Party wall dispute, advice pls!!!!!

shays_mum

Hi,
Trying to do things properly/legally we appointed a party wall surveyor to make sure our build was done properly.:eek:

Today we received a bill for £2100 for repairs to a neighbours car that the builder has apparently damaged from our appointed party wall surveyor.

Long story short, despite the neighbour having enough space to park 3 cars, they choose to park within an inch of the party wall. Despite being asked to move (the build has been ongoing since March!!), despite the fact she stopped the original build etc etc, we have done everything we can to maintain relations.

Week back neighbour asks the builder for cash. He asks her rightly so for invoices for works etc to pass onto his insurance company to pay out. Next thing a massive bill arrives for us to pay the fees of the party wall surveyor & £1k for neighbours car & their inconvenience (your talking a splash of paint)!!!.

We have been given 7 days to settle the bill (without any proof documents etc). My question is can the surveyor get away with this & do i have any come back??. Damage was always going to be addressed, but through builders liability insurance, instead despite being asked to not get involved, OUR party wall supplier stepped in & caused all sorts of hassle , oh dear, is there anything i can do to sort this?, really causing anxieties for me.

Thanks in advance & hope it makes sense!

cyclonebri1

shays_mum wrote: »

Hi,
Trying to do things properly/legally we appointed a party wall surveyor to make sure our build was done properly.:eek:

Today we received a bill for £2100 for repairs to a neighbours car that the builder has apparently damaged from our appointed party wall surveyor.

Long story short, despite the neighbour having enough space to park 3 cars, they choose to park within an inch of the party wall. Despite being asked to move (the build has been ongoing since March!!), despite the fact she stopped the original build etc etc, we have done everything we can to maintain relations.

Week back neighbour asks the builder for cash. He asks her rightly so for invoices for works etc to pass onto his insurance company to pay out. Next thing a massive bill arrives for us to pay the fees of the party wall surveyor & £1k for neighbours car & their inconvenience (your talking a splash of paint)!!!.

We have been given 7 days to settle the bill (without any proof documents etc). My question is can the surveyor get away with this & do i have any come back??. Damage was always going to be addressed, but through builders liability insurance, instead despite being asked to not get involved, OUR party wall supplier stepped in & caused all sorts of hassle , oh dear, is there anything i can do to sort this?, really causing anxieties for me.

Thanks in advance & hope it makes sense!

Unfortunately your party wall surveyor is yet another legal system vampire, and he doesn't care where he gets his blood, be it yours or the neighbours.

He will do every thing he is contracted to do but in the meantime, if something lucrative appears over the other side of the fence he will be 1st inline, insider info you see.

Sorry, can'r comment on the legal issues, just the rats in the business

JimmyTheWig

shays_mum wrote: »

Hi,
Trying to do things properly/legally we appointed a party wall surveyor to make sure our build was done properly.:eek:

Today we received a bill for £2100 for repairs to a neighbours car that the builder has apparently damaged from our appointed party wall surveyor.

Am slightly confused about what has happened.
Has this bill been passed to your surveyor because they are acting for you?
Or has the surveyor (who happened to also be acting for you at some point) passed the bill to you because they are acting for the neighbour?

Long story short, despite the neighbour having enough space to park 3 cars, they choose to park within an inch of the party wall. Despite being asked to move (the build has been ongoing since March!!), despite the fact she stopped the original build etc etc, we have done everything we can to maintain relations.

Assuming that they were allowed to park where they did (even if it was a stupid place to park) I don't think the "despite"s come into it.

Week back neighbour asks the builder for cash. He asks her rightly so for invoices for works etc to pass onto his insurance company to pay out.

Rightly so, I agree with you.

Next thing a massive bill arrives for us to pay the fees of the party wall surveyor & £1k for neighbours car & their inconvenience (your talking a splash of paint)!!!.

Then pass this on to the builder to pass to his insurance company.

We have been given 7 days to settle the bill (without any proof documents etc).

Doesn't sound reasonable, but I don't know the rules on this.

My question is can the surveyor get away with this

Hard to answer without an answer to my first question.

& do i have any come back??. Damage was always going to be addressed, but through builders liability insurance

You have come back with the builder and his insurance company, I would imagine.

Leif

It sounds like you are being bullied by the threat of legal action. Neighbour cannot claim for inconvenience, and they cannot claim without full proof of expenses incurred. And I am not sure who is liable, you or your builder. You need to talk to someone with legal knowledge. Try the Consumer Advice people, they should tell you the basics. You could write back by recorded delivery, noting that you are taking legal advice, and you cannot act until you understand the legal issues involved.

uk_messer

When I tried to do an extension I had a blood sucking surveyor write to my neighbours (they get the details from council applications online) giving them scare stories on how their house is their pension and it could all be destroyed etc etc. Funnily enough the neighbour repeated the same dross to me. I ended up shelving plans to do it. OT, I know but as someone said above, there are a lot of scumbag surveyors out there.

As for your neighbour, if they want to make a claim for the damage it should be accompanied by a quote or bill for repairs. I don't see how they can claim for inconvience unless their car was not driveable due to damage.

Did you take pictures of the damage to the car?

teneighty

A few quick questions.

Is the damage to the neighbour's car paint splashes? If so how does this painting work relate to the Party Wall Award? Were you painting the neighbour's side of the party wall?

Is the Party Wall Surveyor a legitimate professional and a member of a professional institution or just one of the many chancers from the internet? It strikes me that they are behaving rather unprofessionally so suspect the latter. Are they acting as Agreed Surveyor or are they just acting for you as the Building Owner?

jonnyb1978

Nobody can force you to pay something in 7 days. They are idle threats. Money for inconvenience. Ridiculous.

First thing I would do is acknowledge no such incident and ask for full breakdown of damage and full proof. At least it will give you time to think things over and will show any court if it gets that far you are attempting to sort the problem out.
A simple photo of paint on a car bonnet is not proof either.

cddc

There really are some bottom feeders among the party wall surveying fraternity. Yours sounds like one of them. Tell him where to stick his seven day deadline.

spacey2012

Just put the silly letter in the bin and ignore them.
Sack the party wall surveyor as well as well for breach of confidence and bringing disrepute to the contract.

Leif

You suggest they were repeatedly asked not to park so close to the wall, presumably due to possible damage, and yet they did so. So perhaps it could be argued that they were liable for the damage. You might wish to talk with your builder and get a written statement that he did indeed speak to them on many (1, 2, 3?) occasions warning them not to park so near to the work area.

And you need to get itemised receipts from the neighbour, with details of the damage, and when it was caused.

jonnyb1978

Why get receipts at this stage? You are admitting to being at fault. Why else would you want a receipt.

Write a letter back recorded delivery. Acknowledge no such debt. Ask them for a full breakdown of damage, full breakdown how they received the amounts for inconvenience etc and proof it was caused by you or anyone connected to you and your property. They will not be able to come to breakdown for inconvenience so I wouldnt worry. You can not claim for this.

The ball is in their court to proof it. They can not do nothing else until the proof it. They can not take you to court as the court would laugh it out. They can send you more letters and you just reply stating the same as above.
It is you then trying to resolve the matter not them.