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Party Wall Act - owner now trying to claim all expenses for works due to me disputing initially
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goldfrapp
Posts: 27 Forumite
hi all
I have a dilemma 2021 someone bought the house next-door to me I live in a terraced street, I am mid terrace, from the get-go we had issues with the owner of the property, he was competing a total refurb on the property and within a few months he had undermined our fence at the rear, then was telling us our home was too far over his, he also tried to get an adjoining neighbour to remove their 12 year old extension. Between the breakdown in relationship and numerous things he done to our property and the way in which he dealt with these obstacles we had a bad relationship. Then around 11 months ago he told me he was fitting a flue via the party wall and I had to pay for it, and the flue would be on his roof, this flue was for a multi fuel stove and not the main heating source in the property. I asked how he was going to do this and he told me he was doing it himself with his son, the man is 74 and his son is to be blunt useless at DIY in general let alone fit a flue. we have a wood burning stove and we know what we had to do to get this installed we employed a roofer and a HETAS engineer for this and we have the flue swept twice a year, we have a vent to the front of the property and are fully aware of the recommendations needed for one to be installed legally. So alarm bells rang and I said No it's not happening, unless you employ someone who is registered to do so. A few weeks later I had a letter from his solicitor to tell me he was going ahead with the works and that he was employing a surveyor. We waited for correspondence from the survey, and we refused for works to go ahead so disputed, we asked for a breakdown of works and we were asked to complete a template letter by his surveyor to state the dispute. We went ahead and in the meantime I gained some information from a surveyor, he told me my neighbour would have to pay for my surveyor and his and any works he wanted done, and that it would not cost me anything, I am within my rights to dispute the works.
we then had another letter from his surveyor asking me to appoint a surveyor, so we did, the survey was very much for us, in the beginning, and then he told us basically we had to allow this to be done and he would work with my neighbours surveyor and they would issue an award.
The award was issued, in the meantime the neighbour started harassing me making comments to me about me being awkward and that I had complained about everything.
Also in May of this the works were completed on the property and it was rented out to a young man local to me. to be honest the tenant was fine with us both, but was fully aware of the issues we had faced with the landlord and kept out of it, but was making comments to neighbours whom we had known for 23 years since living here, and frankly were not happy about this, but we said nothing.
The award was sent to us and he had to give us 2 weeks notice for works to start, scaffolding was top at the front it had been there for over 2 years, and the flue was to be put on the back of my property roof, using scaffolding on his back of property and over our roof space to fit the flue in compliance with regulations. So we just thought we had done the right thing and at least it was being done correctly. it is what it is?
Around 4 weeks ago I was working at home, I had a hand written letter posted though the door stating he had employed a contractor and they would be calling to fit the flue in due course. so he had given us the decency of notice..... but 2 hours after the letter was hand delivered 2 vans pulled up outside my home and 4 work men started claiming on the scaffolding and onto my roof? I rang my husband and went outside I could see the one van was a local stove fitter who I know so I asked him what he was doing he said I'm fitting the flue for the landlord, I stated he had only given me the letter that morning and I was entitled to 2 weeks notice, he did not know anything about this and he said the landlord had instructed him to go to my property asap and start works and I was happy about it and not to worry about asking me anything.
we were furious, we could not believe the audacity of this man, I explained to the men what was happening and thankfully my husband was on loud speaker to hear and speak to them, thankfully 2 of the roofers there knew my husband and explained that our roof was in a bad way, the flue was not straight and tiles were misplaced, this was all done by our neighbour over the last few months, but we had no proof of him doing it, but he was on our roof several times over the last 9 months, so he asked me would we agree to do the flue and he would put right the damage my neighbour had done, and make safe my flue, by this time we were so fed up of the back and forth we agreed. Once the works were completed he showed me pictures of the work he put right, and told me it was all done correctly gave me pictures of our roof and also his certificates showing he was registered. He then told me he was not fitting the actual fire, he said the owner had told him he was going to do this himself, knowing once the plate was removed from inside the property he was basically breaking the law as you had to be certified to connect the flue to the fire. we were upset but just glad it was done.
And onto the issue, we had a letter from the owners solicitor yesterday saying he was claiming nearly £6,000 back from us for all the works basically saying I have been totally unreasonable and I now need to pay for everything including a new stove.
I have rang my insurance as I knew I had taken out legal cover, they have asked for everything to be sent to them within the next week or so, and then once reviewed they will make a decision as to if they will represent us, we are in shock and so frightened this bully is going to get away with this.
he told me over 12 months ago he wanted a log burner and I was going to pay for it, I thought he was just a bit crazy but he really thinks he can do this.
he has not taken any of the steps he should of in accordance with the Party wall award, can he really do this to us?
Can anyone advise please we are at our wits end, any advice would be truly appreciated, we are worrying ourselves so much.
I have a dilemma 2021 someone bought the house next-door to me I live in a terraced street, I am mid terrace, from the get-go we had issues with the owner of the property, he was competing a total refurb on the property and within a few months he had undermined our fence at the rear, then was telling us our home was too far over his, he also tried to get an adjoining neighbour to remove their 12 year old extension. Between the breakdown in relationship and numerous things he done to our property and the way in which he dealt with these obstacles we had a bad relationship. Then around 11 months ago he told me he was fitting a flue via the party wall and I had to pay for it, and the flue would be on his roof, this flue was for a multi fuel stove and not the main heating source in the property. I asked how he was going to do this and he told me he was doing it himself with his son, the man is 74 and his son is to be blunt useless at DIY in general let alone fit a flue. we have a wood burning stove and we know what we had to do to get this installed we employed a roofer and a HETAS engineer for this and we have the flue swept twice a year, we have a vent to the front of the property and are fully aware of the recommendations needed for one to be installed legally. So alarm bells rang and I said No it's not happening, unless you employ someone who is registered to do so. A few weeks later I had a letter from his solicitor to tell me he was going ahead with the works and that he was employing a surveyor. We waited for correspondence from the survey, and we refused for works to go ahead so disputed, we asked for a breakdown of works and we were asked to complete a template letter by his surveyor to state the dispute. We went ahead and in the meantime I gained some information from a surveyor, he told me my neighbour would have to pay for my surveyor and his and any works he wanted done, and that it would not cost me anything, I am within my rights to dispute the works.
we then had another letter from his surveyor asking me to appoint a surveyor, so we did, the survey was very much for us, in the beginning, and then he told us basically we had to allow this to be done and he would work with my neighbours surveyor and they would issue an award.
The award was issued, in the meantime the neighbour started harassing me making comments to me about me being awkward and that I had complained about everything.
Also in May of this the works were completed on the property and it was rented out to a young man local to me. to be honest the tenant was fine with us both, but was fully aware of the issues we had faced with the landlord and kept out of it, but was making comments to neighbours whom we had known for 23 years since living here, and frankly were not happy about this, but we said nothing.
The award was sent to us and he had to give us 2 weeks notice for works to start, scaffolding was top at the front it had been there for over 2 years, and the flue was to be put on the back of my property roof, using scaffolding on his back of property and over our roof space to fit the flue in compliance with regulations. So we just thought we had done the right thing and at least it was being done correctly. it is what it is?
Around 4 weeks ago I was working at home, I had a hand written letter posted though the door stating he had employed a contractor and they would be calling to fit the flue in due course. so he had given us the decency of notice..... but 2 hours after the letter was hand delivered 2 vans pulled up outside my home and 4 work men started claiming on the scaffolding and onto my roof? I rang my husband and went outside I could see the one van was a local stove fitter who I know so I asked him what he was doing he said I'm fitting the flue for the landlord, I stated he had only given me the letter that morning and I was entitled to 2 weeks notice, he did not know anything about this and he said the landlord had instructed him to go to my property asap and start works and I was happy about it and not to worry about asking me anything.
we were furious, we could not believe the audacity of this man, I explained to the men what was happening and thankfully my husband was on loud speaker to hear and speak to them, thankfully 2 of the roofers there knew my husband and explained that our roof was in a bad way, the flue was not straight and tiles were misplaced, this was all done by our neighbour over the last few months, but we had no proof of him doing it, but he was on our roof several times over the last 9 months, so he asked me would we agree to do the flue and he would put right the damage my neighbour had done, and make safe my flue, by this time we were so fed up of the back and forth we agreed. Once the works were completed he showed me pictures of the work he put right, and told me it was all done correctly gave me pictures of our roof and also his certificates showing he was registered. He then told me he was not fitting the actual fire, he said the owner had told him he was going to do this himself, knowing once the plate was removed from inside the property he was basically breaking the law as you had to be certified to connect the flue to the fire. we were upset but just glad it was done.
And onto the issue, we had a letter from the owners solicitor yesterday saying he was claiming nearly £6,000 back from us for all the works basically saying I have been totally unreasonable and I now need to pay for everything including a new stove.
I have rang my insurance as I knew I had taken out legal cover, they have asked for everything to be sent to them within the next week or so, and then once reviewed they will make a decision as to if they will represent us, we are in shock and so frightened this bully is going to get away with this.
he told me over 12 months ago he wanted a log burner and I was going to pay for it, I thought he was just a bit crazy but he really thinks he can do this.
he has not taken any of the steps he should of in accordance with the Party wall award, can he really do this to us?
Can anyone advise please we are at our wits end, any advice would be truly appreciated, we are worrying ourselves so much.
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Comments
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goldfrapp said: And onto the issue, we had a letter from the owners solicitor yesterday saying he was claiming nearly £6,000 back from us for all the works basically saying I have been totally unreasonable and I now need to pay for everything including a new stove.He can "claim" what ever he ruddy well likes. But the standard reply should always be [redacted] off.Should he be stupid enough to issue a court claim, a judge would rip his backside off for trying to claim for a new stove (it falls under the heading of betterment). If you want a more nuanced reply for his solicitor, I might suggest "We refer you to the reply given in the case of Arkell v. Pressdram.".
Her courage will change the world.
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.4 -
Freebear thank you for this we are totally shocked by his behaviour he’s bullied others apparently in this way 🤬0
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Well done for having Legal Protection.
Be totally guided by them. If the neighb says anything, note it down, but don't respond unless approved by your LP. If they say "don't engage", for example, then don't. Give them the simplest task to sort.
This should be fine. Please keep us updated.
Keep a detailed chronological log of everything that's been said and done, but try and turn them into succinct, dated, bullet points. Note how your first post is hard for others to decipher?
Also, it'll be easier to refer to if your LP asks for clarification - "What exactly happened on this date...?", type stuff.2 -
Thank you I will keep quiet until I hear from the solicitorThisIsWeird said:Well done for having Legal Protection.
Be totally guided by them. If the neighb says anything, note it down, but don't respond unless approved by your LP. If they say "don't engage", for example, then don't. Give them the simplest task to sort.
This should be fine. Please keep us updated.
Keep a detailed chronological log of everything that's been said and done, but try and turn them into succinct, dated, bullet points. Note how your first post is hard for others to decipher?
Also, it'll be easier to refer to if your LP asks for clarification - "What exactly happened on this date...?", type stuff.1 -
well I submitted everything to the insurance for a solicitor to take the case and now they are asking me for more, honestly I worked on the information I sent to them for 3 hours, and now they are duplicating asking me for the information, I am at a loss, they really don't want to help do they? picture below of such letter
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Use Chatgpt to help you if what you have isn't in the right order, or whatever. You can just upload what info you already have and get it to write it out for you.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Thank you I will try that 😊Doozergirl said:Use Chatgpt to help you if what you have isn't in the right order, or whatever. You can just upload what info you already have and get it to write it out for you.0 -
According to my reading of the situation that's just a standard letter they send to everyone. NB it says "we kindly ask you to provide the following information if not already supplied and where available".
From this I'd say (a) they haven't yet looked at what you initially submitted to see if they need anything more, and (b) they know they won't always get everything listed, anyway. I bet they know from past experience that the vast majority of customers fire things off to them pretty quickly and omit much of what is relevant - rather than spending several hours putting together a comprehensive pack of documents as you did (or at least, tried to do).
If you think you've already sent the things they mention, there's no need to send duplicates. There's definitely no need to use generative AI to muddy the waters and hallucinate some extra nonsense to confuse things. If you want to, you could just send them an email to the address given, stating that you've received their letter and that the information requested is already contained in the documents you initially submitted.
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Thank you I’ve used the AI app and simplified it and will send that over but to be honest I can’t see what else I can send but thanks for the advisecasper_gutman said:According to my reading of the situation that's just a standard letter they send to everyone. NB it says "we kindly ask you to provide the following information if not already supplied and where available".
From this I'd say (a) they haven't yet looked at what you initially submitted to see if they need anything more, and (b) they know they won't always get everything listed, anyway. I bet they know from past experience that the vast majority of customers fire things off to them pretty quickly and omit much of what is relevant - rather than spending several hours putting together a comprehensive pack of documents as you did (or at least, tried to do).
If you think you've already sent the things they mention, there's no need to send duplicates. There's definitely no need to use generative AI to muddy the waters and hallucinate some extra nonsense to confuse things. If you want to, you could just send them an email to the address given, stating that you've received their letter and that the information requested is already contained in the documents you initially submitted.0 -
afternoon all, just had the worse news the insurance company are not going to help, they states they do not defend claims made against me, even though I took the extra legal cover pout beginning of this year for this purpose
I cannot believe it so I am now defending the claim alone I have emailed the solicitor today with the following what do you think?
Email sent below using AI
I appreciate your attention to the matter concerning Mr XX recent request for payment related to the additional costs he claims have been incurred for the works to be completed.As you are aware, Mr. XX requested that a flue be fitted to our roof. However, due to concerns arising from past experiences with his workmanship, I sought the advice of two independent professionals—a roofer and a surveyor. The surveyor was appointed under the Party Wall Act 1996 to issue an impartial award, in line with the standard protocol followed in party wall disputes. Their advice has provided us with a clear understanding of the potential consequences of proceeding with Mr. XX proposed works.I would like to address the ongoing issues related to the Party Wall Act and Mr. XX compliance, or lack thereof, in relation to our previous engagements over the past two years. As you may know, I was advised to appoint a surveyor and follow the guidelines of the Party Wall Act 1996 to ensure that all actions were both lawful and fair.Unfortunately, despite adhering to the necessary legal steps, Mr. XX has consistently failed to comply with the award issued under the Party Wall Act. Given this context, I find it difficult to understand how any claim initiated by Mr. XX could withstand scrutiny in a court of law.Please be assured that any such claim will be vigorously contested, and we are fully prepared to present our case in court if necessary. Our commitment to following the legal process will undoubtedly strengthen our position.I look forward to your prompt response regarding this matter. Should you require any further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.Thank you for your attention to this pressing issue.Kind Regards0
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