Neighbour dispute

[finallyhappyinlife]

In may 2024 we had our drive paved by a local businessman . We are very happy with the work he did for us however the white residue from the hardcore he used underneath the blocks has run onto our neighbours drive leaving a strip of lighter tarmac which shows up when her drive is dry . She is extremely unhappy as expected and I have made several attempts to get the workmen back to discuss this issue however he flatly refuses . I have been totally civil with neighbour agreeing that it’s unacceptable and I have tried many many times to get him to sort this issue . I have ended up falling out with the owner of the business as I believe he is totally out of order . He refuses to speak to my neighbour saying she is just jealous of us having the work done . This has caused us immense stress and she has stopped speaking to us . Earlier in the year her son said she was going to have a fence installed between us and was that ok ? I said that’s up to you as we cannot stop your mum doing anything on her own property and it was no business of ours . This fence has never materialised .
Now today I have received a recorded letter saying she has been advised to get 3 quotes for re tarmacing the whole drive . The quotes range from £8800 to £11000 as she is asking us to pay for this work .
She is asking us to respond within 14 days or she will take it to small claims court .
I feel she should be sending said letter to the workmen who did the work and ruined her drive . Am I wrong ? Why should we pay out £10000 approx for the workmen’s error . And advice would be much appreciated on our rights and the next steps for us to take .

Set out your offer in writing and send it to her recorded delivery, state if she fails to agree to your offer she’ll have to take you to small claims. The court will see she has refused any remedial work and her claim is disproportionate to her actual loss. Sounds like the son is winding her up, your initial agreement that it looks bad has give her the idea you’re weak. Never admit any sort of fault.

I would be looking to get this money from him yes . He has already left paint with us for it to be done

No way … once done that would be it … she would have to sign something to say that or she could keep coming back to us over and over again

Did he pay for the small cleaning patch test, who will clean and paint the drive. I agree this all needs to be in writing and emails so you have a paper trail, screenshot any texts but I'd be more formal with her now.

The patch test was free to see if it worked . The cleaning would be done by a drive specialist and I would be asking for our contractor to pay . If she wants it psinting again I would be asking him to paint it as I don’t want her coming back to us every year

Best thing to do, is to tell her to fuck off and no longer entertain her bonkers attitude.

Thats all she deserves.

Put everything in writing, so there is a permanent record of your reasonableness.

Make sure you have it in writing that he will pay before you go ahead if she agrees, I would also leave a paper trail asking her to confirm which of thesedates are suitable for her, give her a couple of choices, and if she would prefer to deal direct with the tradespeople or make necessary arrangements through you. I would take before and after photos, her son must be doing something very wrong if he's painting the drive every 6 months, if he was doing this before your work then it's obvious her drive is totally fucked anyway. . Whoever does any work on her drive needs to write to you both, outlining the work involved, dates, work schedule, materials used and guarantee and state this is one off remedy.

Late last night I had a message saying this
Hi sorry for the late reply. The patch looks ok, if he thinks he can get the whole drive looking the same i'd be happy with that x

Good, make sure you have that in an email and state that this will be a one off only and that you trust this will be the end of the matter, ask her how she wants to confirm the dates.

Please don't have it painted.... If it's patchy you will have instigated a whole new drama for her...
Cleaned yes....
Then block her number...
And get a ring doorbell.

That’s my concern . I’m gonna get legal advice also on the cleaning as I need to get something in writing from her to say once it’s cleaned that’s it as she could then say she’s not happy with the results . I’ve spoken to the contractor who offered to pay half of the £300-£400 cost . I told him you must be having a laugh you can claim off your public liability insurance . I asked him straight out do u have any insurance and he replied no !!!

Yes to getting legal advice, I wouldn't be paying a penny, I'm amazed your contractor isn't insured, is his work even guaranteed, is he listed on companies house. Is there anything on his website, quote or receipt about being insured.

I have just spoken to citizens advice for the last hour . They have told me I have no responsibility to sort this matter out . The NDN needs to sue the contractor NOT us . The letter she sent to us seems like a standard copy and paste template and she obviously hasn’t taken legal advice at all .
I now have the task of advising her

There is also NO legal requirement for businesses to have public liability insurance which just blows my mind

You don't need to advise her of anything

If she does decide to sue she will be told that it's the contractor so you don't need to tell her, did you ask cab who is responsible for paying for having it cleaned and repainted, if it's the contractor then he has to pay up

Yes it Upto her to get the contractor to pay up if she wants anything done to the drive not us . If he won’t then she has to sue him not us which I’ve said all along however people on here led me to believe I was in the wrong

You were so right

I know I was.

Those who criticised me on this thread can eat humble pie.

Do not entertain or pander to your NDN any more @finallyhappyinlife 👍

👍🏾

So you trust unpaid volunteers at CAB over qualified solicitors on this thread? I have had excellent advice from CAB and also been left in a huge financial hole by misadvice by CAB. On balance I don't trust them.

Not all contractors have insurance, but the good ones do and it's usually a good indicator of whether to use them.

Just block her... If she knocks give her the contractors details.. Refuse to get further dragged into it..

So Your saying citizens advice are wrong then ? Surely to god they can’t go giving out wrong advice .

They certainly can. They once have my husband some advice that would have left us bankrupt and homeless. I went home and researched on Money Saving Expert forum and realised the right thing to do, which is what we did.