Threatening preemptive letter from Barnet council about cost of damage to road - what are my rights?

TheCyclingProgrammer

It seems reasonable to me. They!!!8217;ve obviously got fed up with footing the bill for damage caused by careless building work and are now preemptively warning people to take care. I don!!!8217;t see why council tax payers should be paying for other people!!!8217;s carelessness.

As others have said, you are responsible for damage caused so I!!!8217;d make it very clear and get it in writing that if any damage is caused by your builders and you are billed for it that you will be pursuing them for costs. They should be insured to cover this anyway.

stator

You could always check your builders have proper insurance I guess?

marcosscriven

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

It seems reasonable to me. They!!!8217;ve obviously got fed up with footing the bill for damage caused by careless building work and are now preemptively warning people to take care. I don!!!8217;t see why council tax payers should be paying for other people!!!8217;s carelessness.

As others have said, you are responsible for damage caused so I!!!8217;d make it very clear and get it in writing that if any damage is caused by your builders and you are billed for it that you will be pursuing them for costs. They should be insured to cover this anyway.

I agree entirely with you that those responsible should pay, yes.

What I don't feel is fair is to demand that from the resident. If the council were to charge me thousands or more to repair a road, and then expect me to pay thousands more for a solicitor to pursue that from a builder, it could be extremely damaging. I think they should directly go after the builder or their insurer. If the builder litters the street for instance, that's not allowed either, but the council wouldn't send me a letter saying it would be my fault if the they did. And don't forget that this has been doled out to a 3rd party, Re Ltd., that boasts how much revenue they've raised for the council.

As it happens, I'm involved in the local community and have volunteered a lot of time to a local charity that specifically focusses on maintaining the environment here. I do care that the roads should be well maintained - I don't like though the bullying, and the wording that starts out sounding like you've done something wrong. And I'm a council tax payer too - I wouldn't want to pay for other builders damaging road either, but I wouldn't expect the council to come down on my neighbours, who had chosen a builder with a good reputation, for the faults or accidents of the builder.

marcosscriven

stator wrote: »

You could always check your builders have proper insurance I guess?

I have done so - and they are highly rated. But the council are writing the letter to me, claiming I would be responsible. They are claiming I'd have to bear the costs, and be out of pocket while I tried to get it from the builders or their insurers. Insurers don't necessarily pay out either.

Furts

marcosscriven wrote: »

I agree entirely with you that those responsible should pay, yes.

What I don't feel is fair is to demand that from the resident. If the council were to charge me thousands or more to repair a road, and then expect me to pay thousands more for a solicitor to pursue that from a builder, it could be extremely damaging. I think they should directly go after the builder or their insurer. If the builder litters the street for instance, that's not allowed either, but the council wouldn't send me a letter saying it would be my fault if the they did. And don't forget that this has been doled out to a 3rd party, Re Ltd., that boasts how much revenue they've raised for the council.

As it happens, I'm involved in the local community and have volunteered a lot of time to a local charity that specifically focusses on maintaining the environment here. I do care that the roads should be well maintained - I don't like though the bullying, and the wording that starts out sounding like you've done something wrong. And I'm a council tax payer too - I wouldn't want to pay for other builders damaging road either, but I wouldn't expect the council to come down on my neighbours, who had chosen a builder with a good reputation, for the faults or accidents of the builder.

You have the wrong end of the stick here. Planning Permission is your responsibility, Buildings Regulations is your responsibility and Council Tax is your responsibility. None of this has anything to do with any builder. Consequently if the highway is damaged by your building works, that you want done to your home, then you have to accept the responsibility to rectify this.

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

marcosscriven

I don't want the path or road to be damaged, of course I don't.

But if I hire a good highly rated builder, and they decide to bring in a skip, and that lorry damages the road, how on Earth am I meant to prevent or control that?

rach_k

It sounds perfectly sensible to me. It's just a warning that they will follow it up. I actually think it's a really good idea - they've photographed it and let you know they have so they won't be claiming for stuff that was already there. Just make sure you keep an eye on it and report anything that wasn't your builders (unlikely but you never know!). I don't read anything like bullying in the tone, it's just simple and straightforward.

They are right to contact you about it as it's your property that is having the work done. How do you propose they find the correct contact details otherwise? Should they write to your plumber, your builder, your electrician, your skip hire company etc all separately? It's much more sensible just to write to you.

Whether you choose to pay for any damage yourself, or take out insurance against it or simply make sure that your builders are appropriately insured is up to you. Most people would just check the builders have the right cover and make sure the footpath is checked before paying the final amount owed. Accidents do happen but that is what insurance is for. The council aren't going to tell you off like a naughty school child, they're just going to ask for their money. If that happens, you pass it to the builders' insurers. No fuss.

marcosscriven

rach_k wrote: »

Whether you choose to pay for any damage yourself, or take out insurance against it or simply make sure that your builders are appropriately insured is up to you. Most people would just check the builders have the right cover and make sure the footpath is checked before paying the final amount owed. Accidents do happen but that is what insurance is for. The council aren't going to tell you off like a naughty school child, they're just going to ask for their money. If that happens, you pass it to the builders' insurers. No fuss.

You say 'Whether you choose to pay', but it's not clear to me the council would let me 'choose'. It makes it sound like to me I would be liable, and would have to pursue recompense further down the line. That could be many thousands of pounds and the uncertainty of ever getting it back.

And yes, I've checked my builder has insurance - but insurers don't always pay out do they?

And where can I personally get insurance for a pathway?

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm another that thinks it's perfectly sensible and reasonable that the householder commissioning the works is held responsible and pursued for payment if deemed appropriate. You are commissioning the works and it is down to you to ensure that things are in place to minimise damage to council property and pay for it if it does occur.

Reverse the situation. If the council commission a third party contractor to undertake works near your property and damage it by, say, a van reversing into your wall, would you expect the council to be responsible or the contractor they are paying? Would you rather be chasing the council for payment to rebuild your garden wall or would you be happy for them to palm you off onto their contractor?

marcosscriven

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

I'm another that thinks it's perfectly sensible and reasonable that the householder commissioning the works is held responsible and pursued for payment if deemed appropriate. You are commissioning the works and it is down to you to ensure that things are in place to minimise damage to council property and pay for it if it does occur.

Reverse the situation. If the council commission a third party contractor to undertake works near your property and damage it by, say, a van reversing into your wall, would you expect the council to be responsible or the contractor they are paying? Would you rather be chasing the council for payment to rebuild your garden wall or would you be happy for them to palm you off onto their contractor?

No-one has suggested to me how I can protect myself against this risk? At least you've been polite about your opinion, thank you, but others haven't.

The builder does have £1m liability insurance - maybe it would pay out, but how long would that take? Don't insurers try to minimise payouts?

I don't think I personally could get insurance for public pathway damage, at least not anything standard or reasonably priced, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

It seems either just don't do the work, or risk a cost of thousands.