Neighbour threatening legal action - please help!

lesalanos

@catlady I would be surprised if he took legal action.  If he does you have legal protection with your house insurance so that's covered.

This is what confuses me... The leak on the left hand neighbour ... Are you sure it's from your gutter?  How does the water affect his wall and not yours if it's from your gutter? 

Joining guttering may help but only if your right hand downpipe is blocked. Otherwise it will just add the water from yours and your neighbours to the other 4 houses.  

CatLady87

@leslanos - I’m not sure my legal protection would cover me as he’s alleging it was caused by my roofer and the protection doesn’t cover work carried by tradesman I don’t believe.

I’m not a hundred percent sure as I haven’t been up there. This is what I’m told by the left hand neighbour. Would it be worth borrowing some ladders and seeing for myself? I could get someone to hold them for me. Right hand neighbour has extending ones I think.

I think it affects his house as the two stop ends are over the boundary line, near his window. I assume that’s why anyway.

lesalanos

If it's over the boundary line then surely it's his gutter and his problem 

CatLady87

@leslanos - I wish it was that simple. I don’t know the legalities but in my view I’d rather pay out to remedy a problem (a reasonable amount only) rather than potentially incur court costs / surveyor costs and a stain on the property which may prevent me from selling. I’m scared of him and he knows it.  He’s taken action before and he’s still got an issue with the dormer extension now, despite the fact it’s been there for 13 years and I didn’t build it 😣

Jeepers_Creepers

Whooaah! Let's get back to basics!

1) Almost certainly the original setup was a continuous length of guttering across all 6 houses served by three (effectively 'shared') downpipes. I cannot think of any other option unless the whole caboodle has been completely redone in the most bizarre fashion at some point. Which it hasn't. 

2) It also looks almost certain that soakaways are involved here - according to what you, CatLady, said; DPs simply disappear in to the ground + RH neighb has had his SA blasted clean.) This is good - it's the best (environmental) way.

3) You did nothing to cause this issue, and you are actively trying to get to the correct solution - so your neighb had better lay off. Any bolshieness from him, address it head on. Be honest - tell him you find his manner to be intimidating and bullying and it makes you feel very uncomfortable. Some folk don't realise how they come across, and this should be enough to give him pause. Absolutely do not feel pressurised into taking any action other than what is fair and reasonable. 

4) Your neighb won't, unless he's completely nuts, try a legal approach, so relax. Again, if he threatens to, tell him to not be so silly as you both know it wouldn't work; you are all actively working towards the correct solution, and expect it to happen. What's more, by stopping the end of his own gutter, he has contributed to the issue. If you receive a letter from a solicitor (which you won't...), then call up your Legal Protection team - they will reassure and guide you. You can also call them up any time for advice - it doesn't have to be for 'action'! I believe advice is free. 

5) To rejoin your and his (LH) gutters would also involve your gutter to be repositioned - levelled - so that they meet. It does look as tho' someone attempted a 'cure' to the overflowing out that LH end by raising the guttering at that end, thereby trying to force the water towards the RH instead. This hasn't fully worked, so your gutter needs to be re-levelled to what it would have been originally.

6) By 'profile' of guttering, I do mean the 'shape' of each one so that they are easy to join together. Chances are they are the same (unless some twit changed one at some point) but adaptors are available in any event: https://gutterspares.co.uk/gutter-adaptors-73-c.asp#:~:text=Gutter adaptors allow gutters of,materials to be connected together.

7) There is every chance that levelling and rejoining your gutter will sort the issue. If it doesn't it's either because the 3 DPs are not coping (eg possibly blocked), the SAs are not coping (possibly ditto) or just because rainfalls in these climate-change days are occasionally just too much for the system (in which case you all just accept that a few times a year water will overflow. Unless all 6 agree to upgrade it all). In either of these scenarios, I think it's a joint responsibility to sort it - eg to clean any of the 3 soakaways should be a shared x 6 cost. For the first two scenarios, the fix is obvious. For the third, just pray.

Davesnave

CatLady87 said:

  He’s taken action before and he’s still got an issue with the dormer extension now, despite the fact it’s been there for 13 years and I didn’t build it 😣

Total non-issue as it's way past the time for enforcement, even if there was anything to enforce in the first place. Ignore.

Bowing out here, but I wish you well, especially if you need to get 4-6 properties on-board. I deal with a management committee who look after 14 nearby properties and they always start from the premise that some people won't pay, whatever it is; that's if they can even agree among themselves! I suppose it was with that in mind that I looked towards an individual solution.

Jeepers_Creepers

As Dave says - these are unassociated issues. If he brings them up, then just ask him why? It's got nothing to do with me - so why bring it up?

The 'solution' here is for the system to be reinstated to original - ie your gutter levelled and rejoined. That's it. Your neighb can take or leave this. If he leaves it, then your water will continue, at times, to overflow over his house - but that's entirely his fault. 

You've given him the correct solution and you are happy to pay for it. You will NOT entertain adding your own DP - that is unreasonable, unnecessary, technically complex due to lack of space and would be very costly too. 

If he still threatens 'legal', you know what to do...

CatLady87

Thanks all.

Had a chat with LH neighbour this morning. He’s being very shifty, I think he’s lying to me. I asked him who put the stop ends on and he went ‘the joins?’ And I said ‘no, the stop ends on your gutter and mine, was it the previous owner’? He just told me that he had his gutter done when he moved in. I think it’s fairly obvious he had his capped off. He said that guttering only comes in four metres lengths (how would this be an issue, surely they can all be joined together!?) but he managed to let slip that his was joined to mine at some point. He said the previous owner removed his stop end and threw it in the garden at one point!  I’m not sure if the stop ends being added caused the issue, but he seems to think their gutter has always had issues and the side of the house was wet before (my house, not his).

I’m effectively copping for a historic dispute between two people. 

lesalanos

Looks like you have put a stop to his bullsh*t bullying.  Good work there.

I would tell him that if he wants it resolving then he can pay for the gutters to be joined, otherwise you don't want to hear anything from him about it again.  He caused the issue, he can resolve it 

CatLady87

Thank you all!

I’ve spoken to two roofers today and they’re visiting to look at it on Wednesday. One of them suggested that a tile needs to be placed between the gap in the guttering to direct the water correctly. Hopefully they will back me up with your suggestions. I’ll pay for it on the proviso I pick the contractor. I don’t trust his roofer, not at all. For example, what kind of roofer suggests a downpipe without a soakaway? Not to mention, there’s clearly nowhere to place a soakaway without breaching building regs 😫