House Insurance problem - dangerous building

Pennylane

Can I do anything to MAKE a neighbour repair a part of their house which is dangerous and could come crashing down on our cars or our family? It is immediately above our drive where we park & we cannot park elsewhere.

I have tried asking politely, I have returned large cobblestones (5-6" across) which have fallen out and lumps of cement-like stuff. They never get it repaired!:mad: I have taken photos too.

Hubby is away and has key to safe where all insurance docs are but I do know that last time we renewed our insurance, we paid extra for legal cover. I am hoping they are wrong about the weather forecast tonight!

Browntoa

you need to contact Building Control for your local council

Where necessary, the dangerous structure will be assessed in terms of risk and appropriate action taken to remove the danger.

If any action needs to be taken, every effort will be made to contact the owner first, so it would be helpful if, when reporting the dangerous structure, you can provide the exact location of the property and, if possible, the name of the owner.

If the property is in a dangerous condition, but is not considered to be an immediate danger, a formal Dangerous Structure Notice will be served, but reasonable time will be given to the owner to respond.

The council have powers under the Sections 77 & 78 of the Building Act 1984.

If the structure is considered immediately dangerous and the owner cannot be contacted straight away, the Building Control Surveyor will endeavour to make the situation safe or arrange for a builder to remove or repair the structure as soon as possible. The council's costs are recoverable from the owner of the property.

If the structure is considered to be potentially dangerous, the owner of the property will be contacted and requested to arrange for the structure to be removed or repaired. The area surrounding the structure may be fenced off, whilst the structure is being dealt with. If the council have to provide barriers the costs incurred will be recovered from the owner.

Pennylane

Thanks very much indeed Browntoa for such a helpful and rapid reply.

They live there permanently and they own the property, so there shouldn't be any problem contacting them!!;)

Pennylane

I have been looking up more about this and it reads to me as though this is for stuff on a much larger scale somehow. Also our council is pretty slow-moving at the best of times. :rolleyes:

Could I get my insurance people to contact them does anyone think? Because I will be VERY angry if I have to pay towards this (I'm thinking about excess say) through their laziness in getting this repair work done.

mattymoo

It is worth getting something down in writing to them to have a permanent record.
Normally, if something falls off your house in high winds and damages a neighbours property, you would not be negligent. However, if you know that the house is in poor repair but do nothing about it, you would be found to be negligent.

By writing to them and keeping a diary, you have some evidence to present to their insurers in the event of a claim, to help you prove negligence.