Tree surgeon damaged my property 10 January at 6:17PM in Consumer rights 20 replies 1.1K views

Guinness81

Hi all,

Long story short - my neighbours had some work carried out over the last few days to cut some trees back that were overhanging my property. I went into my bathroom this morning and found water pooling on the floor underneath a loft hatch for a sloping roof. Going up in the loft I found a hole in the roof where roof tiles were damaged and the felt pierced. This is all directly underneath where the surgeons were working the day before with a cherry picker (the roof still has the sawdust on it).

I emailed the Tree Surgeons (who boast they're fully insured on their website) with photos showing the damage only to be contacted by quite possibly the rudest individual i've ever spoken to. He outright denied it, saying he spoke to his team and they said it wasn't them. He then failed to give me an answer on how else a hole would appear in a roof within 24 hours of his company working above it with heavy machinery.

Looking to see what my options are here. I have buildings and contents insurance but i'm afraid they'll bump my premium up if I have to claim.

Thanks in advance!

eskbanker

Insurance or LBA/small claims (if you're happy with the balance of probabilities) would seem the only realistic options if the tree surgeons are uncooperative....

TELLIT01

I have claimed of buildings insurance twice and seen nothing to suggest that premiums were increased because of it.  You do need to check the excess on the policy, and it may not be worth claiming for a comparatively small repair.  I would be inclined to get it repaired and then bill the tree surgeon for the work.  If they don't pay up, consider the small claims court (or whatever it's called now).

Arthur_Pewtey

You should contact your insurer in any event - it's quite possible that you have legal insurance on your building and contents policy which may assist.

You will need to get the damage repaired immediately, and it's best if possible to get 2 or 3 quotes - depending on the urgency it may not be practical to do this, but it's essential you get a proper invoice for the work.

You clearly have a potential claim against this tree surgeon and having documented the damage and the cost of repair you could approach a solicitor to recover your costs from them. It's quite possible that the threat of legal action will see them settle your claim against them.

Keep_pedalling

Your priority is to get the damage fixed before any more water ingress occurred, you really need to contact your insurers straight away, if you fail to do so any further damage may not be covered. Your insurers will recover any costs from the tree surgeons if at all possible.

Guinness81

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I've managed an emergency repair that should keep any further water out and i'll contact my insurance company tomorrow. 

I've done some digging and the Director of the company has dissolved two previous tree surgery companies so they seem to be a cowboy outfit.

Keep_pedalling

Guinness81 said:

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I've managed an emergency repair that should keep any further water out and i'll contact my insurance company tomorrow. 

I've done some digging and the Director of the company has dissolved two previous tree surgery companies so they seem to be a cowboy outfit.

They do indeed, they should not have been using a cherry picker over your roof in the first place

baser999

Spoken to the neighbour? He may know the company

cmthephoenix

baser999 said:

Spoken to the neighbour? He may know the company

Well hopefully they do at least on a professional level because they employed them. I would say your first point of call after your insurance company is your neighbours - they employed the contactor and so would normally be your first point of remedy but your insurance company will be able to advise their recommendation.

pinkshoes

Surely the OP has no contract with the Tree Surgeons? 

The NEIGHBOUR employed the Tree Surgeon so it should be the neighbour that is contacted regarding the damage. 

Contact your home insurance, but I would imagine they would then claim from your neighbour. 

HillStreetBlues

pinkshoes said:

Surely the OP has no contract with the Tree Surgeons? 

The NEIGHBOUR employed the Tree Surgeon so it should be the neighbour that is contacted regarding the damage.

This isn't about a contract.

If someone sat on your garden fence and broke it, you would want them to pay for it.
If the person said "sorry I haven't got a contract with you so not my problem" I don't think you would be happy.