Vermin from neighbouring property

barrymung

Not sure if this is the right place to post as I suppose it's a legal question, so mods fee free to move if necessary.

A few weeks ago our next door neighbours had some work done which involved putting up scaffolding, which was in place for about a week.

During this time we noticed a loud scrabbling in our loft area so we investigated. We discovered that a rat had been in the loft, destroyed a lot of insulation and stuff stored up there.

We can clearly see the route the rat has taken; it's come along the soffit which runs along both houses. There's a small gap which is part of the design of the building (1970's design). The work the neighbours had done was soffit replacement. Due to adverse weather the work was left half done for a few days so was open.

We also noticed yesterday a pest control officer from the council entering the neighbours house with pest control equipment, so it's obvious the neighbours know they have/had a rat problem.

It's pretty obvious a rat came up the neighbours scaffolding into their loft. It then came into our loft in search of bedding but left after destroying our insulation.

I'm pretty sure the neighbours have had the rat eliminated so this is unlikely to be an ongoing problem.

My question is, can I demand the neighbour pays for new insulation etc and to have my loft tidied or is it just "one of those things"?

Obviously their builder didn't put sufficient precautions in place to stop vermin coming in. However, is this something they should have forseen? Is a neighbour responsible if their rat problem spreads to adjacent properties?

phill99

The tenet of the law is that you need to prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' that the damage to your property was caused by your neighbours / builders negligence. Playing devils advocate, you cannot prove that the damage was caused by the rat coming into your house via the scaffolding on your neighbours property. Rats are everywhere in this country and it could easily have come into your property by other means. It is common to get mice and rats inside in the winter as they come in to warm up. If I was your neighboyr / builder I would simply be saying "Prove It!". And I'm afrfraid that you cant prove it.

27col

Its just one of those things. How much damage can one rat do to your insulation anyway. You can "demand" all you like, but how can you prove that it was anything to do with next door.

david29dpo

I wound highly recommend you let this one go. The last thing you want is a dispute.

terryw

phill99 wrote: »

The tenet of the law is that you need to prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' that the damage to your property was caused by your neighbours / builders negligence. Playing devils advocate, you cannot prove that the damage was caused by the rat coming into your house via the scaffolding on your neighbours property. Rats are everywhere in this country and it could easily have come into your property by other means. It is common to get mice and rats inside in the winter as they come in to warm up. If I was your neighboyr / builder I would simply be saying "Prove It!". And I'm afrfraid that you cant prove it.

Not quite. "Beyond reasonable doubt" is the case in criminal cases. In civil cases it is "On the balance of probabilities". I agree that this is difficult to prove and this case would be a lawyer's dream providing the OP and your neighbour have plenty of money to keep the case running!

paddy's_mum

I don't think there's anything clear or obvious about it, and I can assure you that rats don't need scaffolding to get into a house - a drainpipe or insufficiently sealed sink overflow will often do nicely, thank you very much.

For all you know, the neighbours believe the creature came from your property onto theirs when the building work gave it the opportunity and they have chosen to deal with it without pointing fingers of blame and potentially causing a neighbour upset.

I'm afraid I cannot agree with your view that the builder should/could have forseen the problem and prevented it. Would you expect him to have screened your property against, say, the entry of a couple of woodworm beetles or a squirrel?

barrymung

phill99 wrote: »

..you cannot prove that the damage was caused by the rat coming into your house via the scaffolding on your neighbours property..

It can clearly be seen that it's come from the neighbouring property as rats leave a trail of urine wherever they go..

barrymung

27col wrote: »

Its just one of those things. How much damage can one rat do to your insulation anyway. You can "demand" all you like, but how can you prove that it was anything to do with next door.

A lot of damage is the answer!

barrymung

paddy's_mum wrote: »

I don't think there's anything clear or obvious about it, and I can assure you that rats don't need scaffolding to get into a house - a drainpipe or insufficiently sealed sink overflow will often do nicely, thank you very much.

For all you know, the neighbours believe the creature came from your property onto theirs when the building work gave it the opportunity and they have chosen to deal with it without pointing fingers of blame and potentially causing a neighbour upset.

I'm afraid I cannot agree with your view that the builder should/could have forseen the problem and prevented it. Would you expect him to have screened your property against, say, the entry of a couple of woodworm beetles or a squirrel?

There's no other way up there. All the guttering downpipes are on the neighbours property.

There was nothing in our loft the week before as I hav just finished tidying it up!!

There's no doubt it came from the neighbours property, the question is are they legally responsible for vermin eminating from their property?

Not saying I'll do anything about it..just that they are the sort of people who never take responsibility for anything they do, if you catch my drift.

latecomer

barrymung wrote: »

Not saying I'll do anything about it..just that they are the sort of people who never take responsibility for anything they do, if you catch my drift.

So if thats the case why do you think that demanding they pay for it will make a difference. Unless of course you are planning on taking them to court over it??

1984ReturnsForReal_2

I fail to see any negligence.......

In fact I see the neighbours acting well.