Neighbours' builders have damaged my conservatory roof

luvcoffee1

The builders who were replacing my neighbours' roof dropped a piece of concrete onto my conservatory roof breaking it.  My neighbour heard this and took a photo of the piece of concrete.  I now have a hole in my conservatory roof which will be costly to repair as I have enquired about repairing it and it may not be possible to find a replacement panel (it is panel number 2) and the whole roof may need to be replaced.  I cannot afford this.  Who is responsible for this?  My  neighbour or the builder?  My neighbour knows it has happened as they heard and saw the incident and took the photo, they have informed the builder at my request they have a photo and I phoned him but he was very aggressive and spoke over me and denied anything had happened and said he may investigate when he feels like it before putting the phone down on me..  He turned up yesterday morning at 8:05 am, spoke to the neighbour, came onto my property and looked at the conservatory roof and denied all responsibility and muttered it was an internal problem with the panel before storming off.
I am nearly in tears here as I do not have a large income, I work from home as an audio typist and don't even get minimum wage, one panel would be £500.
The builder is fully aware he has caused the damage, there is clearly a hole in my roof but is sadly not of decent character and will not take responsibility for the damage he has caused and pay for its repair and is aggressive and totally unapproachable.  It is just me and my little dog and I just don't know what to do. 
I would be most grateful for any advice you could give me.

tacpot12

Do you have home insurance? If so, do you have legal expenses cover? If so, call the legal Help Line for advice. 

Your rights are to have the damage repaired, but you are not entitled to a new roof as this would mean you are better off than you were before. You will have to pay most of the cost for a new roof. The builder would be ordered to pay the cost of a new panel if you took them to court, and the court was satisified that he had caused the damage. 

The fact that the neighbour heard the accident and immediately took a photo suggests that you will have no problems in court, as the judge only has to decide "based on the balance of probabilties". 

You need to research the builder. Do they operate through a limited company or as a sole trader? Where does the build live, etc.?  Your research should be aimed at finding out if the builder has any histor or legal problems ro not paying, and also if they have closed companies previously (a Director will a long string of closed companies behind them clearly knowns how to play the system, and you may not be able to recover any money from them. The neighbour should be able to give you enough information for you then to research what else you need to know. You need his business address so you can write a letter before action. 

Make notes now about what the neighbour and the builder said at the time. Get the photo from the neighbour and keep it safe.

I would suggest that you also work on getting other quotes for a replacement panel. You have a duty to minimse the cost, and will to show that you have done this in court, so you will need three quotes from companies that can supply an new panel and/or a new roof. Depending on how many panels there are in the roof, I would expect a judge would agree to the builder having to pay 1/nth of the cost of a new roof if the are n panels in the roof. 

TELLIT01

Conservatory roof panels are generally made to measure, so there shouldn't be a problem getting one.  It may take time.

Speak to you house insurance provider. Given the situation you may have to get the work done and then consider trying to claim it back off the builder.

Alderbank

As above, claim off your household insurance. That's what it is for.
They will deal with recovering the cost from the builder or his insurers and will do it more successfully that you and your little dog could.