Right, so we’ve been naive. We share a garden wall with our neighbour, joint ownership on the deeds. It was in a dangerous state of repair, made all the more apparent after both of us stripped ivy from our own sides of the wall. When two large coping stones fell off and almost hit her whilst she was removing ivy, both parties agreed that the wall needed to be rebuilt.
My DH and I got three quotes and went for the lowest priced option which was £7k. Both of us agreed to split the cost but the builder only wanted to issue one invoice and so we agreed to pay the full amount and our neighbour would reimburse us directly- this is where we were clearly naive - and requested our bank details. The work was completed to a high standard and she was happy with this, however she had four pillars which had been erected as a precautionary measure by a previous owner and before she was prepared to to pay for the work on the wall, she wanted us to agree to pay half for the removal of the pillars. As we enjoyed a harmonious relationship with our neighbour we were prepared to do this if the cost was reasonable and asked them to get a quote. This is when everything went pear-shaped.
The neighbour’s son got involved and the neighbour is now refusing to pay anything, claiming that his solicitor said that as there was no Party Wall Agreement, they were not liable for any costs. The son is also denying that the parent ever had any of these conversations with us or agreed to anything, needless to say, we have nothing in writing.
Sorry this is so long but we would never behave like this to anyone else and we would like to know if we have any recourse.