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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Next doors property has damaged our property. Next door wont pay for damage. Who is being unreasonable?

108 replies

LunchLadyWannabe · 15/02/2014 21:00

On thursday next when it was very windy, dh van alarm went off. It is on the drive. Dh goes out to the van and it has a tile on the bonnet, and a smashed window screen. There is also a tile on the garden of next doors house.

Two tiles has fallen off next doors roof.

Dh went next door and informed the lady (elderly lady) who was very apologetic and said she would contact her landlady ( a family friend of hers) straightaway.

Dh left his details with the lady next door.

Landlady rang about half hour later and said to dh that she would contact her insurance first thing in the morning.

Next morning, a roofer arrived and confirmed that the tiles were from next door and had come off due to poor maintenance of the roof.

Landlady contacts dh to tell him that her insurance wont pay out as "its an act of god" and basically said its just unfortunate.

The window screen has been replaced at a cost of £250. We have had to pay for this.

Dh contacts the roofer to ask him to put in writing what he told dh so dh could take it further. The roofer refused and said he didnt want to get involved, and told dh that he had been paid "as a foreigner" for the job and basically hadnt been paid enough to deal with this.

The landlady next door has asked dh not to contact her further regarding this. She doesnt care that we are out of pocket, its just one of those things!

Are we being unreasonable to expect the landlady to pay for the damage or at least pay half?

I feel really angry about this.

OP posts:
Morgause · 16/02/2014 08:16

Even perfectly maintained roofs have shed tiles in the recent storms. You only have the roofer's verbal word that it was poor maintenance and he isn't prepared to back that up so it could well not be true.

She did the right thing by getting insurance but they won't pay out as it's an Act of God. The next step is to claim on your own insurance. It isn't the LL's fault you have a large excess.

notagreathostess · 16/02/2014 08:27

Had a similar experience a few years ago. Unfortunatly there was £1000 damage to the bodywork of our nearly new car. Needed to claim through our own insurance. As others say that's what it's there for (in theory).

Whilst I was sympathetic that the neighbour was not responsible for the storm what really pissed me off was that for the next 5 years when reinsuring my car it was classed as an "at fault" claim. Never knew I was responsible for "acts of God" until then. Premiums up for 5 years but couldn't afford to cover the damage at the time without claiming. Saved all of my ire then and now for the insurance industry.

Original poster
LunchLadyWannabe · 16/02/2014 08:32

I understand most of you saying thats what insurance is for, but when you claim on insurance, you always suffer for it in the end by having a claim on your file for a few years and having to pay high premiums for a few years therefore no better off claiming

Sad
OP posts:
notagreathostess · 16/02/2014 08:37

I know - it's crap isn't it? Sorry for you OP - as I said above, been there, done that and paid the price.

Dinnaeknowshitfromclay · 16/02/2014 08:37

Don't get hung up on the roofer problem doing it as a hobble. If the roof has not been maintained than that will be evident if your insurer sent out a professional to examine it (providing the LL doesn't have the roof dealt with in the meantime which seems unlikely)
I am pretty sure your insurance company would deal directly with the LLs insurance company for this even if they had to write to her at your neighbours address. It may take a while but they are obliged to do this surely? I agree with you OP, I don't see why you should have to lose a no claims bonus or go to hardly any effort over this.

MidniteScribbler · 16/02/2014 08:44

Will insurance companies across the land tell everyone who has suffered flood damage that the floods were an Act of God so they are not covered?

Your own insurance should include cover for damage to your own property caused by natural disasters. So if the storm knocks the neighbours tree in to your property, you would claim under your own home insurance to cover the damage to your property. Property owners need to speak to their insurance company to determine exactly what level of cover they have over their property.

wowfudge · 16/02/2014 08:45

OP - let it go now. You got £100 towards the windscreen from your insurers. Rather than drag this out and expend energy on negativity, chalk it down to experience and move on.

VivaLeBeaver · 16/02/2014 08:47

We had tiles come off our roof before in fairly high winds. Insurance wouldn't pay as they said it was part and parcel of property maintenance.

If I was the landlady I'd claim on my insurance if I could but if they wouldn't pay I'd expect you to use your insurance. Sorry, I know its shit and your premiums will go up, etc. maybe I'd pay your excess.

DarlingGrace · 16/02/2014 08:51

Our tiles came off and damaged next doors rendering and broke the waste pipe from their bath.

My insurance company have called it an 'act of God' and said it is for the neighbours to claim on their own insurance. It is nothing to do with us.

We have replaced the waste pipe and our roofer will touch up their rendering. We do the morally correct thing, as our neighbours would.

However, that is what insurance is for. You insure your property - you don't expect someone else to cover your damage/loss.

whois · 16/02/2014 08:56

Similar thing happened to my parents last year - but of next doors house blew off and damaged my parents car.

Unfortunately that's that car insurance is for, neighbours wouldn't pay. Not a lot you can do to make them.

goldenlula · 16/02/2014 08:56

A neighbour's fence blew out onto my car, causing damage down the side of it. The neighbour was in the procel of replacing the fence and had slotted the panel into the newly erected posts and it didn't fit properly. His insurance said it was an act of good, so I was left to pay the excess on my insurance. I did feel he could have offered to contribute but there was nothing I could do. So yanbu to want them to, but I am afraid you will just have to get on with it.

GlaikitFizzog · 16/02/2014 09:07

You might find your premiums doesn't skyrocket. We had an incident last year where our car slid out of our parking place overnight and bumped next doors car. We went through the insurance, ndn car had a bash in it ours was fine. dH only lost 2 years of his 5 years NCB and our premium wasn't that much different to the year before.

We buy insurance to protect ourselves from the expense of accidents, not for the joy of finding the lowest price.

If you give all your details and the details of next door to the insurers they can find out who she is insured with (if she is renting she must have L insurance at least) and if they see fit follow up with them to reclaim. This will include the excess you have had to pay out.

However, this was weather related, I think you are being a little unreasonable to go round demanding she pay for the damage. That would get my back up personally.

TeacupDrama · 16/02/2014 09:09

an "act of god" does not mean they do not pay up but that it is no-ones fault, unless you can proof lack of maintenance either caused situation or made it worse a neighbours tree falling on your house or car is not their fault there was nothing they could do to prevent it, however if a tree was dead or dying and they had been told it was dangerous then if it falls and causes damage it is negligence not an act of God

if a neighbour is negligent they have to pay; if it was "act of god" you have to claim on your own insurance, nearly everyone with storm and flood damage will have to claim on own insurance as I doubt many of the falling trees, tiles, slates, masonry will be due to negligence rather than the storms probably less than 1%

the fact that roofer said their roof was not maintained could have just been an aside not provable and maybe not even true

PenelopePipPop · 16/02/2014 09:12

Have you checked the terms of your insurance? Windscreen claims should not affect your no claims bonus. The whole point of a no claims bonus is to try and reward careful driving, but windscreen damage doesn't correlate to careless driving - a pebble flies off a poorly surfaced road when you are driving within the speed limit, catches it in the wrong place and you'll still get a crack.

So worrying about your NCB may be pointless.

If so you are down £150 excess which is lousy, but as everyone on this thread is paying, a small price in the context of these storms.

winklewoman · 16/02/2014 09:13

Teacup, thank you for explaining the insurance position so clearly.

HarrietVaneAgain · 16/02/2014 09:18

How do you maintain a roof anyway? Sorry if that's a stupid question but if there are no obvious defects you just leave it to its own devices right? Not sure what maintainable the Landlady was supposed to do if there had not been previous problems. Agree she sounds like a tool tho.

financialwizard · 16/02/2014 09:25

This has happened to my Mum this week, only the tile hit the bonnet and the bumper and it is over £1k's worth of repairs. She saw their next door neighbour who initially said get it in the garage and we'll talk about getting it paid for and now they are refusing to talk to her. So who knows which way that will go.

Mum had it happen before when she lived in a different part of the country and it was garage door that blew across and ripped a great big hole in the side of her motor caravan. The insurers of the neighbour paid that one out so I think she might be under the misapprehension that it will happen again.

TeacupDrama · 16/02/2014 09:46

maintaining a roof

  1. checking ( binoculars help) that all tiles are in place and that all ridge tiles are there, if one has slipped down it needs fixing, this should be done after a storm as some tiles mayhave moved even if not off roof

if they have moved and you do not fix them if they blow off in next storm it will be negligence not an act of god

  1. check for cracked tiles/slates same reason as above

3, if you have a leak check roof again

  1. make sure your gutters are not blocked as overflowing water could seep into house as well as drip down outside wall

5, if you have a flat roof with felt you need to check the joins are still sealed and not flapping, if lead there are no perforations

Davidhasselhoffstoecheese · 16/02/2014 10:07

Small claims court? Did you take photos? Have you got a receipt? ?

Original poster
LunchLadyWannabe · 16/02/2014 10:11

There is a photo of her roof which the roofer sent to dh.

There is a photo with the tile on dhs bonnet and the smashed window screen.

OP posts:
Original poster
LunchLadyWannabe · 16/02/2014 10:11

Yes got a receipt for the repair

OP posts:
tiggytape · 16/02/2014 10:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mercibucket · 16/02/2014 15:21

and this is why aibu is not a useful forum for those seeking legal advice

are you really still considering small claims court?

Original poster
LunchLadyWannabe · 16/02/2014 16:01

No not considering the hassle of going to court.

Im annoyed about it, but theres nothing i can do.

i could drop a brick on her window screen and see how she likes it

Thats a joke btw!

OP posts:
Joysmum · 16/02/2014 16:10

There is something you can do without going to small claims court as I said in my previous post. It worked for me.