Party Wall [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

cddc

I would be more than concerned, you have already signed up to fees that are [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]. You need to get rid [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] as soon as possible, write to them to say you no longer require their sevices and appoint a different surveyor.

We also have direct experience of their methods. They wrote to our neighbour who signed up with them, and then to us, saying that they "understand from our architect" as if they were somehow associated with him, the neighbours one implied that they were somehow reccommended by the council. All these guys do is read planning applications of council websites and send out prospecting letters trying to get people signed up to their massively overpriced services.

We have thankfully managed to persuade our neighbour to dispense with their services prior to the pw notice being issued. If they have already done work , they may be able to charge you something, but I would advise you to get rid of them as soon as you can.

teneighty

Read the posts from anoyingmouse, they are one of the few people on this forum who know what they are talking about

1. Withdraw the notice immediately or you will find yourself in an expensive dispute whether you like it or not.
2. Are you sure the work does come under the control of the Party Wall Act and if it does can the work be modified slightly to remove it from the Act?
3. Have you discussed the work with your neighbour? Are they friendly and likely to agree to proceeding by mutual consent?
4. What is their formal response likely to be to the Notice?

Once you know where you stand you can best decide how to proceed. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM].

keystone

Post Number 26 - rinse and repeat.

Cheers

coder101

I was just reading on the BBC News site in the Tech section and some “supplier of dubious videos” is to start proceedings against illegal downloaders including sending “threatening letters”

SHOCK HORROR – THEY SHOULDN’T BE DOING THAT!

Scenario 1, Someone downloads a “dodgy” video

* A Senior judge gets involved to make sure the letters from the lawyers aren’t too threatening.
* Citizens advice has offered to get involved to make sure the poor souls who downloaded the mucky videos get proper advice.
* The BBC picks it up and publishes the story on their website.

Scenario 2, Someone applies for planning permission

* Neighbor appoints VBA.
* [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] letters start arriving.
* No Judge gets involved.
* Citizens advice Won't help.
* No major news outlet publishes anything.
* Person building extension gets [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM].

It’s unbelievable this is still happening

coder101

I tried this as soon as I received my first [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] letters.

teneighty wrote: »

1. Withdraw the notice immediately or you will find yourself in an expensive dispute whether you like it or not.

The trouble is VBA will then tell you (Building Owner) that you cannot commence the build even if the notice is Withdrawn without paying their full fees.

The adjoining owner is then threatened with fees if VBA are not paid by the Building Owner.

The Adjoining Owner is then too frightened to drop them.

Back to Square 1.

teneighty

The point I was trying to make is as soon as you serve the notice the clock starts ticking. You should do all your preliminary work (charm offensive) before you serve notice. Apart from anything else that is just being neighbourly. If you serve notice and then delay you will go into dispute by default and then there is no going back.

Without a notice there is nothing the [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] surveyor can do. They can huff and puff and jump up and down but they are completely powerless. They can threaten the adjoining owner but that is their lookout for signing up to an unsolicited [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] mail.

As they find their [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] by just trawling planning application lists they have no way of knowing whether the Party Wall Act actually applies. They just work on the basis that if one in every thousand or so fall for the [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] they are still winning. I suspect most of those that do are neighbours with an existing grievance and they just use the process as a very expensive stick to beat their neighbour with.

The point here is not that the Party Wall Act is bad it is there there are [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] out there that take advantage of the public's lack of knowledge. However it is possible to remove them from the process but it takes both neighbours to agree and work together. This thread is a big help to warn people about these [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] and can also help them extricate themselves if they have already fallen prey. By the way I am not just referring to the likes of VB, there are alot of apparently bona fide surveyors who appear to [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] to line their own pockets.

People need to undertake the same checks to ensure they are employing an honest reputable surveyor in the same way as if they were employing a decent plumber or car mechanic or solicitor.

Tibbitt

Help! We've had a letter from Vincent Brown, which we ignored. But have just found out that our neighbour, who we get on well with, has signed these [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] up. What should we do?!

teneighty

Who is doing the building work, you or your neighbour?

What is the nature of the building work?

Bextaramas

Hello,
Thanks to all of you who have posted here - this is the only place on the internet I have been able to get some information on this company and their [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]. I hope all of you (esp Coder101) have managed to sort out your problems.
We are building an extension on a house we have yet to move into. We don't know the neighbours very well but get on with them already. Unfortunately, as we are not yet living in the house, our neighbours received a letter from VB and signed up with them prior to discussing it with us. They are also prime victims: non-British nationals with no knowledge of the PW law who have been scared into signing up. We have neither signed up with VB nor served notice, but they sent us a letter using veiled threats and wanting to charge us £1200 for the privilege of using them. I believe that there is a party wall issue here, but what can we do to get rid of VB? The neighbours are happy to get rid of them too and will co-sign a letter. What should we put in a letter and are we allowed to use a new PW surveyor once we have got rid of VB (our architect seems to think it is a good idea, but I have no knowledge of the law either!)?
Any help someone with knowledge of the area can give us would be much appreciated! We have a young family and delays to building the extension means staying in our small and expensive rented accommodation even longer.
Thanks in advance.

keystone

I refer you to the answer given in the case of Arkell v Pressdram.

Cheers