Shared roof dispute!

Blades-man

Thought that I'd pose this question on a forum on the off chance that someone has come across something like this before:
I live in a terrace house that have separate front porches however these porches share a flat roof with a neighbour (both of us own the property). About 12 months ago my neighbour had his roof repaired (new boards and felt) due to a leak and the roofer asked me if I would like mine done at the same time. This call came out of the blue, I didn't have the £400 he was asking and my side of the roof appeared to be not too bad (no leaks in my porch) therefore I declined the offer. I do recall at the time the roofer saying that he could not guarantee the work on the neighbours roof unless mine was also done. That was that for roughly 12 months until there was another knock on the door from the neighbour and roofer. They stated that his roof had just started to leak again, quite badly and it was my roof that is causing the problem (although there is still no leak in my porch). There appears to be damage to a front room carpet and the neighbour is going to claim on his insurance. The roofer reckons that water is getting under my roof and running along to next door. The situation now is do I get my half of the roof renewed believing the roofer or could it be his workmanship that is at fault. I also realise that the neighbours insurance could try to recover the cost from me but there will have to be a surveyor involved who can prove beyond doubt that the leak is indeed from my side of the roof.

Any thoughts?

srm1

Take a few photos & let your insurance company know what is going on.
Your insurers should cover you for any claim made against you.
Be prepared to offer your neighbour details of your insurance company & let the insurance companies thrash it out between themselves.

MisterBaxter

Shared roofs are always an issue when work has to be done on one side but not the other. The builder/roofer should have made sure that the work he did on the side he was being paid for could be isolated from the side he wasn't working on although this is often easier said than done. If your roof wasn't leaking before the work was done and still isn't leaking it would be for the neighbour to prove that your lack of maintenance was to blame.

If you want your roof renewed then the builder/roofer you employ would need to make sure that they can work on your roof in isolation. I would hold fire for now though given that there may be a dispute with the neighbour. As advised let your insurance company know what is happening and when your neighbour discusses it with you suggest that they get their insurers to deal directly with your insurers.

Blades-man

MisterBaxter wrote: »

Shared roofs are always an issue when work has to be done on one side but not the other. The builder/roofer should have made sure that the work he did on the side he was being paid for could be isolated from the side he wasn't working on although this is often easier said than done. If your roof wasn't leaking before the work was done and still isn't leaking it would be for the neighbour to prove that your lack of maintenance was to blame.

If you want your roof renewed then the builder/roofer you employ would need to make sure that they can work on your roof in isolation. I would hold fire for now though given that there may be a dispute with the neighbour. As advised let your insurance company know what is happening and when your neighbour discusses it with you suggest that they get their insurers to deal directly with your insurers.

Many thanks for this advice. I agree with you, should the roofer have undertaken the work if he couldn't fully guarantee the job? (not isolated) and you could say that he has failed to stop the leak. Like you say if my roof still isn't leaking (in my porch anyway) and looks in reasonable condition how can that be neglect on my part. I will touch base with my insurance company.