Advice on neighbours damage to driveway and garage - Insurance?

t0mbop

I own a detached house (No.7) with a detached garage situated at the rearbetween my property and my neighbour's property (No.9). Between my driveway and No.9's flank wall there is a narrow strip of stoned ground which sits on No.9's land. No.9's downpipe runs down their flank wall and terminates at ground level in this strip.

Over the past few years, significant and progressive damage has occurred tomy driveway and detached garage. A measured depression of 170mm has formed at its lowest point between the two properties, verified with a spirit level and tape measure. My concrete driveway strips have cracked, lifted and displaced, the garage wall and pillar adjacent to the boundary have moved structurally with the pillar leaning inward by approximately 50mm, and the garage door can no longer close correctly. I have had to fill various holes that have appeared on thestoned strip of No.9’s land with concrete on at least three occasions as the ground keeps collapsing, and due to there not being a hard boundary between my driveway and their land, it’s naturally where we step out of the car once parked. A builder has assessed that the driveway needs full replacement and the garage likely needs demolishing and rebuilding entirely.

No.9's guttering on their flank wall has been in a persistent state of disrepair for years, chronically overflowing during rainfall and discharging water down the wall onto the stoned strip between their wall and my driveway. I have photographic evidence going back to at least 2022 including wall staining showing chronic historic overflow, and video footage from this week confirming it is still happening. I have raised this with the neighbour multiple times and while they have had it temporarily repaired on occasion it keeps recurring. Currently it is spewing over again and we saw them the other day to which they said "Oh yeah we need to get that done!".

I have a fairly comprehensive evidence pack. Dated photographs from 2016 show the driveway intact and level compared to current photographs showing the fractured and sunken state. The downpipe receptacle at the base of the flank wall, which in 2016 was barely visible above ground level, is now entirely exposed above ground with the concrete bedding it was originally seated on also visible, demonstrating significant progressive ground loss at precisely the point where water has been discharging. I also have spirit level and tape measure photographs confirming the measurements, video footage of active overflow, and a builder's assessment of the works required.

Can I claim on my neighbour's buildings insurance third party liability section for this damage? I understand this is different to an insured perils claim. The basis would be private nuisance and negligent maintenance of their guttering causing damage to my property.

If I pursue this through any insurance route, whether my own or my neighbour's, is there any risk of my property being marked on the CUE database as a subsidence claim? This is my biggest concern. The damage is to a detached outbuilding and driveway and my main dwelling is entirely unaffected and structurally sound. This is water induced ground erosion, not subsidence in any geological sense, and I absolutely do not want a subsidence marker against my property.

What practical steps would you recommend? I have not yet spoken formally tomy neighbour about insurance as our relationship is good and I would prefer to handle it cooperatively. I have contacted structural engineers locally for a causation report.

One further detail I have been sitting on because I am genuinely unsure whether it helps or hinders my position.

The entire cul-de-sac of 10 properties were originally built in 1977. By1987 No.9 had subsided and was demolished and rebuilt from scratch. It had been constructed directly over an old fowl pest trench running roughly under the flank wall adjacent to my driveway, extending toward the road and rear properties, to a depth of approximately 4 to 5 metres. The NHBC bought the property back, sold the site, and the new owner demolished that 1 house, excavated the trench within the plot, backfilled with sand, and rebuilt on deepstrip foundations. This was overseen by a structural engineer and building control at the time, both of whom have since retired but both provided written accounts confirming the above, including specifically that the backfill material used was sand and that the flank wall sat directly above the line ofthe original trench. They also put in writing that No.7 (me) was not affected and the trench was quite specific.

So the wall the guttering overflows down sits above sand backfill from 1987. The water has been discharging onto that sand backfill for years.

I genuinely do not know whether this history strengthens my case by explaining why this specific location is so vulnerable to water erosion, or whether No.9's insurer would use it to argue the damage is attributable topre-existing ground conditions rather than the water. Interested in any viewson that specifically.

Thanks in advance for reading this far, any advice gratefully received. Some pictures for context:

QrizB

Can I claim on my neighbour's buildings insurance third party liability section for this damage?

No. Your neighbour is insured, not you.

You'd need to sue your neighbour for damages. Your neighbour would then pass your suit over to their insurer for the insurer to deal with.

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6668580/advice-on-neighbours-damage-to-driveway-and-garage-insurance

Are you sure this has nothing to do with your old thread a few years ago about next door neighbour's subsidence?

ThorOdinson

How much will it cost to fix?

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001428#Comment_82001428

Re reading the post again I see the OP has evidence of the guttering overflowing discharging from at least 2020 onto their land so would the insurance company say what did you do to mitigate the damage and also did you inform the neighbours of this problem?

Also do you have tell the insurance company past , present and future ones about the sunken driveway/ land when obtaining home insurance?

chrisw

Looks like there is some subsidence along the boundary between the two houses but I can't see that an overflowing gutter would cause that sort of damage, particularly to the garage and fence post which are away from the splash zone. Probably need to get a structural survey carried out but that may open another can of worms.

sheramber

I have had to fill various holes that have appeared on thestoned strip of No.9’s land with concrete on at least three occasions as the ground keeps collapsing, and due to there not being a hard boundary between my driveway and their land, it’s naturally where we step out of the car once parked.

Could you have contributed to the collapse by constantly treading on it?

Boohoo

What is the pipe coming out of their house under the dpc?

As for the overflowing gutter that maybe because the downpipe maybe blocked or the rainwater pipe under ground could be blocked or collapsed so causing a backup of water.