Accidental damage by neighbour

lisyloo

The only reason I make the point re location is because this is what the neighbour contends his insurers are saying makes the difference "the accident happened on our property" - or do they mean 'too' our property - I expect there is a deal of 'lost in translation' going on.

I agree, you need a formal repsonse to your claim. The neighbour will clearly be putting his side of the story and they may even be talking about the wrong section of the policy.
Your neighbours property is possibly insured against accidental damage (if he has that option) and the call operator may be confusing this with liability to 3rd parties.

I don't think you should rollover either, but would make the point that making a mistake is not the same as negligence.

My approach would be to write the letter first and say to the neighbour that you don't want to make an enemy of him but if he doesn't give you the insurance details you will have no choice but to pursue him.
If you get no joy then you need to get legal advice. You can often get 30 mins free from a local solicitor and you need their advice on whether it's worth pursuing.
You could also try the motley fool boards as there are actually some solicitors on there.

As Quentin says you also need to consider if your neighbour can actually pay. Does he actually have insurance? (sounds like he does)
There is no point pursuing someone that can't pay even if they are liable.

MissMoneypenny

Quentin wrote: »

Your "legal insurance" won't pay for you to sue someone unless they feel you have a good chance of winning, and the person you are sueing can pay you!

Not always. A few years ago I had a letter for another person, stuck behind my letter from my insurers. The insurers offered to pay her the amount she could hope to win in court as they said it would be cheaper than going to court where, even if they did win, they might not get their costs back.

This would have been about 10 years ago and was for an accident/attack, that happened in Spain

lisyloo

The insurers offered to pay her the amount she could hope to win in court

My FIL got an excess back (about 4 years ago and it was Norwich Union) because he had legal expenses insurance.
They paid him the £120 direct rather than going through the legal process which would have been more costly.
You could argue this is "ex-gratia" but it clearly happens sometimes.

vax2002

The basis of UK law of torts is "you shall not suffer loss or harm without recourse"
You should get the work done and bill the neighbour and warn the insurance company that due to the breakdown of negotiations this will now be the course of actions and that as you hold no contract with this insurance company they should now deal with the contract parties directly.
The bill will be in the post.
You may be able to get a solicitors letter drawn up to that effect for around £25