Money Moral Dilemma: Should I get my fence fixed and bill my neighbour after he messed it up?

keithyno.1

Southendormargate said:

You can send him a bill but he won't pay it. If it is your fence he has no right
to spray it. Sue him for damages in the small claims court.

Or, how to start a neighbourly dispute that will just escalate and could drag on for years! Leading to miserable lives for both sides of the dispute as long as they live there. 

The key to this is discussion - calm, reasonable discussion. "Jaw, jaw is better than war, war" is a phrase often attributed to Winston Churchill** and it applies just as much to neighbours living next door to each other as it does to sovereign states and countries.

** Some historians dispute it was Churchill who said it, and instead claim it was Harold Macmillan in 1958.

iyhr

This has happened to me at two different houses.
The first one sprayed their fence on a windy day and covered everything in my garden - ornaments, plants, path, decking, with red spots.
I had payed £3,000 to have my small garden landscaped.

I was furious. They said they would sort it out but didn't. I sought advice and was told to claim through my Insurance Company. 

Might be worth telling neighbours if it not fixed within x amount of time you too will go through your Insurance Company who will no doubt want to claim the cost back from them?

Chloe_G

This happened to me.  I had a beautiful new golden coloured six foot fence which cost me a lot (it's a long garden.)  Came home to find the new neighbours had had their 'handyman' spray paint it black during a dark November evening in the pouring rain.  It had all run down my side streaking it with black and was all over the gravel boards.  I went round and informed him it was criminal damage whereby he had a good laugh and said he would send his 'handyman' around to fix the damage.  Of course the handyman never appeared.  There have been so many other things that this family have done to my fence/property since that I haven't got time to state them all. 
I've always had lovely neighbours before and it so upsetting.
I think you should take him to the small claims court.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Glads said:

 Your neighbour may well be liable in accordance with Rylands v Fletcher.

It requires non natural use of land, I'm not sure that would apply with spraying a fence.

We laid an area of tumbled plum slate, neighbour sprayed the fence (not sure which one of us owned it) and covered the slate in orange dots. Tedious as it was I flipped all the stones over. 

Someone would have to weigh up the headache and potential future animosity with the neighbours vs the reward.

I's amazing how much agro seems to be caused between neighbours over fences. 

MrDisney69

This is criminal damage.
He has been reckless as to his actions and caused damage to your shed and pots with his paint.
You'll have to spend money and time fixing it.

So either he pays up front for it to be sorted or say it's time to involve the police, that might focus his attention and make him swing into action.

I take it all you want to do is repaint the panel, shed and replace the pots?

If so pop the figures on a letter and post it through his door and await his reply.
Give him a few days and if he says no then he knows you'll call the police.

He doesn't sound like a nice neighbour so in future I wouldn't speak to him again, put his bin out when he goes away, take a parcel in for him etc.

johnwnormington

Isn’t there an issue of anti social behaviour in all this? 

redkite89

"I had my garden fence repaired and stained," After you had your fenced stained, what did your neighbours side of the fence look like, any run through?

It might have been wiser to inform the neighbour of your intention to stain your side of the fence and offer to have his side stained the same colour for £xx. I'm sure you both could have come to some agreement

DRP

iyhr said:

This has happened to me at two different houses.
The first one sprayed their fence on a windy day and covered everything in my garden - ornaments, plants, path, decking, with red spots.
I had payed £3,000 to have my small garden landscaped.

I was furious. They said they would sort it out but didn't. I sought advice and was told to claim through my Insurance Company. 

Might be worth telling neighbours if it not fixed within x amount of time you too will go through your Insurance Company who will no doubt want to claim the cost back from them?

I think the insurance company is the best bet, assuming you’re covered. Warn him first and mention that unfortunately the insurance will probably look to reclaim from him. Also give him some other options to sort it out and a bit of time to think about it.  

Rosa_Damascena

Am I the only one who thinks the neighbour should show a bit of decency? The applicable expression is "never XXXX where you sit".

casper_gutman

Threads like this make me grateful for the brick walls all round my garden. Not cheap these days, though!