Neighbours dog damaging fence

caroline222

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place - but I would appreciate some advice. My neighbours dog has bashed its way into my garden through the fence. It is the side I am responsible for. So far it has destroyed four panels. I am prepared to replace these at my expense - but he claims the whole fence needs replacing as it is rotten. It is old and brittle but not rotten and the other panels are standing fine. I would like to avoid confrontation but he has a very unpleasant rude manner - some might say bordering on aggresive. I have been to CAB but they can only say that I do not have to replace any fencing - by law- but the garden looks a atotal mess and of course if I replace the 4 broken panels I'm sure the dog will start on the others. Many thanks.

pimento

Tell him you'll replace all the panels but if his dog does any damage you'll be billing him for it.

andrew-b

CAB are right...you don't have to replace your fencing. You don't even have to provide a fence even if the boundary is your responsibility. Anyone whose a dog owner i believe has a duty to ensure there is suitable fencing to prevent their dog straying from their land. So if you don't provide a fence then they should..though legally i think they need your permission to actually replace a fence on a boundary belonging to you...else build their side of it. As a dog owner myself i think it's reasonable for them to pay the cost of replacing your fencing. If my dog breaks something of someone's i expect to have to pay for it whatever it be...in fact i suspect we're actually covered by our dog insurance. Not sure whether dog insurance covers damage to fencing or not though and dog insurance isn't compulsory.

If you have legal cover with your household buildings/contents insurance it could be worth contacting them to see what they suggest. Ideally you want to avoid getting into a neighbour dispute and would be better if you can somehow sort it out amicably.

I assume you are sure you are responsible for that boundary?