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?

This is a horrible thing to do. I'm sorry OP.

@NameChange2PostThis
Thank you for sharing your experience. Can you explain in more detail why you decided to cough up thr whole cost of the works and not pursue your neighbours? Have your relations been soured anyway and have you ever regretted your de?

@CakeRequired it was a probate sale. I know for sure that there were several peopel who wanted it at asking price and I was lucky that the sellers decided not to enter into a budding war.

Without knowing why they aren't replying to your emails it's impossible to know what you should do next.

They might be deliberately ignoring you or there may be another reason for no contact.

I don't know how you can find out which it is but at least when you move in you'll be able to catch them in person easily

Lucky? You got a house with structural issues and potentially shitty neighbours. That does not sound lucky.

I hope they aren't shitty neighbours, but they've already left you with 1.3k of fixes that you've done on their house and they don't give a shit. And if you go to court, I'd imagine they'll become nightmare neighbours.

It just sounds like a shit deal for you, and I bet the house was not cheap. A lot of money for potentially hell for a few years.

Neighbours could t claim it on insurance if they agreed one week and work happened the next - insurance companies have to come and assess works themselves before accepting any claim, and then they decide who should repair it, not you. They generally have a clause that the claim is nul if your go ahead with works prior to their agreement or get anyone other than their approved work people to do it. Just FYI. I wouldn't sue them myself. I've lived with a neighbour conflict and it was utterly hellish.

There's so many people not rtft. I agree with a few on here. £1300 is a lot of money to some (my monthly wage!) the op has fixed a joint wall and the neighbours agreed the price before work went ahead! They are v CF

£1,130 isn't exactly a fortune, I wouldn't go to court over it. There are other ways you can not let them get away with it...

I would sue them if you have an email agreeing to the payment. Send them a letter before action and if nothing, do a small claim. It won't cost you much and expenses are limited. They'll probably pay up as soon as they get the claim through from the court.

My two neighbours said they would go thirds with me after neighbour one decided something needed to be done about something. They haven't paid. They are the only ones to benefit from the work being done. It is rather frustrating. We are now pressing ahead with what we want to do. We don't want their money. Just don't offer to contribute if you didn't mean it.

@CoronaIsWatching

£1,130 isn't exactly a fortune, I wouldn't go to court over it. There are other ways you can not let them get away with it...

Surely the words “to me” are missing before your comma

Are you really so out of touch with reality that you think that's a universal truth?

@Happyheartlovelife

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

No. When she bought the house she knowingly took on the risk of the wall falling down if it wasn't fixed. That risk existed for the neighbour and the previous owners too though it would seem they were not aware of it until the OP's shared the results of the survey.

She took on the cost of fixing the wall when she contracted with the builder (or whoever). And she only did that after getting a quote, sharing it with the neighbour and the neighbour agreeing to pay 50%. At that point both the neighbour and the OP were in the same position - owners of property with an unsafe shared wall. And both agreed to pay half the cost of fixing the wall.

A letter from your solicitor will cost you c.£200.

I would knock the door and speak to them - it's harder to ignore someone standing in front of you

@Genevieva that's a lot more than a small claims court claim. Solicitor letter is not a viable option then.

@Genevieva

A letter from your solicitor will cost you c.£200.

I used to work in a solicitor, our letter before actions only cost a tenner

OP, you have done nothing wrong, but your new neighbour has behaved appallingly.

I'd escalate: a letter before action, maybe. They agreed to the work and now they're ignoring you! Shits.

Why should you fork out yet have them benefit for free? Ridiculous.

I hope you can resolve it.

@CoronaIsWatching

It's very easy to write a letter before action

Google templates.

@RedBricksandMortar unless you drew up a contract and they agreed to it then I think you ned to cut your losses and not expend any more emotional energy or money on it. I promise is not a contractual agreement. You need proper proof of offer and acceptance and, because this is a neighbourly issue, of giving them the opportunity to research it, get alternative quotes, check whether their insurance would cover it and so on. People say all sorts of things they don't really mean or have only half thought about. These are not legally binding and cannot be successfully resolved in a court. Honestly, I think you will probably lose, ruin any vestiges of hope for a friendly neighbourly relationship and make a fool of yourself in the process. In the context of all the costs of buying a house - surveyor fees, legal fees, stamp duty (if relevant though for most houses that isn't at the moment), removal costs etc - I think you just need to look at it as part of the cost of buying the house. Presumably your mortgage provider required you to deal with it asap. You have complied and now you have the certainty of knowing that it won't be a problem. Enjoy your lovely new house, put your energy into making it feel like yours and forget about this. In the unlikely event that they surprise you by saying 'so sorry - we have been caught up with a family emergency but here is your money' then look at it as an unexpected bonus. Life is too short to get twisted up with resentment.

@CoronaIsWatching they must have treated it as a loss leader then. No solicitor's firm I have come across would only charge a £10. It takes time and they have staff to pay and premises to run like any other business.

Honestly you want to live there for 20 plus years next to these neighbours. It’s already on a bad footing. Chasing and chasing for work they didn’t know about until you popped up anyway is just going to enrage the situation. Yes they agreed but you have to live next to them, their children? Or visiting adult children you don’t know these people yet and want to ok get what you where promised but you have no idea what kind of can of worms of nightmare neighbours you might be opening.

Of course you should pursue this, why should they benefit from the works without paying for them.

They agreed. I’d go for it.

Just to get the full picture, have you had other work done? You completed in August and are moving in in November? What else have you had done to your new property? If you have spent gazillions on it, then quite possibly your new neighbours are hoping it will get sucked up in the overall cost. However, as has been said upthread, you have saved by not having to employ a specialist surveyor to draw up a PWA and supervise, you have the house you wanted, which was cheaper than getting into competition with other buyers if the seller decided to put it to sealed bids... So for the sake of £1,300, I would mention it when I moved in and see what their response is, but other than that forget it and mark their card with regard to future favours.

When you move in, speak to them face to face.