Advice on who pays for fence damages?

roscoe129a

Hi All basically one question our fence was totally destroyed in the recent bad winds in Scotland it has now been down over two months I'm more than willing to pay to have it re erected however my neighbour says he has no money to do it, can anyone advise me as who has to pay the bill for fencing in Scotland ? Does it fall to a particular neighbour or is it shared? Thanks for yor time

Hintza

Check your title deeds an see what they say.

In all probability if you want to replace it and he won't pay then it will probably be up to you.

27col

I agree with Hintza. If it bothers you, then you will have to pay for its replacement. Though, sharing the cost is even better.

wardtimothy

I always think that the rule of thumb is that if you can see the front of the panel they are yours and the back of the panel ie the side with the slats then they belong to your neighbour.

vikingaero

The rule of thumb is normally that when you look out of the rear of your property, the right hand side fence is yours.

s_b

i was always told if the posts are at your side you own it
if the posts are in the middle its shared
and if its all on the floor.................... i seen nothing right and tell em were skint:D

budgetdiyer

The rule of thumb is'nt always right though, so best to check with the deeds. For example i replaced my fence last year and !!!!!! giving my neighbour the nice side to look at!

Your neighbour does'nt have to have a fence, so if they cant afford or dont want to repair / replace it they don't have to. You can of course offer to pay to repair / replace the fence yourself....

keystone

wardtimothy wrote: »

I always think that the rule of thumb is that if you can see the front of the panel they are yours and the back of the panel ie the side with the slats then they belong to your neighbour.

vikingaero wrote: »

The rule of thumb is normally that when you look out of the rear of your property, the right hand side fence is yours.

I am afraid that both of these statements are quite wrong. There is nothing in law that sets either of these concepts into stone. Classic urban myth stuff.

Whose land is the fence on? (bearing in mind that it should not be on the boundary). If its on yours it's your problem. If its on his it's his problem. If its on his and he won't do anything about it then there is nothing to stop you erecting your own fence on your side of the boundary even if that means eventualy you may have two back-to-back fences.

Cheers

CharlieBilly

I have a neighbour who has far more cash than I have but rather not spend it on things that matter like his house, fence but dont mine 8k motorbike. Our fence at rear has been falling down for years well before I moved in, I am surprised its lasted it leans and wobbles. He hasnt done a single thing to his side since I moved in 5 years ago.

I now having finally decide to pay up and get it replaced. Lazy sod, he is too busy stalking my misses these days at work in a shop never goes in to buy out. If that aint bad enough there is a deep crack in his rendering which I hope doesn't effect my house as I paint mine regularly.

becs

I'm not sure if Scotland is different but in England the only legal requirement is to mark the boundary, you do not have to erect and maintain a fence. So if you want the fence then I would be inclined to pay for it especially if your neighbour can't afford to. We have 3 different properties on 3 sides of the garden and have joint responsibility for 1, complete responsibility for another and no responsibility for the 3rd side. So given there being no legal requirement for anyone to provide the fence and we have a dog we footed the bill to have all 3 sides fenced.