Liability in case of water breakage | Free Advice

Questioner

Dear reader, I have a question. Yesterday there was a water break in my village, which cut off the water in the entire village. The problem was that I have a restaurant that was completely full. Because I no longer had water I could not serve my guests (no toilet coffee water to cook dishes etc.) I lost a lot of turnover because of this and the staff had to work longer because we had to wait until we could continue. Can I recover the costs from wml?

Lawyer

This may be possible - in part - if the damage is attributable to the company and their terms and conditions do not exclude this, or may not exclude this. Below I quote from the supplier's terms and conditions. Please feel free to contact me without obligation for consultation on this complicated matter. The precise circumstances play an important role. Article 9 Liability of WML - indemnity 9.1 WML accepts the statutory obligations to pay damages to the extent that this appears from this article. 9.2 In the event of an attributable failure to comply, WML shall only be liable for direct property damage and/or personal injury. WML shall not be liable for indirect damage, in any form whatsoever, including, expressly, consequential damage, financial loss or damage due to loss of profit. Liability for direct damage shall be limited to the amount of the invoiced amounts under the agreement plus the amounts for which WML has delivered products to the client/purchaser but has not yet invoiced them, with a maximum of €2,250,000.00. In the case of long-term contracts, compensation shall not exceed the agreed price for WML's services over a period of three months with a maximum of €2,250,000.00. 9.3 In the event of an unlawful act by WML, WML shall only be liable for compensation for damage due to death or bodily injury and for other damage, insofar as this is caused by intent or gross negligence. In these cases, the compensation shall never exceed €450,000.00. WML's liability for all other damage due to unlawful acts is expressly excluded. If this provision cannot be invoked for whatever reason, the liability per event - whereby a series of related events is considered to be one event - shall in any case be limited to an amount of €450,000.00. 9.4 WML accepts no liability whatsoever for the performance of work that WML is obliged to outsource to third parties on behalf of the client/purchaser. 9.5. WML accepts no liability for intent, deliberate recklessness or gross negligence on the part of its employees or third parties engaged by it. 9.6 Client shall indemnify WML against all damages that WML may suffer as a result of claims by third parties relating to goods or other services supplied by WML, including: - claims by third parties, including employees of the client/customer, who suffer damage as a result of unlawful acts by employees of WML who have been made available to the client/customer and who work under the client's supervision or on the client's instructions; - claims by third parties, including employees of WML, who suffer damage in connection with the performance of the agreement that is the direct or indirect result of actions or omissions of the client/customer, including the client's failure to comply or insufficient compliance with the Personal Data Registration Act, or that is the direct or indirect result of unsafe situations in its company; - claims by third parties who suffer damage resulting from a defect in services provided by WML that were used, modified or delivered by the client/purchaser with the addition of or in conjunction with the client's own products, software, computer services or other services or services of third parties, unless the client proves that the defect is not the result of use, modification or delivery as referred to above. 9.7 All provisions in these Additional Terms and Conditions for Business Services are also stipulated for the benefit of third parties/suppliers/subcontractors engaged by WML for cases in which they are directly held liable by a client/customer for compensation for damage caused by the third party/suppliers/subcontractors in the performance of an agreement concluded between WML and the client/customer. 9.8 Any warranty on equipment and/or installations supplied by WML to the client/purchaser in the context of the performance of the agreement or otherwise is limited to the duration and scope as granted by the manufacturer of the relevant equipment or installation. WML does not warrant the supplied equipment and/or installation further than the manufacturer warrants it to the client/purchaser.