Does this count as a CF?

[TrickyD]

For many years my mum owned a shop which she sold to her cousin in 1967 or thereabouts.

This winter the town, including the shop, was badly flooded and the floor of the shop had to be taken up.

A layer of Asbestos was discovered underneath the floor covering which as far as I remember was some sort of vinyl tiles.

Obviously dealing with it it is an expensive job.

However I heard this morning that the owners are blaming mum for selling them the premises and their insurers are likely to be contacting me regarding a claim.

Surely I cannot possibly be held liable in any way for this? Mum died in 1993, (not of anything remotely asbestos related). I was not involved in the sale. If anyone is at fault it must be their surveyors, assuming they had a survey.

Common sense says it is not my problem, but I find it unsettling nevertheless and rather a case of CF behaviour.

Reassurance welcome.

I have no experience with this sort of thing, but my instinct says there is no way that you can be liable!!

Surely not, no-one could think you are responsible for this.

Definitely sounds like a CF! I cannot see how this could fall back to you at all. It would be like me going after the people who had my hallway artexed in the 70s. (possible asbestos issue)

Caveat emptor! I have no legal qualifications but I cannot possibly see how they can possibly believe that you can be liable for a building that they bought from your mum 53 years ago! Even if your mum was still alive I don't think they could possibly have a claim against her. I would put it out of your mind completely.

Your reply to any enquires by the insurance company will no doubt be: “Lol.”

Was it illegal to use asbestos at that time? If it wasn’t, I’d say that 100% your mum is not at fault!

If it was and your mum had no knowledge of this, I would still say it wasn’t her fault as surveyors should have looked for that.

Just googled it.

Asbestos under floor tiles is very common in old buildings. In 1967 it was absolutely not illegal, and in fact asbestos wasn't finally made illegal to use until 2000.

They cannot possibly sue you for something that was legal at the time, surely?

I don't think they have comeback from your mum, let alone you. I'd love to know where they got their legal advice from. Or which insurers they use.

Thanks everyone. Just what I wanted to hear. It took me aback this morning when an old friend of mum’s told me about it and how it was a big talking point in the town, where I have not lived since around 1969.

Lockdown boredom talking point probably.

If anyone's at fault, it's the surveyors and the lawyers for the purchasers, be that her cousin, or any subsequent purchasers, who should have ensured that any necessary liabilities were correctly discovered and covered in the contract.

Without this, no-one has any leg to stand on and it would have to be a bizarre world for anyone think that you would be liable. You can't inherit other people's legal problems FFS.

Apologies for the ridiculous example, but if your DM had killed someone but she was not identified until after her death, do you think that they would be able to charge you with the crime?

Who did you hear this from? Was it an official channel or hearsay through the family? I wouldn't worry about it for now until you get something official through. How would your mum have even known it was there? (Fyi there is asbestos in lots of flooring even in schools - it is safe unless cracked. www.bobvila.com/articles/asbestos-floor-tiles/ )

Following the same logic, you should sue whoever sold the shop to your mother.

You are not liable at all! We have just (this week) paid £££ to get asbestos removed from our garage roof in the house we bought 3 years ago. It was visible panels forming the ceiling, pointed out to us by builders quoting us for a garage renovation.
We were mad that the surveyors hadn't picked it up on the survey, or that the previous owners hadn't pointed it out. But nothing we could do.
It's perfectly legal to sell a property with it in, it's not actually dangerous to those in the property unless it is tampered with.
I do think surveyors should point it out on surveys, but apparently they don't have to. They have no legal discourse to you(or your mum when she was alive). Don't worry about it.
They will just have to deal with it like anyone who buys a pre 1980's property may have to if it needs to be removed.

I wonder if someone said this jokingly and it has been passed on to you not realising it was a joke.

People are crazy arent they!

The owner of the next house to me rents to students. 6 months after we had new windows installed, he claimed there was a crack in a bedroom wall that we were responsible for; and said I should contact our insurers.
They in turn said it was up to his insurance company to contact them.
I passed the message on, and another year later we've not heard a word about it. I think he was hoping we'd just agree to pay for the work.

That is rotten luck, afromum. It didn’t sound like a joke, AntiHop, but I may make further enquires. However with the advice on here, particularly the legal use of asbestos until well after Mum sold it, maybe I will just keep quiet.
You have all calmed me down, even though it sounded crazy, it still rattled me.

It sounds absolutely ridiculous and nothing to do with you or even your mum. Asbestos grows over time and your mum had the shop decades ago. How ridiculous. Tell them to shove it I'm sure that sort of case would last 3 seconds in a judge Judy courtroom

Refer them to the reply given in the case of Arkell v. Pressdram.

I have just read it AdobeWanKenobi

So have I. I found the reply on this website, which looks like a delightful rabbit hole to fall down.

My favourite so far is [[https://lettersofnote.com/2011/02/14/regarding-your-stupid-complaint/ regarding your stupid complaint], to which the reply about 'dangerous' behaviour in a football stadium is given as

'Dear Mr. Cox:

Attached is a letter that we received on November 19, 1974. I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters'

It's a cracking afternoon reading is Arkell v. Pressdram

Sound like a case of lockdown Chinese whispers. I wouldn’t do anything until someone contacts you in writing.

I keep finding bits of Roman pottery in my garden. It's a bloody nusiance clogging up my rake. I'm going to get on to the Italian Embassy after lunch and see if they can send someone round to sort it out.