Neighbour doing 'homers on cars' ... Insurance query

theoretica

What height is the fence?  One near a local bus stop has plastic spikes along the top to stop people leaning on it.

TELLIT01

The problem is more than just doing car repairs in the street.  Damage to adjoining property is also being done by the neighbour, his visitors, or both.  That smacks of either thoughtlessness or not giving a damn.

Sea_Shell

TELLIT01 said:

The problem is more than just doing car repairs in the street.  Damage to adjoining property is also being done by the neighbour, his visitors, or both.  That smacks of either thoughtlessness or not giving a damn.

Lots of people have inconsiderate neighbours.  Doesn't mean you need to tell your own insurers about them, surely.

My neighbour could regularly come speeding down my road.  Should I tell my insurers and "warn them" that an accident "might" happen?

Aretnap

As far as the neighbour goes...

It's illegal to repair cars on a public road if you're doing it for profit, or if it gives "reasonable cause for annoyance to persons in the vicinity". (There's an exception for emergency repairs following a breakdown etc, so the RAC aren't a criminal gang)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/16/section/4

It's not exactly the crime of the century though, so how much the council and/or police will actually do about it if you report him is another question.

In general there's no obligation to have any sort of liability insurance if you're running a business. It might be a good idea, but it's not compulsory. Unless you employ people (in which case you need employers liability insurance) or the business involves driving (in which case you'd need appropriate car insurance). Very few forms of insurance are compulsory.

In any event I'm sceptical about whether you'd be able to claim against his insurance or against him for wear and tear to your fence, unless he does something dramatic like drive a car into it and knocks it over. Wear and tear on fences is a fact of life; it can be caused by your neighbour's visitors leaning against it while they chat about cars, random passers by leaning against it while they stop for a break, local kids kicking a ball against it, or just years of wind and rain. You'd have to be able to prove that whatever damage you were claiming for was caused by your neighbour, and not by some combination of all the other possible causes.

Your own home insurance would generally cover damage to a fence caused by a specific incident, but not wear and tear resulting from many incidents over time.

Hasbeen

GD366 said:

Hello,

I’m in the process of gathering facts before I speak with my neighbour.    We get on fine, and I intend to keep it that way.

However, he’s a young lad, who works full time as a mechanic.   He also decided to fix cars in a two bay parking space outside my property.   He’s not a registered business.  But I intend to get him to confirm if he has a) permission from the council to do this and b) has be any indemnity insurance.   (I expect, the answer is no.  But we will see, after I have garnered all the facts.

I am currently checking with the council, what the rules are for ‘running a business from home.’   I even had to tell them about myself…and I only have a laptop and printer for my business (and yes, told my home insurance people too I was working from home now…all covered).

My issue with the neighbour is the following (I’ll try to keep it brief)

• He’s running an uninsured business (potentially)
• He has no insurance should he damage my car or other cars
• He has no insurance to claim against for him and his visitors (which can be up to 5 or 6 a week) leaning and weakening my wooden fence, if it need replaced.   (Yes, I do remind him about this).  He also puts tires against it and puts his weight against the fence when jacking up (using a sizeable jack with a leverage handle).   So, the fence is becoming weak.
• He has never cleaned the area (again, despite being asked to) of general detritus and because he does oil changes and services, huge oil deposits.   These oil spills turn into oil slicks when it is raining.   Damaging the brick work and of course local pets walk through the puddles if there is no car there.  Plus I don’t want oily feet when I am getting into my own car.
• He has also, as my bin are closer dropped oily rags and bit of his work into mine (including half drunk coffee cups and food).   Again, asked not to do this.

I could go on…LOL.   I am going to speak with him about these issues and see if there is something I can do to help him become legal.  (like register as mobile mechanic and go fix cars at the customers houses.

I am awaiting call from the council to find out what the legal position is for me.   The road we live on is classified as a ‘adopted road’, no name, but still us under the road traffic act (so I’m told).

Should I also be informing my own home insurance that there is an uninsured/unregistered part time car mechanic business outside my house.   And should I also tell my car insurance people the same, in case my car gets damaged, by him working beside my car or him or his visitors/clients moving theirs (it can be tight)?

Even if it turns out he has insurance, should I tell my own insurance companies?

Any feedback would be helpful, as I just at the point of garnering my facts, before I speak with him in details.

Kind regards,

G

All that is now wrong with the mentality / Thinking of people now living in the UK.

superbigal

Park your car across the 2 bays.  Sorted.

Durban

davidmcn said:

GD366 said:

I am currently checking with the council, what the rules are for ‘running a business from home.’   I even had to tell them about myself…and I only have a laptop and printer for my business (and yes, told my home insurance people too I was working from home now…all covered).

What made you think you "had to" tell the council or your insurers? Half the country is working from home - it's not an issue if all you're doing is tapping away on your laptop at your kitchen table.

GD366 said:

Should I also be informing my own home insurance that there is an uninsured/unregistered part time car mechanic business outside my house.   And should I also tell my car insurance people the same,

No. All you'd do is confuse the call centre monkeys. If they haven't asked a relevant question, you don't need to have a chat with them about it. They're already taking on the risk that somebody uninsured might damage your car or house.

Call centre staff are not " monkeys".

They are just ordinary people just trying to do an honest days work which is often made more difficult by people talking to them as inferior

greyteam1959

Make an anonymous email complaint to your local council.
Sorted 

DCFC79

You say he parks in the 2 bays, who owns the bays ?
Are they for anyone to use or do you own 1 and other by another one ?

MalMonroe

Years ago my parents had a new neighbour who moved in and almost immediately started operating a 24 hour taxi service. Two cars, him and his wife. They were disturbing all the neighbours round about and my parents couldn't sleep some nights - car doors slamming and lights flashing - so they asked the council what they could do. Apparently when the council went to see the new neighbours they vehemently denied running a taxi business (and they'd even put ads in the Yellow Pages) but after the council visit, the taxi service died a death.

Are any of your other neighbours bothered by this mechanic's business? I note some of the flippant responses here and would just like to say that I certainly wouldn't like it if any of my neighbours were operating a car fixing service outside my house. If your neighbour isn't registered as a business then he's avoiding paying all kinds of charges such as business rates and income tax and not only is it very thoughtless (especially leaving stains and oil on the road and using your bins) it's also illegal. Unless of course he's doing it all for free - in which case, he's still inconveniencing neighbours.

I wouldn't speak to your neighbour about this at all, you say you're waiting for the council to deal with it. Let them deal with it. If this disrupts any 'relationship' you had with him, then so be it. Although it's kind of you to want to help him, he appears to be a very arrogant, thoughtless young man who isn't helping you.

Your business is fine, it doesn't have the potential to inconvenience or annoy anyone else since it's all carried out indoors - whereas a car repair business in your street does. 

Just let the council do their job, they have been alerted to a problem and now they'll have some investigating to do. (And as we know, councils can often take their own sweet time.)