My Nightmare Neighbour! Where do I stand re obligations legally???

mrcow

maninthestreet wrote: »

Your neighbour seems to have a lot of problems with her back passage.

I did think that - perhaps she should use some ointment

princeofpounds

You've been unlucky and done most things right, but not quite everything.

She has been unreasonable and done most things wrong.

You are responsible for the damage your leaks caused to her property. However, she should not have gone to ask you to contact your insurer. She needs to contact hers. Hers then rings yours and yours pays up, billing you an excess if required. If your insurance doesn't cover it, her company will bill you direct.

She is probably angry because she thinks she will get charged if she claims on her own insurance. She probably doesn't realise how the system is supposed to work.

Putting aside the insurance route, you were right to offer to pay to fix damages. Her quote is clearly ridiculous, however she is entitled to more than paint - she should at least get ALL the labour costs to fix it (why should she spend time/money painting your damage?). She might be due some testing to make sure the structure is ok, but that depends on what actually happened. You should have mutually agreed on a workman and the scope of the job if her quote was unacceptable, not simply withdrawn the offer.

Her behaviour has obviously been unreasonable however!

There's lots you can do, but there are really 2 separate issues. One is fixing the damage, 2 is the neghbour relations. The latter really complicates the former which could be quite simple otherwise, by following the insurance procedure or fixing it privately by mututal arrangement. What you do depends on how practical you think it is to mend the relationship - will she talk to you more rationally if you actually make an offer to fix ALL the damage at your cost, but with the proviso that you both have to agree the contractor?

You might wish to get advice from the NFH forum (neighbours from hell) to tackle the other issue. Google it. But in short you will need to do many of the things suggested above - keep records, communicate in writing, get corroboration from parties like the freeholder and think about involving the police and lawyers.

OptimisticSaver

silvercar wrote: »

Your insurance will tell you that they won't pay to repair her property as it is your property that is insured. They should be telling you that they will deal with any third party claims in their liability section of the policy.

She is right that she shouldn't suffer an increase in premiums because of damage caused by your property. What should happen is that she claims on her insurance stating that the damage has been caused by a thrid party (you). Her insurance then pays out and reclaims the costs from your insurance. You should expect a letter from her insurers that will instruct you to pass straight to your insurers. If she chooses to deal with all the problems herself (as she is entitled to do) then she can still claim off you and again you would forward her claims to your insurer.

Thanks Silvercar - To be honest, I would rather not deal with her direct. I will get the police / Freeholder involved and request that she goes through her insurance and tell my insurers what to expect

OptimisticSaver

princeofpounds wrote: »

You've been unlucky and done most things right, but not quite everything.

She has been unreasonable and done most things wrong.

You are responsible for the damage your leaks caused to her property. However, she should not have gone to ask you to contact your insurer. She needs to contact hers. Hers then rings yours and yours pays up, billing you an excess if required. If your insurance doesn't cover it, her company will bill you direct.

She is probably angry because she thinks she will get charged if she claims on her own insurance. She probably doesn't realise how the system is supposed to work.

Putting aside the insurance route, you were right to offer to pay to fix damages. Her quote is clearly ridiculous, however she is entitled to more than paint - she should at least get ALL the labour costs to fix it (why should she spend time/money painting your damage?). She might be due some testing to make sure the structure is ok, but that depends on what actually happened. You should have mutually agreed on a workman and the scope of the job if her quote was unacceptable, not simply withdrawn the offer.

Her behaviour has obviously been unreasonable however!

There's lots you can do, but there are really 2 separate issues. One is fixing the damage, 2 is the neghbour relations. The latter really complicates the former which could be quite simple otherwise, by following the insurance procedure or fixing it privately by mututal arrangement. What you do depends on how practical you think it is to mend the relationship - will she talk to you more rationally if you actually make an offer to fix ALL the damage at your cost, but with the proviso that you both have to agree the contractor?

You might wish to get advice from the NFH forum (neighbours from hell) to tackle the other issue. Google it. But in short you will need to do many of the things suggested above - keep records, communicate in writing, get corroboration from parties like the freeholder and think about involving the police and lawyers.

Thanks Prince of Pounds - I really needed to hear this. I think I really had my back up after she became rather mentally unsound and called me horrible names. I can see your point about getting a workman into do it.

I just think it has gotten to the point where I cannot talk to her. She winds herself up before speaking to me (very loudly and rudely) and I will avoid that where possible. I think using police / freeholder to mediate would be a good idea because I think given her irrational behaviour - a physical attack is highly likely

OptimisticSaver

mrcow wrote: »

I did think that - perhaps she should use some ointment

Hahaha I think she would spit at me if I suggested this!:D

jenny74

princeofpounds wrote: »

You've been unlucky and done most things right, but not quite everything.

She has been unreasonable and done most things wrong.

You are responsible for the damage your leaks caused to her property. However, she should not have gone to ask you to contact your insurer. She needs to contact hers. Hers then rings yours and yours pays up, billing you an excess if required. If your insurance doesn't cover it, her company will bill you direct.

No so, please read my post above.

You are only liable if you are NEGLIGENT, which you have not been, ie :

"Liability could arise if other people are injured or their property damaged as a result of your negligence. If, for example, you left a bath running and it flooded the flat below, you could be legally liable and face an expensive bill for damages and legal fees. Many household policies also offer cover for any legal expenses to sue someone, or if you are sued. "

Taken from
http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/money/insurance/householdinsurance

Your boiler/washer/pipe leaking is not negligence. UNLESS you failed to repair them previously.

Your best bet is to refer her to your insurer (tell them first!) and let them repudiate her claims.

OptimisticSaver

jenny74 wrote: »

Your insurance company liability is limited to damage caused by your negligence. She will be able to claim on her own home insurance, and then they may try to claim against yours. In all my 15 years working in home insurance claims (including technical claims liability) we never once claimed against another insurer for this typw of damage nor did another insurer claim against us. It is just bad luck.

However, if the washing machine leaked and you did not get it repaired, so it leaked again and kept causing damage, THEN you may be liable (and ultimately your insurer may pay), BUT having said that you have duty under the terms of an insurance policy to mitigate loss or damage so it is unlikely it would come to that.

So the bottom line is you have done all you are obliged to do and she needs to claim off of her insurer. If she had been nicer about it rather than abusive, then you mave have felt more morally obliged to offer to pay towards her excess. Again, it is not legally yout responsibility. You dealt with the leaks at the time,
so have fulfilled your legal obligations.

Finally home insurance is not like car insurance, just because one property causes damamge to another does not make them liable. Totallay different. Oh and yes, report her to the police.

Jenny

Hi Jenny - thanks v much for this - That's what I thought - I contacted insurance co in the past and they said as long as I repaired all leaks when reported (as I have done) then that is all I am legally obliged to do. In All incidences I used a qualified plumber (kept reciepts) and called British Gas plumbers in. I have repaired all leaks promptly and unfortunately they were all from different sources.

When I repaired my washing machine, the leak got much bigger because it takes a while for a slow leak to fully bleed into her ceiling say, but then after a month the damp patch behind the washing machine and her ceiling was fully dry. That would probably be the only situation where she may claim I did not act immediately, as the wet patch grew larger after I had already repaired it.

I am not proud to have my property leak into another but these were bad circumstances and really I did ask her to reconsider the name calling but then she slammed the door in my face.

patchwork_cat

Be very careful getting external bodies involved. When you come to sell you will have to detail any neighbour problems and if you fail to disclose something then you could be in the mire . If there are details on file from police, council etc. they may well come up on searches or later. Incidentally she had problems with previous owner it may be worth looking into if there was anything detailed about that as the previous owner may be in the wrong if he failed to disclose a dispute (which there may well be).

I would tread very carefully with this neighbour. You do seem to have had an awful lot of leaks in a short space of time, although life can be like this!

Incidentally if she does spit on you I think this can be classed as assault.

OptimisticSaver

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Be very careful getting external bodies involved. When you come to sell you will have to detail any neighbour problems

I would tread very carefully with this neighbour. You do seem to have had an awful lot of leaks in a short space of time, although life can be like this! Incidentally if she does spit on you I think this can be classed as assault.

Thanks patchwork - I think I would tell the next owners what happened though. Having had leaks in the past is normal I guess. Although I have had many in a short space of time they have all been repaired and cared for.

With regards to treading carefully - is there anything you recommend I do?

patchwork_cat

Did the previous owner tell you about the problems? Personally if any neighbour disputes ever came out during sale I would pull out like a shot, so as I say be careful.

I have invited neighbours in for drinks etc. in ana attempt to calm situations, but it doesn't always work, probably wouldn't here. I would do as others suggest re insurance and tackle her when you are ready - possibly with back up - are your parents nearby? Perhaps they could be with you when you tell her what you have found out re insurance etc.