and the claim record helps the transport manager review how that lorry is being used.
Is your skip firm exposed to damage claims?
- Drivers do not photograph surfaces before placing skips.
- Customers' placement instructions are verbal.
- Damage claims are paid because you cannot show otherwise.
- Claims are handled differently each time.
- You cannot tell whether claims are linked to a particular lorry or driver.