Noise complaint from neighbour who assaulted me

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aroominyork
aroominyork Posts: 2,827 Forumite
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edited 19 September 2019 at 6:44PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving
Last year our neighbour complained about the noise of rain falling from our guttering during heavy storms. We had the guttering attended to. This summer he again said there was a problem and we again had it repaired. I do not know how well the repair was done but during heavy storms (we live right on the coast) some rain does fall. In July he came round during a storm and assaulted me, leaving me with a broken ankle and other injuries. The police have investigated and the matter is now with the CPS to make a charging decision.

Today we received a letter from the council saying a local resident has complained that he is regularly disturbed by rainwater cascading from defective guttering. The council say they have made enquiries and are satisfied the guttering needs attention.

Where do we stand with this? Is the assault a factor they would take into account or would they consider these two completely separate issues? How far should guttering be able to stand up to severe coastal storms without any rain falling from it?
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  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 32,755 Forumite
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    The assault is a separate issue but my first question to the council would be what enquiries, and what led them to reach the conclusion that they have without speaking to you at all.
    What is the difference between your guttering and that of your various neighbours, who presumably don't have an issue?
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
  • aroominyork
    aroominyork Posts: 2,827 Forumite
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    elsien wrote: »
    The assault is a separate issue but my first question to the council would be what enquiries, and what led them to reach the conclusion that they have without speaking to you at all.
    He may have given them a DVD of a storm. He gave me one in June but I never watched it - I had seen the problem and got a guttering specialist round. So if I am right it was taken before the last repair. If he did get EH to look at our house, would they do so without informing or talking to us?
    elsien wrote: »
    What is the difference between your guttering and that of your various neighbours, who presumably don't have an issue?
    They are different builds but I don't know enough about guttering to answer that properly.
  • adonis
    adonis Posts: 1,072 Forumite
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    I am more concerned as to why the CPS are only considering a prosecution,
    unless you gave him a good hiding first,
    some storms can be really severe and the gutters cannot cope, if there is a problem with the gutter look for similar houses and gutters like yours in the area and ask the residents if they have had problems.
  • shaun_from_Africa
    shaun_from_Africa Posts: 12,858 Forumite
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    adonis wrote: »
    I am more concerned as to why the CPS are only considering a prosecution,

    The CPS will normally only start a prosecution if they consider that there is a realistic chance of getting a successful conviction so if in the OP's case there are no witnesses or little or no other evidence, they may well decide not to proceed further.
  • aroominyork
    aroominyork Posts: 2,827 Forumite
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    Adonis, by ‘considering’ I mean the case is with them but their workload means decisions are not made overnight. Anyway, thanks one and all for the guttering advice.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    Why are you not phoning or visiting the relevant dept of the council to ascertain exactly how they came to their conclusion, and also whether they're aware of the work you've already had done?


    That's the first thing I'd do.
  • Dan-Dan
    Dan-Dan Posts: 5,272 Forumite
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    Yes to the answer do councils come out without consulting homeowner, they come out when they are in the area or as and when it suits and make their report wether you are in or not if its something that can be investigated frpom the outside
    Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
  • aroominyork
    aroominyork Posts: 2,827 Forumite
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    Davesnave wrote: »
    Why are you not phoning or visiting the relevant dept of the council to ascertain exactly how they came to their conclusion, and also whether they're aware of the work you've already had done?


    That's the first thing I'd do.
    My wife did that this morning. Left a voicemail. I'll keep you posted.
  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
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    aroominyork wrote: »
    Today we received a letter from the council saying a local resident has complained that he is regularly disturbed by rainwater cascading from defective guttering. The council say they have made enquiries and are satisfied the guttering needs attention.
    Assaulting someone because of a leaking gutter suggests he is disturbed in many ways.

    Explain work has previously been done and mention the assault. It won't change their decision but they are likely to be more forgiving of you and less accommodating towards the neighbour.


    Good luck with the prosecution.
  • aroominyork
    aroominyork Posts: 2,827 Forumite
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    Well, to cut a long story short our neighbour kicked off again and is now being held on remand on a charge of racially aggravated criminal damage. The police have asked us to fill in a compensation form. I can cost the items I have already paid for (and will include the CCTV we very wisely installed after the assault last summer) and excesses I have paid on our household and motor policies, but do these processes take into account the higher insurance premiums we will probably have to pay in future and the impact on our no claims bonuses?
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