Garden Fence blown over.... who is liable?

slinga

Do you know the fence was blown over by the wind or by the trampoline hitting it.

If you don't then no one does .

baileyraggieyogi

slinga wrote: »

Do you know the fence was blown over by the wind or by the trampoline hitting it.

If you don't then no one does .

I imagine the fence was swaying (as it sometimes does in bad wind) it's a featherboard (or was!) so pretty flimsy... our other fences are the double ones & much sturdier.

So I think... fence swaying... trampoline finished it off!

baileyraggieyogi

jackieb wrote: »

The trampoline should have been pegged down.

mmmmm....... i'm not sure if it was or not, I will have a look if he hasnt taken it to the tip before im home

System

i'm glad i don't have neighbours like these!! why don't you talk to the neighbours and see if you can sort something out to get it fixed rather than immediately pointing the finger, the fence was damaged by the wind, it's not like the neighbour came home steaming and put his foot through it!!

baileyraggieyogi

:mad:

andrew-b wrote: »

Sounds like the neighbour overlooked securing down the trampoline sufficiently and are unlikely to make the same mistake twice..sure it's an inconvencience but they never intended to wreck the fence. If the wind was strong enough to tip a trampoline over like that then it's almost certainly strong enough to wreck an already flimsy fence and it's days were probably numbered already.

Are you sure you don't mean a waney lap panel fence (horizontal slats that overlap)..featheredge fencing has vertical slats and usually stronger and more easily repairable? Are the fence posts still standing? Are the posts wood or concrete and how are they secured into the ground?

If the deeds don't declare responsibility and it's deemed to be a shared fence (as is the case for us) then you should probably at least offer to contribute something towards the cost as it could be argued you've neglected in sharing maintenance of it.

Either way try to sort it out amicably between you. I would be neighbourly and offer to help them repair or replace it whoever foots the actual bill.. which will also save money too. You then may get more of a say in replacing the fence and/or fence posts.

Not 100% sure on the fencing type.. I thought featherboard but maybe wrong!

The posts arn't concrete, their wood, so have totally come out of the ground along with the fence, it is however, all intact on the lawn so we will of course look into re-erecting more securely!

I will be back on during the weekend once we know clearer the circumstances of who pays what!!

ic

My own fence was blown over last night - the wooden posts were snapped clean at ground level, and where it was attached to the wall the hammer-in fixings still remain attached to the wall, having been torn through the post! Given I only put the fence up four years ago I'm going to get a replacement installed with concrete posts. I did originally share the cost of the fence with my neighbour, but expect I'll just pick up the tab on the replacement.

ormus

the very common cheapo fence panels. called waney lap fencing.

WestonDave

Had to laugh in adversity this morning - the 2 panel fence that subdivides our garden (so doesn't affect anyone else) was leaning at a drunken angle - on closer inspection somehow the naff cheapo panels (as above) were fairly intact - it was the post that had snapped. I'll have a closer look when I'm home in daylight tommorow but I'll probably just remove it for now.

Of more concern is a panel on the boundary fence has gone over - technically its next doors fence but he's pretty frail so I want to get to him to offer to put it back up before he does himself an injury trying.

WestonDave

Thanks Andrew, however the fence was on its last legs - the trellis that was on the top died last winter as did the gate (nailed and glued back together its lasted another year. and we'd been discussing replacing it anyway as it had been painted dark brown so looked hideous. I suspect if I fixed the posts the panels would go in the next gale!

pappaking

looks like good steel posts with cheap panels. Go on metoffice.com to check wind speed records. All fences over 1m high within 20m of any road or foot path require planning. If yousr is, it may show ownership at your local planning office. . Things like this can make things difficult with next door. hope you get on ok