Who pays to fix wall

annieshb

There is a low level wall between mine and neighbours driveways. They are of opinion that as wall is designed to retain my drive,  live on hill,I’m liable.
anyway I got quote to repair end section of wall and was waiting for work to be done. Damage was just wear and tear so didn’t do insurance claim.
in meantime I’ve had work done on rear sun porch under an insurance claim . The workmen have caused further damage to the wall,by taking their wheelbarrow along top as it was easier than pushing on gravel drive🤷‍♀️ .there is now a section further back from initial damage where bricks have been dislodged.
I feel that the company are liable for repair but they say that as wall was already damaged they are not! Insurance company say I can’t claim as initial damage wasn’t repaired straight away! Well not because I didn’t try,just difficult to get workers in this area . 
who is right?

shiraz99

TBH, if taking a wheelbarrow along the top of a low brick wall manages to dislodge the bricks then that would suggest they were probably not in the best of shape, or rather the mortar, in the first place. I'd have to agree with the workmen.

Apodemus

annieshb said:

who is right?

Probably all three of you!  I'm afraid it's probably time to just take a deep breath and pay the costs.  Anything else will probably just lead to all sorts of angst and aggravation and you will end up paying anyway.

annieshb

I was coming to that conclusion☹️

Section62

annieshb said:

There is a low level wall between mine and neighbours driveways. They are of opinion that as wall is designed to retain my drive,  live on hill,I’m liable.

Is there nothing in either set of deeds saying who owns/is responsible for the wall?

annieshb

That’s an idea. Will check the deeds.
I was just hoping at least part of repair would be down to workers liability insurance.
If I hit a car and damage ,say a bumper,I’m liable for repairs regardless of whether it already had a dent , was my thought process.
I will need to check deeds as at moment I couldn’t stretch budget to cover full cost.

mandy47

I was of the opinion that whoever owned the land that the wall retained was liable. Until I repaired such a wall and my neighbours kicked off big time. I had informed them of the work I was having done and they were happy for me to go ahead. Until work was almost complete then the problems started. 
 After legal advice it turns out that there is no strict rule on this so well worth checking your deeds. 
Issue with my neighbour escalated and police became involved after they threatened to kill me!!! 

FreeBear

What sort of damage are we talking about prior to the workmen making it worse ?

If it was a few loose bricks and capping stones, and the workmen have dislodged a few more bricks, negotiate a compromise repair with the builder. Perhaps a 50:50 or 75:25 split on the cost of the repairs.

On the other hand, a wall needing a complete rebuild, the damage caused by the workmen is not going to affect the overall cost. In this case, just ignore it assuming you are actually responsible for the wall.

shiraz99

annieshb said:

That’s an idea. Will check the deeds.
I was just hoping at least part of repair would be down to workers liability insurance.
If I hit a car and damage ,say a bumper,I’m liable for repairs regardless of whether it already had a dent , was my thought process.
I will need to check deeds as at moment I couldn’t stretch budget to cover full cost.

You would only be liable for the damage you caused, not any pre-existing damage.

Doozergirl

annieshb said:

That’s an idea. Will check the deeds.
I was just hoping at least part of repair would be down to workers liability insurance.
If I hit a car and damage ,say a bumper,I’m liable for repairs regardless of whether it already had a dent , was my thought process.
I will need to check deeds as at moment I couldn’t stretch budget to cover full cost.

You wouldn't be liable for fixing the initial problem.  

Walls shouldn't give way by having a wheelbarrow go over them.  The fact that the wall was already falling apart from 'wear and tear' evidences that fact that there is a wider problem than that which is/was immediately visible to you.  

Bendy_House

annieshb said:

If I hit a car and damage ,say a bumper, I’m liable for repairs regardless of whether it already had a dent, was my thought process.

I think this is more like, you gently hit a bumper that already had a dent in it, not causing any actual further damage to the bumper itself, but the bumper then fell off because all the bolts had also been loosened from the previous incident. Ie, you didn't cause the bumper to fall off - it had already been broken or was weakened. Ergo, you would not be liable.

Having said that, if the 'builders' didn't realise that the wall they were using as a walkway had limited strength, I am surprised.

Is it only the top bricks on this new damaged wall section that's affected?