To think I should not be asked to pay for this mistake?

[Flossyfloof]

i own a little property which I rent out.
A few weeks ago I noticed that the perfectly good garden gate had been replaced with a new one asked my agent to find out what was going on.
It turns out that next-doors gate had come down and their contractor replaced my gate whilst they were at it. There were two matching gates into my property and although the new gate is fine it doesn't match. I had no plans to replace the gate and no contact was made with my tenant nor my agent.
After a few calls back and forth, the agent managing next-door is suggesting that the gate looks great and that as my neighbour has paid for the work ( which they admit has been done in error) I should make a financial contribution towards it as a goodwill gesture.
If I am not willing to do this they will get the gate removed and I will have to get my own gate put up.
I don't think I should be being asked to pay and since I don't want to pay I think they should arrange for my gate to be reinstated at no cost to me,
Aibu?

have you got legal cover on your home insurance....i had some really good advice from mine....re criminal damage ....i would be asking the agent for a 'goodwill gesture' from them for removing my gate!

If the fence is yours and the post was rotten they should have contacted you and sorted out an agreement. They can't just go ahead with work and then ask you to contribute. You are perfectly within your rights to ask for the gate to be reinstated at their.

HOWEVER if the post was indeed rotten and had to be replaced and this was only discovered on doing the work technically they should have contacted you BUT I could see how that is difficult - I would personally offer to pay for the post itself once my gate is reinstated. The rest is down to the contractor who did it wrong in the first place. (I mean really who were they using??)

This has really made me laugh
It doesn't even make any sense! Why why why? :o and crap agents to boot!

Tell them to get the gate put back up else you'll wrap it round their necks

YANBU. Have they got any proof the fence post was rotten (actual post, of pics of post)?

they had no right to remove your post whether it was rotten or not....they can put in their own new post but not on your property...just alongside...they are being cheeky asking you to pay when the should be reimbursing you....having issues with my own nnd at the moment so have read a lot on what they can and cant do re fencing

I think IF I was really confident that the post was rotten I might consider a goodwill gesture - IF I was asked nicely and an apology for the mistake/trespass onto your property had been forthcoming. In principle, clearly they are totally, utterly in the wrong, of course.

If I was in the mood, I'd go with this:

• call agent back, apologise for being unhelpful in previous call. Ask him his favourite and least favourite colours.
• tell agent that you noticed on a previous visit that his shirts were looking a little scruffy, so you've bought him a new (insert unappealing designer) shirt
• Tell him unfortunately it's in his least favourite colour
• Ask him his shirt size
• Tell him, sadly, it is two sizes too small, but he's probably trying to loose weight anyway, isn't he?
• Tell him that you are couriering it round, and will accept a £50 goodwill gesture....

deepdarkwood

The point is that even if OP's post was rotten it was not their place to replace it and try and charge for that. The correct procedure would be to approach the owner or agent and ask them to repair or replace so they could then replace their damaged gate.

It's a little like a neighbours fence blowing down in the wind and landing in your garden. You would not instruct a contractor to rebuild or replace the fence (with your own choice of panel) and then charge the neighbour for the work. You would approach the neighbour and ask the fence be repaired or replaced as it was laying in your garden and you would appreciate it being sorted ASAP.

Its sounds to me like they wanted matching gates anal and just paid for it not expecting you to complain.

Dont pay anything. You did not contract or agree to this work.
They owe you for the missing gate.

As you rent out the property I'd leave it as its going to cause a neighbour wars to take it any further.

I know it seems like overreacting but isn't what they've done technically criminal damage? They have taken down your gate and presumably got rid of it without your consent.
You paying anything could be seen as accepting their actions as reasonable.

The point is that even if OP's post was rotten it was not their place to replace it and try and charge for that.

Yes, but is it really worth creating neighbour wars over a gate post? I would just say that I will have my own matching gate rehung at my expense but will consider this balances out any payment for the post.

So they didn't even ask for a financial contribution until you'd noticed the new gate? How strange.

You absolutely shouldn't pay and you should demand that they refit your gate.

its not worth starting neighbour wars.....but the small things escalate into big things.....letting them get away with things like a gate post may turn into 'oh well we got away with that and she paid, what can we do next!.....i can vouch for that (having issues with my own neighbours which i have sucked up for years and now have had enough)

Why would it create a neighbour war? They have done something totally unreasonable, are now asking for a goodwill payment for it and the OP is saying no.

They can now either leave it and the OP can decide whether she wants to replace the new gate with the previous gate and charge them for the remedial work. Or if they are so sure they are correct they can try and recoup their costs legally.

"I would assume the cost of rehanging my gate was balanced by not having to pay to replace my rotten post".

That's a big part of the issue - there's no evidence that it was rotten, other than the incompetent agents' word, and they're clearly trying to get her to pay for their mistake, so aren't exactly reliable.

The post could have been fine, and the contractor could have been confused one job with another, or got the houses mixed up, realising afterwards (quite surprised they had two gates on them though?). The contractor could have accidentally damaged the post during the job, and claimed it was rotten to avoid responsibility. The post could have been rotten, but as they didn't stop to get consent for the job or even take photos of the rotten post, the OP doesn't know.

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter why it happened, she has no responsibility to pay for a job that wasn't discussed, quoted for or authorised, and owes them no goodwill for trespassing on her land and making alterations to her property without consent or even discussion. They're not even her agents!

Yes - isn't this arguably criminal damage and/or trespass?

there's no evidence that it was rotten

Equally, there is no evidence that it wasn't.

They can now either leave it and the OP can decide whether she wants to replace the new gate with the previous gate and charge them for the remedial work.

Er.. yes. And I have just offered my opinion about what I would do. As is customary. Its a gate and post, they've not knocked down and rebuilt the garage.

Your agent sounds okay OP! The neighbours' agent is being very cheeky. Do not pay for any work you didn't ask for. No proof has been offered that the post was rotten. You don't think it was. Your gate hadn't fallen down, had it?

What does the tenant say? If they knocked and said they were replacing the gate on behalf of the landlord then that proves they just got the wrong house.

Presumably you don't need to keep neighbourly relations with the neighbours, are they tenants?

It is trespass to land:

Trespass to land requires a degree of physical intrusion onto another's land. It can also involve pulling down or removing anything which is attached to the land such as doors and windows or fixing anything to the land such as fly-tipping. The slightest incursion over the rightful owner's boundary can be a trespass. [from a legal dictionary]

I'm not saying that you should throw the book at them, but certainly a calmly written letter to the other agents explaining that as the builder committed the tort (i.e. civil) offence of trespass to land to enter your property and remove something without permission, you will not be paying anything towards the expense, you want your original item back, if it's not available you want a like for like replacement, and they should count themselves lucky that you are not considering bringing a claim against them in court.

Obviously there's a cost involved in actually bringing the claim which probably isn't proportionate to the damage caused, so you might not want to do it. But keep all the emails and letters and make notes of the conversations.

You'll probably find that a well written letter, citing what court claim you are considering (even if you're not) and giving them 14 days to reply, will make them back down.

I did not ask for this work to be done.
I did not want this work to be done.
I did not give you permission to come onto my land.
I did not give you permission to damage my property.
I have no evidence that the fence post was rotten.
I do not like the work now it has been done - my gates now do not match.

Therefore I feel no goodwill at all towards you. Therefore I will not be paying any kind of "goodwill fee".

Please return my old gate to the post and repair the damage that you have done by the end of the month or I will be complaining to the owners of the house about you.

Soup - there is no evidence that you don't owe me £200 but I highly doubt that you will give it me if I ask!

SoupDragon I can only assume that if someone decided to randomly replace your front wall claiming it looked wonky and charged you for the privilege, you would rush round there with homemade cake and flowers? Honestly your replies are a little bonkers.

The OP should have been advised her gate post was rotten and allowed to view said post and correct it herself using her own contractor. You cannot just wander around ordering work to be done to other people's property, without their consent, and then expect that work to be paid for with no quibbling.

The paintwork on my neighbour's garage doors have been peeling for years and look a bloody mess. His guttering also needs replacing and could fly off and damage our property if we had a big enough storm. Shall I organise this work to be done and just pop the bill through his door?

If someone has mistakenly come onto your property and tampered with the fixtures, you don't need to do anything as a 'goodwill gesture' - what a cheek!

Tell them to reinstate the original gate or replace it with an exact match or you'll report them for criminal damage.

This thread is making me remember fondly a thread about eighteen months ago where someone had taken up residence in the shed of the OPs mother. She was trying to work out what to do about it as it was making her elderly Mother feel unsafe and obviously the person had no permission to be using the shed as a night shelter/home. It started with some reasonable responses and then snowballed into lots of mumsnetters nutters talking about going down there at night and offering blankets, hot soup and a choice of dinner. Thankfully someone sensible eventually intervened and the OP ended up contacting a homeless organisation who helped the individual move out of the shed. Sometimes this place is a bit mad though.

Does the agent want soup and and blankets now? as a gesture of goodwill? They're really ramping it up eh?