Dispute with neighbour re builder

bongo123

Our upstairs neighbour (we are both leasehold) has been having some work done. During the work they damaged our bathroom ceiling (coming through from above on a few occasions). They said this was 'likely to happen from the start'. They were pushy, rude and careless in our home. They told us they would fix it and we said immediately that we would prefer that we were compensated for the cost of having the guys who did our renovation to fix it (the ceiling was painted about two weeks before they came through it, adding a little to the frustration...). We relayed all this quite straightforwardly to our neighbour who initially tried to persuade us to let them fix it but after explanation seemed to accept our position. That was two months ago, and the neighbour today tried again to persuade us to let them into our flat to fix it themselves, as they are refusing to compensate her financially for it or to claim on their insurance. She tells us she doesn't want to compensate us either.

It's worth including that the neighbour didn't inform us that work would take place and hasn't seemed too concerned about the general inconvenience to us, and we don't trust her builders for other reasons - we've been here for a lot of the (very noisy) weekends that they've been working while she has been staying away, and nothing about the way they work or treat the shared parts of the property gives us any confidence. Do we have the right to refuse to let them do the work and seek financial compensation?

phil24_7

In simple...yes.

Speak to your insurance company hypothetically (don't give your details) to see what they say. If you have legal cover they may help you or they may even be able to contact the neighbours insurance company directly.

Once you know where you stand here you can speak to your neighbour again. Say you want compensating (get a quote, not an estimate, from your preferred builder) so that you can instruct your chosen builder to do the works. If they still refuse then tell them you will be instructing your insurance company to claim off their insurance (if you insurance company will indeed do this). If not tell them you will be starting legal proceedings. Make sure you hand them a letter and get a witness to this (or better still send it signed for) confirming what you have discussed.

bongo123

Thanks, that's really helpful. We were thinking it would be her builders that we'd need to pursue but actually seems it's her that's liable? Very reluctant to resort to insurance claims - would rather try to keep an amicable relationship- but good to know that we don't have to accept what we're being offered.

Thanks again for your help.