Should I sue my neighbour?

[RedBricksandMortar]

I'm due to move in a semi detached house next month. There was structural work needed on the party wall which was flagged up during the survey. I approached the neighbours and had their permission to carry out the repairs. They also signed the Party Wall Act. They offered to pay half of of the costs but haven't paid me a penny. I've chased them three times but they refuse to respond to calls and emails. I'm thinking of suing them in the small claim court for £1,130 which is what they promised to pay. I'm considering suing out of frustration and not wanting them to get away with it.

Would I be crazy to sue my neighbour before I've even moved in?

I brought a house. I paid to have work done. Because it came up BEFORE I brought it. Now my neighbours won't pay. I'm going to sue them!!

That's leaving out significant and relevant detail. That the OP new the repairs would be needed before she bought the house is neither here nor there. It's still a shared expense that the neighbour agreed to.

A more accurate summary is:
"I have a house that needed repairs to a shared wall. I discussed the repairs and got a quote which I shared with the other party. We agreed to go ahead with this quote, splitting the cost 50/50. I have had the work done but the other part is now refusing to reimburse their half and is ghosting me when I try to contact them. Should I take them to small claims court?"

@Floralnomad

You would be bonkers , that said I can’t understand why you have paid for work that came up in a survey surely you normally get the vendors to sort it out before you proceed .

I thought this too.

I wonder if the neighbours have moved away. Very strange to not answer the door, letters, phone calls or emails.

Can you send them a letter from you with a copy of the invoice and a polite request to send you a cheque. Send it so they have to sign for the letter and then you get a notice back saying they signed for it. The next week, do the same thing but say that you will be contacting a solicitor, the next week get your solicitor to send a polite letter, the following week send a solicitors letter saying you will take them to small claims court. Slow and steady escalation with evidence at each step that you have tried.

@BoomBoomsCousin

I brought a house. I paid to have work done. Because it came up BEFORE I brought it. Now my neighbours won't pay. I'm going to sue them!!

That's leaving out significant and relevant detail. That the OP new the repairs would be needed before she bought the house is neither here nor there. It's still a shared expense that the neighbour agreed to.

A more accurate summary is:
"I have a house that needed repairs to a shared wall. I discussed the repairs and got a quote which I shared with the other party. We agreed to go ahead with this quote, splitting the cost 50/50. I have had the work done but the other part is now refusing to reimburse their half and is ghosting me when I try to contact them. Should I take them to small claims court?"

Not really

Because she didn't have the house. It wasn't an expense that she NEEDED to take on

She could of brought w different house.

The direct gov website have a guide on taking someone to small claims court. It is designed for the lay person and is easier than you think but bear in mind if you do sell the house you will likely have to declare it to a new buyer (unless the neighbors move first) at present no dispute exists.

@happylittlechick since when has losing a loved one prevented people paying their bills?

I would leave it and take the hit personally. You will regret it if you want to sell your house later on.

I'd wait until you've moved in and go round with some chocolates or similar and actually say something about the unpaid share of the cost and watch their expressions. You can apologise for the noise of the works or something. Embarrass them.

@Happyheartlovelife

She bought a house with an unsafe wall, but she took the expense on to fix it after buying the house and getting agreement from the neighbour to split the cost. She wasn't in any different a situation than the previous owners of her house were had they decided to fix the wall. Whether she bought the house or not, there was an unsafe wall. Whether it was her or the previous owner that pushed to fix the wall, if the neighbour agrees to halves on the shared expense then they are still liable for it. The relative length of time the OP owned the house for is not relevant to the neighbour's liability.

@BoomsBoomsCousin you clearly don't have any experience of the Party Wall Act or of the Small Claims Courts. I have personal (not professional) experience of both and, while I succeeded in getting what I needed from both, I knew exactly where I stood. The former was to prevent a neighbour building on our wall and putting the guttering for their new building in our garden. The latter was a builder given precise details in writing about a restoration job to a listed building, whose quote contained a precise list of the materials that needed to be used (like for like was a listed building consent requirement) but then used cheap materials.

Party Walls include jointly own walls and singularly owned but jointly used walls. In the latter case the non-owner of the wall has an easement to use the wall for a particular purpose. It isn't entirely clear what the situation is here - whether it is a garden wall or a house wall, whether it is jointly owned or not... Party wall work normally involves a requirement to engage a specialist surveyor and requires you to give the neighbour the opportunity to engage a separate, independent specialist surveyor at your expense. The cost of the surveyors alone can easily exceed £1,300. We were lucky that we were not paying the surveyors' invoices because it wasn't us who wanted to build on the wall. If I was in the OP's shoes I would think I had got off lightly by having a neighbour who let me go ahead and get the work done without all that hassle and expense.

If the other neighbours know them well, you will have fallen out with both before you even move in.

Move in, then you will see when they are actually home, invite them over for a housewarming glass of wine, and then a few days later, put a note though the letterbox when you know they are in.

Have you sent them a letter recorded or registered post that they have to sign for so you know for sure they are getting and reading the things you send them?

Well they might be utter fuck badgers or they could be ignoring you because of a death, they've got Covid/lost job/redundancy looming

You just don't know - I wouldn't let it go either. I would get your solicitor to write a firm letter saying monies need to be received by X date or they will be pursued in the small claims court.

[quote Genevieva]@BoomsBoomsCousin you clearly don't have any experience of the Party Wall Act or of the Small Claims Courts. I have personal (not professional) experience of both and, while I succeeded in getting what I needed from both, I knew exactly where I stood. The former was to prevent a neighbour building on our wall and putting the guttering for their new building in our garden. The latter was a builder given precise details in writing about a restoration job to a listed building, whose quote contained a precise list of the materials that needed to be used (like for like was a listed building consent requirement) but then used cheap materials.

Party Walls include jointly own walls and singularly owned but jointly used walls. In the latter case the non-owner of the wall has an easement to use the wall for a particular purpose. It isn't entirely clear what the situation is here - whether it is a garden wall or a house wall, whether it is jointly owned or not... Party wall work normally involves a requirement to engage a specialist surveyor and requires you to give the neighbour the opportunity to engage a separate, independent specialist surveyor at your expense. The cost of the surveyors alone can easily exceed £1,300. We were lucky that we were not paying the surveyors' invoices because it wasn't us who wanted to build on the wall. If I was in the OP's shoes I would think I had got off lightly by having a neighbour who let me go ahead and get the work done without all that hassle and expense.[/quote]
Thank you!

I was just about to say about the party wall act

Are you absolutely sure you've received your emails?

Try putting a letter through their door.

Or just asking them face to face, politely?

"Just wanted to make sure you received the emails about the building work bill, as we haven't heard back from you. We'd appreciate it if you'd settle your share soon..."

Send them a registered letter saying they are leaving you no choice but to consider going to small claims to recoup the money unless they respond with a payment schedule.

[quote BoomBoomsCousin]@Happyheartlovelife

She bought a house with an unsafe wall, but she took the expense on to fix it after buying the house and getting agreement from the neighbour to split the cost. She wasn't in any different a situation than the previous owners of her house were had they decided to fix the wall. Whether she bought the house or not, there was an unsafe wall. Whether it was her or the previous owner that pushed to fix the wall, if the neighbour agrees to halves on the shared expense then they are still liable for it. The relative length of time the OP owned the house for is not relevant to the neighbour's liability.[/quote]
But she brought the house KNOWING the work needed to be done

She CHOSE to continue with the house sale. She didn't need to CHOSE to do so.

She didn't already own the house THEN take on the cost. She knew the wall needed doing before anything had even been brought

She could of left it so that either the neighbour had to pay the lot. Or someone else did. She chose to carry on with the sale knowing the wall needed doing

That's the Big difference.

You need to talk to them. Not emails, not letters, not notifications of small claims action. You can't decide how best to proceed unless you know what the problem is. You could wait until you move in next month or you could doorstep them now. No chocolates but no threats either. Calm, polite, friendly, businesslike. Have a conversation, then make a decision.

This would get right up my nose - cheeky bastards! I would be knocking on their front door for a conversation regardless of fears of claims of harassment. Its reasonable if they won't return emails or calls especially as you have it all in writing. I would also say bollocks to neighbourly relationships and take the tight bastards to court. But hey thats just me.

[quote RedBricksandMortar]@Alez isn't a solicitor letter just as confrontational as a small claims court claim? [/quote]
No I don't think so. If you don't say you're taking them to court it's just moving onto a more professional footing and makes it harder to ignore.

[quote MinnieMountain]@happylittlechick since when has losing a loved one prevented people paying their bills?[/quote]
It could explain why they aren't answering their door. Or they could have a funeral to pay for and no longer have the money to pay for the work done.

We had this issue. There is nothing you can do. An email is not a contract. They changed their mind - they are allowed to. Our neighbours thought we should just ignore the damage and hope our insurance companies would somehow help when the shared house wall collapsed. We decided this was ludicrous and paid for it ourselves. I suggest you do the same and move on with your life. Suing your neighbour is a zero sum game.

Does your solicitor agree that the email was an agreement to pay half? If so, I would definitely send them a letter from solicitor as a first shot

It was a very sought after location and the house had multiple offers. I was only able to buy it as chaim free and one of the first to view it. I had no leverage to negotiate with the seller, they would have just put it back on the market.
That misses the point anyway. They have over £1,000 of structural repairs to their property for free. How is that fair? I've also suggested that they can pay me.in instalments or claim on their building insurance but it's all falling on dear ears.

I think you've been had by the sellers. They probably tried to get it repaired before and get the money from their neighbours first and got nothing. Decided to say sod it and sell it on to the first person who agrees. You've no idea if there actually were other offers, there might have been, but estate agents do lie.

Go to court if you want, but if they are already shit neighbours, do you really want to chance that? To be honest I think you'll be back here in a few weeks/months with more stories about this lot. Good luck with them.