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

sleepyfrog

This annoys me. The neighbours actions caused damage which will cost you time and money to put right. If I had been that neighbour I would have been mortified and would have straight away either cleaned up the paint, repainted their side or paid for things to be rectified.

If the neighbour doesn't have the decency to rectify the issues it's a slippery slope letting him get away with it this time and not a person I'd want to be friendly with anyway. I'd send a letter with a deadline stating either he fixes it or you will and send him the bill. If he doesn't pay I'd then take it to small claims court. Turning the other cheek just encourages selfishness and inconsiderate behaviour.

Ed264

A Solicitor's letter often works. Some would be happy to do this free of charge, initially - mine would.

champagnecharlie66

Key question is…is it worth falling out with your neighbour?
regardless of rights and wrongs…sending a bill, or taking to small claims…it’s all just a big pain..and eats away at your piece of mind.

I have an unusual garden where fences are shared. Which is not ideal. I landscaped the garden and wanted nice fences to replace old rotten ones. One neighbour was fabulous and just came round with cash. The other initially was happy to share cost…but when it came to settling said he was contacting the boundary commission (which doesn’t exist)….i explained it’s in the deeds…and paid to get a copy (of his) from land registry…in the end he just said “I’m a tight !!!!!!” and shut the door… I just paid the bill and he hardly grunt's anymore when he sees me…just quickly gets into his car/house… but I can’t waste my life, or time in moaning…it’s not worth it…unfortunately costly…but I maintain my friendly and optimistic approach. 

Philycheesesteak

Disputes with neighbours are the most stressful times in your life, hopefully you don't experience it but if you do more often than not you wish it hadn't started... many end up moving to avoid it.

Yes its annoying
Yes they should pay
But is it worth it in the scheme of things?

Guessing it's darker than your colour and it will be a pain and a few hours work to re-do it but honestly that is better than starting a dispute which then means at best cold shoulders or worse it escalating.

Maybe send a note asking what the brand and colour they used and if they are genuinely going to pay you back they'll at least buy a couple of extra tubs and bring them round. Worse case you get a colour match and as a bonus the fence will enjoy the extra coat of protection.

primrose_penguin

There are some awful stories on here this time, it just shows how selfish neighbours can be. Luckily for me I have a stone wall that is my responsibility and I am an end of terrace so no problems. I always thought the rule was the fence to the left as you stand in your back door looking out was yours, but whether this is general I don't know. You may be able to touch up the fence and shed but whether it will come off the path and plant pots is another matter as they are made of a different material, perhaps if it is water based it would scrub off. I would put down on paper what the cost to fix it is and show it to him before you start the work and see what he says. It doesn't sound too hopeful as he has already had time to come back to you with an offer to reimburse you, it depends on how well you get on and if you want a peaceful life, perhaps if he is not forthcoming you could get it done yourself however I would tell him if it happens again you will have to take it further. But firstly, it all hinges on if it is legally your fence he had no right to paint it, it is your responsibility to upkeep both sides. If it is his fence then it is up to him to maintain both sides. Good luck.

JayD

I am not sure why folk are asking "who owns it"! When I moved into my new house, there was a broken wire chain link fence between myself and my neighbour and our deeds shows that it was their boundary. I offered to replace it with 6ft wooden panels and they were happy for me to do so. Later they sold up and new neighbours moved in. They wanted to remove the wooden panels and replace them with a hedge of fast growing, evergreen Leylandii trees. These are known to be a scourge, get overgrown very quickly and the branches would spread into my garden. I explained this to them but they still wanted to go ahead. So I sought legal advice and was told that, despite the boundary line, it was MY fence and they had no right to remove it. The line is an imaginary line, what is on it was bought and paid for by me, as such it is my property, not theirs. So, if you bought the fence it is yours.

With regard to the damage caused by your neighbour - he had no right to paint it without your permission. If you gave your permission, then you did so at your own risk. If you did not, then I suggest you get an estimate to put right all the damage and hand it to him with a polite request that he pays for it. If you get no response after a reasonable time, then it is up to you to decide if you want the hassle and stress of raising a claim in the small claims court. Give him a deadline and advise him that if he does not meet it, that is the step you intend to take.

So you need to balance hassle/stress and neighbourly relations against getting everything put right on either your side of your fence - or both sides for that matter.

CliveOfIndia

JayD said:

I am not sure why folk are asking "who owns it"!

Because it matters - and the subject is often misunderstood.

The boundary between two properties should be clearly marked on the deeds.  But (unless there is something in the deeds to say otherwise, which would be extremely unusual), there is no requirement to erect a fence, wall, hedge, or anything else.  The only requirement is that the boundary is marked - this could be two canes with some string between them.

What's commonly done is that you put up a fence that's just slightly on your side of the boundary.  In that case, the fence unequivocally belongs to you and your neighbour cannot touch it.

Where it gets awkward is if you want to put up a fence exactly on the boundary.  The "nice" way to do it is to agree to go halves with your neighbour (given that it benefits you both) and to share the maintenance costs.  Or else "You look after your side, I'll look after mine".  I'm very lucky that I have lovely neighbours and this has always worked perfectly for us, but I fully appreciate that not everyone is on such good neighbourly terms.

In some situations the deeds will state who is responsible for an existing fence that's on the boundary.  An oft-quoted mantra is that you are responsible for the fence on the left, as you look at the house from the road.  This has no legal basis at all - the only way to be sure is to check with the Land Registry or on your deeds.

ThisIsWeird

JayD said:

So I sought legal advice and was told that, despite the boundary line, it was MY fence and they had no right to remove it. The line is an imaginary line, what is on it was bought and paid for by me, as such it is my property, not theirs. So, if you bought the fence it is yours.

With regard to the damage caused by your neighbour - he had no right to paint it without your permission. If you gave your permission, then you did so at your own risk. If you did not, then I suggest you get an estimate to put right and hand it to him with a polite request that he pays for it. If you get no response after a reasonable time, then it is up to you to decide if you want the hassle and stress of raising a claim in the small claims court. Give him a deadline and advise him that if he does not meet it, that is the step you intend to take.

As Clive says.
I don't know how you got the 'legal advice' result you did, Jay, but can only assume that, perhaps, the boundary was slightly too vague 'on the ground' to determine to the nearest inch, which is the case more often than not. Or perhaps your new fence straddled the boundary line? Who knows.
Because, if you take your situation to it's logical conclusion, it should become clear that it ain't 'your' fence, if it's over the boundary and on their land. Or, should I say, it is your fence, but it ain't got no right to be there.
If, say, you planted that fence a good foot over the boundary, would it still be 'your' fence and 'they mustn't touch it'? Two feet? How about running diagonally across their garden? The fact is, the physical fence is 'yours', but it has no right to be there, so they can ask - insist - it is removed. Or, they can remove it, and dump it back on your land.
As for how to deal with the issue in this thread, I agree with your approach.
It may be daft, but this sort of thing happens so often, that perhaps the fence erector should make part of the job to inform their neighbour, "Don't touch'!" Lawdie

m1at1

Write him a strongly worded letter and send it via recorded delivery with a four week deadline to correct the damages or you'll sue him and get a high court writ to take away his TV and have him thrown into the street with only an hour to pack!