Problem with neighbour's chimney

Fire_Fox

So what did you say when they said they couldn't understand it? TBH you have to find a polite but firm way of pushing the conversation to the next level, maybe wait a week for it to sink in then effectively asking them "what action are you going to take and what is your timescale?". And maybe you need the broken record technique, repeat repeat repeat until you get an appropriate response.

chickaroonee

Fire_Fox wrote: »

So what did you say when they said they couldn't understand it? TBH you have to find a polite but firm way of pushing the conversation to the next level, maybe wait a week for it to sink in then effectively asking them "what action are you going to take and what is your timescale?". And maybe you need the broken record technique, repeat repeat repeat until you get an appropriate response.

It was said to me before they saw the chimney themselves, so I just said "well, why don't you have a look yourself and you'll see what I mean". The other comments were to the builder when I wasn't there.

I agree, the next course of action is very much to ask them what are they going to do next. Hopefully it'll have sunk in and they will sort it out. If it was me I would be mortified if our house was damaging someone else's, and sort it ASAP.

andy.m_2

Claim your insurance for the damage.
They will come and assess and then they will see why the damage is caused and take on the communication for you.

Couple next door will do !!!! all but pay you lip service.

Gra76

Your neighbours will definately not be able to claim on their insurance as the damage to the chimney isn't covered by any operating peril I've ever encountered. If they claim then it will be repudiated. It's wear and tear, pure and simple. There's no maybe, if's or but's. No insurer we work with covers that so your neighbours will have to repair their chimney, and sooner rather than later.

You'll have to be the bad guys and insist on it being repaired asap and hope they're amicable about it.

chickaroonee

andy.m wrote: »

Claim your insurance for the damage.
They will come and assess and then they will see why the damage is caused and take on the communication for you.

Couple next door will do !!!! all but pay you lip service.

I don't really want to claim on our insurance, it will put our premiums up and we can fix our damage ourselves. The issue is that no doubt the damage will continue until their chimney is fixed.

Gra, thanks for your message, that's what I thought. The houses are over 100 years old and where we live we have extreme weather most years. It's no wonder it has deteriorated, ours had too but not to the same extent.

Hoping they will see sense and get it fixed, maybe if it starts damaging their property it will. In all honesty though, where it is positioned it probably will just be our house that keeps getting wet.

dotdash79

It might be worth while pointing out that if the chimney falls then they might end up paying more than the repair.

chickaroonee

dotdash79 wrote: »

It might be worth while pointing out that if the chimney falls then they might end up paying more than the repair.

Quite, it'd be bloody dangerous for a start. I don't think it looks unstable yet, but surely it's better to fix these things before that happens.

dotdash79

chickaroonee wrote: »

Quite, it'd be bloody dangerous for a start. I don't think it looks unstable yet, but surely it's better to fix these things before that happens.

All it takes is a few windy nights and it might fall down (this could be into your house or their house or on the road) and maybe cause injury to someone.

JQ.

dotdash79 wrote: »

All it takes is a few windy nights and it might fall down (this could be into your house or their house or on the road) and maybe cause injury to someone.

Maybe, suggest they check their insurance policy documents - I'm fairly certain where the homeowner has been negligent in their maintenance responsibilities they would not be covered for such an issue. Should a chimney collapse cause injury it could bankrupt them.

You pointing out in writing that their chimney stack is in disrepair, and them not repairing it, would be negligent in my eyes.

martindow

Are you sure that you could claim on your insurance? If it was a problem raised on your survey when you bought the house I'm not sure they would pay out.

Insurance would not normally cover existing defects otherwise we would all be off buying cheap run down houses and getting insurance companies to do them up for us.