Neighbours illegal renovations went through the supporting wall....

[SW10Lond]

Ok, so while I was at a friend's house a few months the entire supporting wall in her apartment cracked and the builders for the neighbour next door could be seen through the cracks on the other side... This, apart from almost a year of noise that forced my friend and her young baby to stay somewhere else when it became unliveable. The neighbour had no building permit for the work.

The builder was rude but forced his way into her apartment to do a quick cosmetic repair job and said that was sufficient, and the owner came to give her some flowers and cheap bottle of wine. They think that should do it. I got offended at the audacity of these people and felt they took advantage of her (she has difficulty confronting people). I insisted for her to get a surveyor and quotes for a proper repair job and it ended being quite a price tag for a proper repair and reinforcement.

I've now offered to help my friend and demanded the neighbour to pay her for the estimated repairs. The neighbour insist to have her rouge builder do the repairs and refuses to even mention any money. instead, they sidestep my friend and communicate with the building management (whom they have convinced the damages were small and my friend is "difficult" which is not true). I told the neighbour it's not her decision but my friend has the right to chose her own (regular) builders for her property. I'm sure they will refuse to pay. I'm willing to engage a debt collector and involve the council to report the illegal renovations they did on their apartment if she does not pay my friend.

Do I have the right to engage a debt collector if they refuse to pay, without a court order?

Am I being unreasonable?

OP - THINGS TO DO ON MONDAY

1. Contact Council

1. Contact freeholder / management company of friend's building to get insurance company details.

1. Contact freeholder / management company neighbour's building to get insurance company details.

1. Contact friend's insurance company to advise and get advice.

1. As soon as insurance company details are received contact them.

1. Do not accept any excuses or nonsense from either freeholder.

All of the above and also she must ring the police if he tries to enter her flat again. If fact she could report the last time.

I'm confused by how this has panned out
I thought your friend's insurer, block or individual, would have visited her property first to assess what happened.

I think your friend should probably go back to square one but the difficulty may be in that she didn't stop the builder from the original "making good" - that could be seen as her agreeing to it. I know that I that stressful situation, that would be an easy mistake to make but I don't know if insurers will see it that way.

Even if she did allow the builder to make good that doesn't alter the fact ndn has broken planning and building regs so your friend must approach the council on Monday and arrange for a planning officer to visit. If ndn or builder try to enter her property she should call 999.

If this is in the UK then. www.labc.co.uk/our-services/find-nearest-local-council-building-control-department will let you find building control people at the council.

Technically, the Freeholder owns the middle of that wall which was damaged. If they did work to the structural bit of the wall below the plasterboard without permission from the freeholder they've breeched the terms of their leasehold.

As a PP said:

• I would:

1. Notify my building insurance provider
2. Notify freeholder
3. Get building control involved.

If you don't then your friend may have problems when she comes to sell.*

Regarding buildings insurance, it's my understanding that the management company have that in place, not the leaseholder, because it's the freeholder who actually owns the fabric of the building.

The leaseholder usually pays a proportion of the building insurance in with their service charges.

AIBU is not the place for calm, measured advice.

That said, some posters have managed just that. Persian's list of things to do on Monday makes the most sense so I'd go with that if I was you.

Regarding buildings insurance, it's my understanding that the management company have that in place, not the leaseholder, because it's the freeholder who actually owns the fabric of the building
I don't understand why you have posted this, nobody has said that the LH's buildings insurance, have they??

*Today 17:22 HaudYerWheeshtBawbag

When you say building management do you mean the leasehold company? she should have separate building insurance to the leasehold fee.

The management company will keep the property wind and water tight, and communal areas clean and tidy and decorated, however she would still need BI for structural insurance.

In fact I believe she needs this as if not her mortgage will be void.*

"the difficulty may be in that she didn't stop the builder from the original "making good" - that could be seen as her agreeing to it"

Good point. Make it clear to insurers, council and any other authorities, that the botched/temporary repair was done without your friend's understanding or agreement. That she should never have let the neighbour's 'builder' in to discuss the matter (far less botch a 'repair') but that she felt bullied, extremely anxious and under serious duress. She felt unable to stop him.

Perhaps she should put that in writing, along with a full step-by-step account of what happened (before, during and after the damage) and have it ready for the insurers, council, any other authorities, etc.

She should be prepared to give a copy to the neighbour and the neighbour's builder, but not to hand these copies over until she has received advice.

Can she afford a consultation with a solicitor? If not she can get legal advice from some branches of the CAB.

Today 17:22 HaudYerWheeshtBawbag
Sorry Apple Magic I totally missed that.

I am a fool.

Both Persian Cat Lady and Greenkit have made a sensible list of suggestions.

My sister has a terraced house in South London and has had problems with NDN's builders undertaking work which involved party walls, roof etc. She instructed a surveyor through her BI when a loft extension was being undertaken, which involved lowering the ceiling height of the next doors upper floor to add the height for the loft extension. No party wall agreement was in place and the building work was suspended until this formality was completed. Her understanding was that the builders were responsible for repairing any damage or for paying for it to be repaired by a builder of her choice.

Ultimately the NDN should be footing the bill. This is an extremely stressful situation for many people to deal with as it involves not only their home but the added stress of the legalities to correct this. Good luck to your friend, I hope it is solved.

What persiancar lady said. How awful for your friend op. Hope its sorted x

Cat not car lady 😸

It isn't your friends responsiblity, it is the freeholder's. They aren't her walls if you like. The freeholder will have covenanted in the lease to insure and maintain the fabric of the building.

And no you don't need extra buildings insurance, only contents.

bellabasset Sat 03-Jun-17 21:51:24

Both Persian Cat Lady and Greenkit have made a sensible list of suggestions.

I just copied and pasted Persian Cats ideas and tagged on the police bit

The building is insured by the freeholder (which may employ a management company to do the day to day work of running the freehold company/collecting monies etc)

So you need to tell your management company that you are making a claim on the building Insurance and can you have their details. Leave it to your freeholders Insurance company to sort out.

(by you i mean your friend)

As far as I know you CAN NOT get buildings insurance for your own flat, you get it for the entire block.

PersianCatLady I see Apple Magic answered your question. You're not a fool! You just missed/didn't digest a post. Easily done.

Motoko
Thanks.

My problem is that I am too quick to talk (or post).

My parents always used to tell me to think before rushing to speak!!