Problem neighbours roof claims.

Bella11

Own a terrace house which has been rented by the same family for 10yrs,as I live 250 miles away it is managed by a letting agent.Never has there been a problem with neighbours during that time.Since our tenants left last December,it has been on the market now am in the final stages of selling leading to contracts exchange.During the vacant period work was done on the roof due to storm damage,no further damp has appeared.

A short while back our agent informed us that the next door neighbour was claiming he had a new flat roof costing him £1,476 claiming our roof caused the damage,as he had not informed me before he had the work done + had no proof of damage I was not prepared to pay for his roof.Two days ago he claims that his kitchen wall has damp caused by our roof and saying he has been told that he has a good case to take me to court,and more or less saying that I am running up more bills to pay for this work.

All this could have been avoided if the chap had spoken to our agent before he went ahead with the work.I have informed my solicitor of this dispute and waiting to hear whether my buyer will pull out:mad:
I sent my roofer back up to see if the roof could be causing any damage to the neighbours,he informed that he could not say for sure until he had done some work costing £400,will this really sort the problem out??
Sorry to ramble on just wanted to give the full facts.Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

uk_messer

If he's fixed the roof since he doesn't have a leg to stand on. A geuine claim would have been put to you at the time of the damage.

As far as damp being caused without more detail I can't say. I don't see why your roofer can't tell without £400 of work. Only thing I can see is that water drainage from your roof could be landing on his wall and that would be pretty obvious. Presmably this is post the roofer's work? In which case the roofer should be liable or defending his work and you shouldn't need to fork out another 400 quid.

Bella11

for the advice.The chap had already had his roof redone,when I refused to pay the bill,sent an email to my agent saying more damp was appearing on his kitchen wall,and my damages were mounting.
Have asked for written proof,he has not replied so far.
Why should I have more work on my roof as there is no damp in my house,I think it is up to him to make a claim with proof in writing.

Any thoughts how I should manage this problem,if only the chap had contacted me in the first place am sure this could have been sorted.Am sick of veiled threats of court action without any proof that my roof is the cause of his damp.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Thoughts/advice/suggestions welcome.

maninthestreet

Have you declared this 'dispute' to the prospective buyer of your property??

Bella11

Yes I have,and still waiting whether he still wants to buy.