seeking compensation from council tenant neighbour

missbooboo

Hello,

I thank you in advance for the helpful advice for which I hope to receive.

I am a leaseholder property owner, my council tenant neighbour had a bbq fire approx 1 month ago which set alight her shed, burnt down my fence, damaged my shed & its contents & also caused some damage to the other neighbour's property.

The police and fire-brigade attended the scene, area was evacuated due to the inflammable contents in the shed & that the shed roof was made of a mixture of cement asbestos. The asbestos council surveyor and clean up crew collected approx 25 bags of damaged charcoaled debris mixed with asbestos mainly from their garden and collected asbestos cement chippings from my garden and other neighbour and close surrounding areas.

They say do not have personal home insurance nor contents insurance - I do not want to claim via my insurance to prevent future premiums. I initially wanted to deal with this amicably on a personal level as I thought they were good people. I have spoken to them about 4 times and presented a breakdown of material costs and labour involved, it has now been a month since the incident, they have never initiated a chat or agreed to offer any compensation.

1) I have contacted the council and told them the circumstances - awaiting response.

2) I have CAD ref from police and fire service incident ref, I have communicated with asbestos surveyor who recalls and will vouch that neighbour said she left the fire unattended.

3)What responsibilities must the council as the landlord do to help solve this issue?

3)Would the council be liable for anything if the tenants don't or won't pay?

4)I am looking into taking this to the small claims, could I sue the council and neighbours or just one or the other?

I really appreciate your advice -Thanks!

Torry_Quine

Unless they were negligent then they aren't liable for the damage to your property, you should let your insurance deal with it.

moneyistooshorttomention

I wouldnt be prepared to claim on my insurance either in OP's position - ie I expect her premiums would be hiked because of somebody else. Fair enough if your premiums are hiked because of your own stupid fault - but not someone else's.

Personally - I'd send a suitable letter (copy kept) to the neighbour concerned with an itemised bill of what she owed me attached and comment about "I look forward to receiving letter from your insurance company within the month confirming that they are dealing with processing reimbursing me OR payment from yourself directly within the month" suitably phrased.

In other words - I wouldnt necessarily believe that she wasnt insured (hence mentioning reimbursement by her insurance company). If she really isnt insured - then she obviously "self-insures" as the phrase goes - ie she pays out herself (instead of an insurance company doing so).

If that deadline was missed - then I would take this neighbour to the small claims court for them personally to reimburse me.

Browntoa

You are assuming the tenant has the means to pay the cost , a small claims case may just end up with them being unable to pay anyway , not enough assets for bailiffs to sieze if it got that far and so you could spend 1000's on a lost cause

GwylimT

No, landords are not responsible for their tenants actions.

If you don't mind me asking how much money are you asking for? Few people can come up with a spare £500 in a few days for example.

Also, how are you going to prove beyond doubt that she was negligent?

Norman_Castle

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Unless they were negligent then they aren't liable for the damage to your property, you should let your insurance deal with it.

It could be argued they were negligent by placing the barbecue too close to their shed and by leaving it unattended.

Safety advice for people who feel the need to burn or partly cook food in the garden because its a bank holiday. http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/barbecue

xHannahx

In the case of council tenants the council will have the buildings insurance and tenant should have content insurance. Content insurance won't cover a garden fence I don't think.
In my area council won't house people who can afford private rent, so potentially the council tenant is living on the breadline so won't have disposable income to pay from.
You may find a fence will cost less than the excess to claim on your own insurance, so not worth a claim, however if you want insurance to pay, it is your own insurers you should approach.

SuzieSue

You need to read your insurance policy as many require you to inform them about any potential claims even if you don't actually make a claim. Your premium might still rise even if you don't claim.

AnnieO1234

I'm not trying to sound awful to your neighbour but seriously, they've not stumped up the money after a month, they've admitted they don't have insurance and they're a council tenant. The chances are they have a limited income and even if you were successful at MCOL after paying their fees you could end up being repaid at 2p a month. Extreme yes but not without precedent. You would need to declare it as a dispute when you sell also.

Just shove a claim in, it's what you pay the insurance for and the risks otherwise are too great. Unless you want to stick it to the neighbour for their stupidity in not being insured appropriately and not dealing with the bbq. Xxx

Keep_pedalling

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

I'm not trying to sound awful to your neighbour but seriously, they've not stumped up the money after a month, they've admitted they don't have insurance and they're a council tenant. The chances are they have a limited income and even if you were successful at MCOL after paying their fees you could end up being repaid at 2p a month. Extreme yes but not without precedent. You would need to declare it as a dispute when you sell also.

Just shove a claim in, it's what you pay the insurance for and the risks otherwise are too great. Unless you want to stick it to the neighbour for their stupidity in not being insured appropriately and not dealing with the bbq. Xxx

I agree, all the hassle you going to have just to avoid what will probably be a small increase in your premium is simply not worth it. Had you gone through your insurance you would probably already had a new fence and shed installed.

I had a £2000 bike stolen from my shed last year, quickly replaced by the insurance company. My renewal has come through and the premium has gone up by £40, is it really worth all the time and effort in what could be futile attempt at saving a few quid?

As you seem to have had an asbestos hazard removed from your property at no cost to you, you really should consider yourself to be up on the deal

Silver-Surfer_2

GwylimT wrote: »

No, landords are not responsible for their tenants actions.

If you don't mind me asking how much money are you asking for? Few people can come up with a spare £500 in a few days for example.

Also, how are you going to prove beyond doubt that she was negligent?

They wouldn't have to.