Help with small claims advice and neighbour

Heart_Felt

Hi, hope this is in the right place to post this thread.
I need to sue my neighbour but I don't know the date of the incident and also his surname. I do have evidence of the event. I have tried communicating with him but he first refused to acknowledge the issue and now he is ignoring me and this is a last resort I really didn't wish to take.
Can I still take him to small claims court without knowing his surname and the date of the incident? I can't find anything on the internet on this.
Thanks for your help!

BitterAndTwisted

If the neighbour owns their house rather than renting it you can find their name on the Land Registry website.

They could also be on the publicly-viewable electoral register which you can ask to see at your library.

However, there is no "need" to sue. Recourse vial the courts is expensive and you have to be able to prove your actual, financial loss by their actions. What financial loss have you suffered?

Being served with legal papers, no matter how trivial and vexatious the root of the issue may be, can bring out the very worst in people. Like nasty things happening in the middle of the night under the cloak of darkness. Or more.

grifferz

If you own your home then also bear in mind that once you start legal proceedings this is something you'll have to declare when it comes time to sell your own property.

(It may already be something you need to declare as the form will likely ask if you have ever had a dispute or have reason to believe there could ever be a dispute)

Heart_Felt

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If the neighbour owns their house rather than renting it you can find their name on the Land Registry website.

They could also be on the publicly-viewable electoral register which you can ask to see at your library.

However, there is no "need" to sue. Recourse vial the courts is expensive and you have to be able to prove your actual, financial loss by their actions. What financial loss have you suffered?

Being served with legal papers, no matter how trivial and vexatious the root of the issue may be, can bring out the very worst in people. Like nasty things happening in the middle of the night under the cloak of darkness. Or more.

He doesn't actually live there yet, he purchased the house last year and since then has come every single week to do up the house. He decided to sandblast the front and the company he used didn't put up scaffolding or any protection. Basically it ruined the front of our garden, some plants died and it took us a full day to clear up. I contacted him and he was disinterested. Luckily I got the name of the company off the van but after much chasing around they also refused to clear up. They left tape on my door, didn't ask to come on my property to do this either. My hallway/vestibule was also covered in a layer of whatever is used to blast with as were the windows. I am still finding crap in the garden 6 months on. I wrote to him asking him to reimburse us for the cost of materials (replacing some decorative stones, the plants and a day's worth of work). He ignored us and the company said to go ahead and take them to court. My recourse is with the neighbour, not the company. I feel that just ignoring me is out of order because I do have a genuine complaint. I asked nicely at first and pointed out the mess. He wouldn't even ring the company on my behalf to ask them to come clear up. The paint/debris was mixed up in all my garden due to bad weather. Basically a bit of nightmare. I have photographs. I am not sure why you would wish to treat someone in this manner especially as you have intent to move in. Things are very awkward now, he is making us feel very uncomfortable. I wrote to him stressing how wrong this was I thought he would respond. I was wrong. As I informed him in the letter I would take him to small claims I would like to follow through.
Thanks for responding.

Heart_Felt

grifferz wrote: »

If you own your home then also bear in mind that once you start legal proceedings this is something you'll have to declare when it comes time to sell your own property.

(It may already be something you need to declare as the form will likely ask if you have ever had a dispute or have reason to believe there could ever be a dispute)

Yes we do own our own home, but have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. I just want this sorted out. Thanks!

Voyager2002

Personally, I would be suing the sand-blasting company rather than the neighbour: I doubt that he instructed them to damage your property; had they done the job properly you would not have had any problems. And since you saw the van presumably you know the date it was there, which was surely the date of the incident.

Davesnave

Heart_Felt wrote: »

Yes we do own our own home, but have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. I just want this sorted out. Thanks!

It has been sorted out. You have sorted it, as would anyone else.

However, you have now threatened to sue the wrong person. The company concerned are the people from whom you should be seeking compensation. They should have used 'reasonable care and skill.' They should also have third party insurance.

You may get help from your local trading standards office, especially if they have had other complaints.

It's worth pointing out that even if you successfully claim against someone in the Small Claims Court, getting them to actually pay up is another matter. I considered doing this in 2011, but decided that the business concerned wasn't likely to pay up. Sure enough, they closed down within a year.

Heart_Felt

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Personally, I would be suing the sand-blasting company rather than the neighbour: I doubt that he instructed them to damage your property; had they done the job properly you would not have had any problems. And since you saw the van presumably you know the date it was there, which was surely the date of the incident.

I don't have the date, which is my point. I didn't write it down as I really didn't envisage it coming to this. I just wanted some advice on whether or not I could do it without a date and a name. My neighbour refuses to help with any of it. He could give me the date but he won't even speak to me, let alone help me.

Heart_Felt

Davesnave wrote: »

It has been sorted out. You have sorted it, as would anyone else.

However, you have now threatened to sue the wrong person. The company concerned are the people from whom you should be seeking compensation. They should have used 'reasonable care and skill.' They should also have third party insurance.

You may get help from your local trading standards office, especially if they have had other complaints.

It's worth pointing out that even if you successfully claim against someone in the Small Claims Court, getting them to actually pay up is another matter. I considered doing this in 2011, but decided that the business concerned wasn't likely to pay up. Sure enough, they closed down within a year.

I haven't sorted it out, which is why I am here. The company has already been fined for using a hazardous material. I found this out the other day when I was trying to find where they were based. My neighbour won't help me at all hence why I was suing him as opposed to the company.

andyuk01

You cant sue someone because they weren't as helpful as you would like them to be

GM11

you seem like a nice enough bloke but i get the feeling you havnt spent alot of time with the less desirable elements of society. I would be careful here i got the feeling your about to put things in motion you will regret later, this guy obviously dosnt give a flying foof about upsetting you but i bet if you upset him he will make it his mission in life to make your life hell! so first decided how long you realistically going to live there, if he is going to be there longer then sell now simple as that. Five years down the line if he is the neighbor from hell and dislikes you and has a grudge then you are going to find it hard to sell later .
yes you have been reasonable but not everyone is reasonable, me i would make his life hell in any way i could, but thats me, i suggest what you do is chalk this one up to experience and keep a close eye on tings there. This really isnt going to end well taking this to court, you would probably win a couple of quid but it will cost you in the long run