Advice Needed - Neighbours

janninew

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

I think you will have to get the police involved now your neighbour has admitted it and refuses to pay unless you are prepared to write it off

Is your neighbour that witnessed the incident prepared to go to the police and did anyone witness your neighbours confession?

Hi
Both my neighbours would be willing to speak to the police, not sure how it works, but would my next door neighbour have the right to know who witnessed him and spoke to the police? Even if he does find out, i'm pretty sure my neighbours would still talk to the police, especially the guy who talked to me this morning! Nobody witnessed my neighbours confession, wish i had taken somebody with me, but i didn't expect him to admit it!

janninew

RadoJo wrote: »

And to the poster that said you bore responsibility for making him lose his temper - that's absolute tosh! What if a small child wound him up - would it be ok for him to resolve that physically? His temper, his responsibility, his job to fix the damage he caused.

I'm glad you agree with me on this point! I was quite cross to read that comment. As an adult you need to control your temper, even when your angry (as my neighbour was!) There is nothing to excuse what he has done, IMO.

alm721

I might be inclined to write him a letter stating that as he has admitted liabilty you hold him responsible for the damage and fully expect him to put it right. I would get 2 or 3 written quotes to repair the damage and include these with the letter. I would then give him a few days to decide whether he is going to pay it all or whether you are going to the police, (state the time limit in the letter). I wouls state as he has admitted it and you have 2 witnesses who saw him do it then going to the police would only lead to him having to pay it all and have a criminal record which is not to his benefit. I would try an keep the tone of the letter as calm as you can and take it from there. If he refuses to pay then you must go to the police as if you cant sort this out amicably and there is another incident (god forbid) this will at least be on record with 2 witnesses having backed it up.

alm721

pinkshoes wrote: »

Some people are trying to see the bigger picture, and although they don't deserve a new ball, particularly as they demanded one, there is a lot to be said for keeping the peace with neighbours, and perhaps by replacing the ball (with a cheap one!),

QUOTE]

Yes I see what you mean, tbh it was the poster that had said that they would expect their property back in the same condition regardless of it having been thrown into someone elses garden and that the wouldnt accept the 'dogs will be dogs' excuse that I was responding to.
I really don't get this as dog's will be dog's, and if they are in their OWN GARDEN and someone throws something into their space then they would be mad to think that in most cases its not likely to be damanged. That is not the fault of the person who owns the dogs so should not be their responsiblity to replace it.

Your suggestion however of buying a cheaper ball to keep the peace etc is very sensible as neighbourly disputes can be awful as the OP is unfortunatly finding out.

janninew

alm721 wrote: »

I might be inclined to write him a letter stating that as he has admitted liabilty you hold him responsible for the damage and fully expect him to put it right. I would get 2 or 3 written quotes to repair the damage and include these with the letter. I would then give him a few days to decide whether he is going to pay it all or whether you are going to the police, (state the time limit in the letter). I wouls state as he has admitted it and you have 2 witnesses who saw him do it then going to the police would only lead to him having to pay it all and have a criminal record which is not to his benefit. I would try an keep the tone of the letter as calm as you can and take it from there. If he refuses to pay then you must go to the police as if you cant sort this out amicably and there is another incident (god forbid) this will at least be on record with 2 witnesses having backed it up.

Thanks for this advice, seems like the sensible thing to do! I will put everything in writing this afternoon and post it to my neighbours. Also would it be worth contacting the lettings agent that they rent the house off if its not sorted out and they do refuse to pay? Obviously if they pay up i will be quite happy to let it go and let bygones be bygones!

puddles

What he's done is criminal damage with intent so paying for the damage might be the least of his worries - go to the police for sure, if he admitted it to you when you asked he'll not be likely to hide it from the police.

Bogof_Babe

Both the witnesses are independent, both of you and of eachother, and there is no benefit to them to lie on your behalf, so I'd think the police would treat their evidence as concrete and conclusive, regardless of whether the admission was witnessed or not. He cannot backtrack now because he knows he was seen, and for all he knows the witnesses might have photographed him.

The plan to give him the option to pay up in full within a certain time, or be aware that you will get the police involved is a sound one.

pinkshoes

alm721 wrote: »

I might be inclined to write him a letter stating that as he has admitted liabilty you hold him responsible for the damage and fully expect him to put it right. I would get 2 or 3 written quotes to repair the damage and include these with the letter. I would then give him a few days to decide whether he is going to pay it all or whether you are going to the police, (state the time limit in the letter). I wouls state as he has admitted it and you have 2 witnesses who saw him do it then going to the police would only lead to him having to pay it all and have a criminal record which is not to his benefit. I would try an keep the tone of the letter as calm as you can and take it from there. If he refuses to pay then you must go to the police as if you cant sort this out amicably and there is another incident (god forbid) this will at least be on record with 2 witnesses having backed it up.

I would go with this advice, as it's spot on.

Show them 3 quotes, then give them a reasonable amount of time (7 days?) to give you the money to pay for the damage.

State quite clearly that if they are not willing to pay the full amount, you have no other choice but to go to the police and report them for criminal damage, but you hope it won't come to this, as you would prefer to sort it out amicably...

Mutter_2

If the Police get involved and he appears in court, you may be awarded damages at £1 per week. I'm all for justice, but you need the cash to pay for repairs. Get quotes yourself but you could suggest to him that he finds somewhere, with your final approval of course.

I found a good car body man by accident when I rang the local "chips away" and they recommended him, he comes to the house and does a fantastic job.

As for the ball? If you buy a new one, you've rewarded the kids for kicking it over the fence.

There is one further expense when it's all settled, a bottle each for the neighbours across the road. Not often will people stick their necks out like that, so well done to them.
ETA, You need this repair doing ASAP, as the break in the paint will rust, more expense.

glossgal

OP I think you've shown remarkable restraint here, maybe too much-we too have a d***head neighbour who enjoys a spot of vandalism, Im afraid we didn't realise how twisted he was at first and let incidents go (breaking fences etc) with the result that he gained momentum and now thinks he can do what he likes when gets bored, nothing serious but once the torch paper is lit it will snowball. DO NOT let this go and do not replace his bloody ball!

I must say if our neighbour keyed our car, admitted to it and tried to blame us my OH would have totalled his car without question-not that this is the best thing to do but he is v.lucky you are being civil about it. Do you have any grufty looking sons, cousins, brothers?? Seriously, anyone who can do that and behave in that way has got some brass neck and only understands one kind of language. He would not dare do that to a bloke it really angers me! Time to get tough I'm afraid-police and report him for harrassment and intimidation too