Asbestos Garage - Buyers chasing me for removal costs

poppysarah

Surely if they had a survey it would have said "probably asbestos get it checked out"

And if they didn't have a survey then that's THEIR problem.
And if it's not picked up by their surveyor they should speak to him.

Unless of course you sneaked back yesterday and planted this shed/garage?
;-)

magpiecottage

If they are going to sue you, they will have to give an address to serve notice on you.

If they don't know where you now are (and if they did, why would they write to your solicitors), then I presume they will put in the last known address which is their address.

If you do get correspondence from the court, you need to respond to it. However, you can ask for it to be heard locally to where you now live.

Anyway, if they won, presumably you would be able to sue the person who sold the place to you!

keith969

lincroft1710 wrote: »

On the asbestos removal cost, £1095 doesn't seem excessive for dismantling and removing a garage wholly constructed of asbestos. There are very few "tips" which will now accept asbestos waste - the nearest one I found to me (40 miles away) charges per ton, but the minimum charge is in fact 2 tons.

My local council (South Oxfordshire) won't collect it now but lets homeowners to bring it to their tips to get rid of it for free.

lincroft1710

My local council (South Oxfordshire) won't collect it now but lets homeowners to bring it to their tips to get rid of it for free.

If only I lived in S. Oxon!!!!!!!!! Would be £250 better off (cost of bagging and taking asb roofing sheets to asb waste disposal site by licensed contractor).

RAS

silvercar wrote: »

In other words, their solicitor thinks they haven't got a chance in hell.

my thoughts exactly. Their solicitor has advised them they do not have a leg to stand on but they insist on trying to chase you.

SuzyWuzy_2

We tried ringing round and was quoted 700ish last year which we thought was excessive.

We took our garage down last year, we phoned the council ( Manchester ) and was given a list of local tips we could take it to. We were told to double bag the panels , only certain tips have asbestos removal.

Think its cheeky of them to even approach you about the removal charge, its their choice at the end of the day. Unbelievable ! Id stand my ground on this one if I was you.

silvercar

Point them to this thread, they will soon see the error of their ways.

timmyt

jenner wrote: »

yes, there is no issue to be ignored,

mind you, i think i would like the front room decorated, so i might get my solicitor to contact the previous owners and get them to come round and do it for me,,, i think they should do

Spot on jenner, my humour indeed! The Buyer is being badly advised and their lawyer should not embarrass themselves further by even doing a letter on their behalf. Do we know why they think OP you are liable?

The fact that they have written many letters with deadlines is a red herring. It doesn't magic themselves a claim against you. You are free to ignore the letters. Nothing can stop them suing, as anyone can sur for anything.

The fabric of a house in this country is the buyers responsibility to check. Did they go cheap and not have a survey???? So many people foolishly do.

Asbestos is exactly what a buyer's surveyor would be looking for in a garage. That is where it often is.

Clean up costs - possibly their buildings insurance might cover it, though unless it is a damaged in some way they will try and argue why bother.

But as for the Buyer coming back to you on the subject, your lawyer should do a firm letter saying:

"Thank you for previous communications about purported asbestos in the garage.

Might we remind you that contracts for the sale of our former property to your clients were completed on [X].

As you will no doubt have advised your client, aside from Standard Condition 3.2 of the Contract entered into, the state and condition of a property for sale in England and Wales is a matter for your clients to have taken up with their surveyor before they purchased.

Your continued communications are wholly inappropriate distressful and wrong in law and we expect to hear no further on the subject."

devils_advocate

The legal position in this is covered in the case of Arkell v Pressdram. Your solicitor should draw their attention to this case.

timmyt

best not.
- from your local conveyancing solicitor timmyt