Strange solicitor's letter

[whymewhynow]

I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this.

I had a dispute with our next door neighbour: our fence fell onto their garden, there was no damage, we had the fence repaired within about three weeks of this happening but they said that was not fast enough, that they should have been able to choose the contractor etc etc. We just told them that we were paying and so it was our choice who did the work, got on with it, fence is now up, looks nice.

We have now received a solicitor's letter saying that we must compensate them to the tune of £2000 for the stress that having the fence fall down caused them and give them another £400 towards their legal costs otherwise they will take us to court. I can't really see what their claim is for apart from some mild inconvenience but surely you can't get a lawyer to send a completely bogus letter like this one.

I've checked and the legal firm seems to be legitimate but the solicitor who has written on my neighbours' behalf has, on both the company's website and his own email sign-off, nothing to do with property law, his specialism is a different branch of law completely. Is it OTT to wonder if the solicitor is a relative/family friend who is writing this quite threatening letter as a favour.

I'm very tempted to write back: "See ya in court" but not sure that is entirely sensible.

I’d be so tempted to literally laugh at them next time I saw them. If they ask why laughing. Say that letter mate hilarious

Family member had one of these years ago demanding she change her surname following divorce. Absolute bullshit.
100% ignore.
They'll go away.

You can check if the solicitor is real on

www.sra.org.uk/consumers/register/

I’d do this but send the reply not just to that solicitor but also to any practice partners saying such stupid correspondence puts their entire practice in a poor light and does nothing for their reputation. If he is going rogue for a friend let his boss know!

@Pumpkinpatchlookinggood its you!

Great advice and this is what I would do. If it ever ends up in court the judge will throw it out anyway.

I would do this. Rack up the costs.

Stupid stupid neighbours

My parents neighbour took them to court over a fence panel that hit their car in high winds. They felt my parents should pay for car repairs. Because it was classed as an”act of god” the neighbours had to go through car insurance and my parents kindly offered to pay the excess (because they were comfortable and neighbours were young with small children) but they wanted them to cover the full amount. Anyway, it went to court and the list of car repairs included dents on all sides of the car plus a new stereo! Judge did not take neighbour’s side.
I would ignore!

It’s easy to say ignore, but not so easy in practice. Receiving a solicitor’s letter like that is highly unpleasant and the more innocent and less accustomed to being sued you are the more you will feel upset by it.

Did your falling fence damage any of their property? (Or were there any other consequences to your fence falling?) How did it fall? Was it reasonably well secured or had there been previous interactions between you regarding your fence or any other potential hazards on your property?

Did you take any photos of the fence, before and after the fall? Did they specifically mention why they think they are owed money, eg due to damage to something specific? Does your new fence comply with planning regulations? Did the workmen damage anything or cause unreasonable interference?

Can you provide reasonable back-up to all or some of the above? It’s true the onus of proof is on them, not you, but it’s good to have proof of your side anyway in case they falsify or exaggerate.

Do you have insurance covering damage to neighbouring property? If so, your neighbours might take this as a green light to try it on. Inform your insurance company that you believe a false claim may be imminent and you oppose it.

If you have done nothing wrong, remain calm and firm and don’t let any legal people think you’re an easy target. This behaviour is so unpleasant and they’ve almost certainly got form for being litigious. Keep your cool. Good luck!

If it was damage surely it would have been mentioned in the letter, including damage incurred. Rathe then stress and legal fees.

@whymewhynow have you had trouble with these neighbours before? I’d certainly write down the timeline of events and keep before and after photos (bit late for ‘before’ if you didn’t happen to have any, of course) if possible. They sound barmy!

Stress for having a fence fall over? What happened next? Did your pack of 30 Rott/doberman cross dogs set up camp on their lawn and glare at them every time they looked out the windows?

I suspect any judge would laugh this out of court.

It's your fence. No damage. You didn't even need to replace it so they can go stuff themselves.

As PP said, solicitors will write whatever the client asks them to write, within reason. I'd just ignore it completely, they're never going to pursue this.

Jesus - you neighbours sound bonkers! 😂😂😂
please don’t get too worried about this - you are in the right and they would be laughed out of court by a judge ( although very very unlikely it would ever get that far)
don’t engage with them at all - they are clearly nuts!

What a load of rubbish - how can they quantify the 2k? Have they had to have therapy? Or do they just think 2k is a nice sum and should see them right for a holiday or getting their house decorated. Damages for stress are only recoverable in limited circumstances and no way have they suffered stress from this - there was no threat of imminent danger to them - they just had a fence lying down for a few weeks - wtf!

Oh - I had no idea that my question would get so many responses . Thank you everyone.

To be clear, I know that they're trying it on and, as stressful as it was to receive this letter full of legalese (it's really long), I don't think for an instant it will go to court. We've had an ok relationship with these neighbours - they're a bit prickly but we just try to be friendly but distant. Part of the damages is loss of privacy while the fence was down. There was no damage done, they have very ugly pavers, no plants or furniture in their garden.

My question was really more about being charged money for a letter which I strongly suspect is written by someone that they know as he's in a division that does not have anything to do with property law and, I remembered later, based in the same town that one of them comes from. Is it ethical to ask for money for an expense that you (probably) haven't incurred?

So you replaced and paid for a fence that belonged to you and they want paying?
I'd write back to the solicitor just for the sake of it, everytime he writes on their behalf he's billing them isn't he?
Just write back asking for clarification then write back to their reply asking what there alternative would have been. Keep it going for as long as you can.
Meanwhile get some legal advice of your own or ask in the legal part of MN just to make sure they can't really take you to court or anything.
They'll have a nice hefty bill by the end of it all
MWA HA HA HA HA!

I would countersue for half the fence. Fuckers.

If he is a friend or relative of the neighbours he's probably not charging them for the letters.
I'd ignore.

There is no law that states you must have a fence, they could have put up their own fence or screen if they wanted privacy.

What CF nutters!

They remind me of the thread from some time back where the OP's mad neighbours wanted the large piece of land to the side of the property that she'd been bequeathed (iirc) by the lady who had lived there. I think they'd been hoping to con her into selling it to them dirt cheap but she had died before they'd managed to get their claws in. They sent OP several laughable letters written in cod Latin and had clearly not even bothered to engage a (dodgy) real solicitor!

They must be extremely stupid if they think they can pluck a large amount of money that they would like (wouldn't we all) out of the air and think that OP will just pay it. Maybe it does make sense in their minds (in which case, a psychiatric report may be in order), but they just sound like chancing CF narcs to me.

Is it ethical to ask for money for an expense that you (probably) haven't incurred?

no, not at all. They’re cheeky fuckers who are trying it on.

I might just write back acknowledging receipt of the letter but nothing else. Or ignore it.