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 .

Got to agree with this, I went to CAB over an issue, they guided me, made a claim to small claims court, in the defendants documents they mentioned something new so I rang CAB back and I was told I had no chance. I disagreed and checked with a solicitor and continued my case and won. Sometimes trainees do not check their facts at CAB.

Oh Jesus wept please don’t tell me this . Who can we trust then for legal advice ?

You get what you pay for. I'd get proper advice.

Go to a solicitor. Or really, really research on line (as I did) then see a solicitor. Do you have legal cover with your home insurance? There is a helpline if you do. Which? offer consumer legal advice ( you need to pay)

Citizens Advice are volunteers,it depends who you get.

It's up to you to put this right, then for you to chase the tradespeople who did it. You neighbour needs her drive put into the state it was before.

Thanks for reply . Is that your opinion only or do you know that is the legal way ? Just curious. No legal cover with my home insurance no and contractor has no public liability insurance which apparently isn’t mandatory

It's in the party wall act. That's why the party wall act is drawn up between the owners of the properties not the tradespeople and the owner of the other property. Because the person who employs the tradespeople is responsible. I assume the party wall act reflects the law generally.

But I think you need to go to a solicitor.

Thank you I’m awaiting a callback from a solicitor today

Update on this . Spoke to solicitor who advised if contractor willing to pay for the drive to be cleaned then get the money from him bank transfer to NDN so I have proof and then it’s Upto her to liaise with the drive cleaning man to get the job done . She then has a contract with him should she be unhappy after it’s done . The solicitor said that frees you from the situation send her a letter or email outline this is payment for full and final settlement of the damage to her drive caused by the contractor .
I’ve text neighbour asking for email address explaining what I’ve been advised by solicitor 2 days ago and she’s never answered me .

When you say, “explaining what I’ve been advised” I assume you mean, you told her you needed her email address to set things out clearly, you didn’t relay the legal advice you had been given?

You need to be careful that you are not waiving legal privilege. Particularly when you are in an active dispute with someone.

Just print up a letter saying what the solicitor said and send it from the post office with proof of posting.

Write a letter to her and send by special delivery with signature. Surprised solicitor suggested email.

Why can't your contractor liaise directly with the ndn and driveway cleaner and pay them direct, it all seems very complicated

So you are paying her and she then pays to get it repaired. You will get the money from the contractor who caused the damage.

So what the solicitor confirmed to you is that it was you who was responsible for the damage not the contractor. The only person who can claim money from the contractor is you, not her. So you now know you were in the wrong thinking she should be the one chasing him.

That sounds like excellent advice from your solicitor to get you out of the situation, but your neighbour would be stupid to agree to absolve you of all responsibility should it not work.

Solicitor didn’t say it was my responsibility or it wasn’t . I think it’s one of those grey areas tbh . He did say her £10000 request for a new drive was ridiculous and wouldn’t stand in court as that’s classed as betterment which she can’t request .
Considering she wants this all resolved she’s not responding to texts about getting this sorted which baffles me .
NDN can’t chase contractor as he refuses to engage with her

So your saying she can keep coming back over and over again to ME should she not be happy 🤷🏽‍♀️.

Only because he won’t engage with NDN

He’s not a very cooperative person at all . Left to him he would just tell NDN to do one he doesn’t care . He totally refuses to engage with her

And thats exactly what you should do.

Fuck her off.

Give the NDN the guys details and leave them to it. Stop being the middle person.

That’s just what I am going to do … I want closure to this and I’m unsure what more she wants from us . She agreed to the cleaning but now won’t respond to me . If I give her the money I need proof . As the solicitor said once she got the money she can do what she wants with it get the drive cleaned or put it in her bank

Then @finallyhappyinlife should put it right herself, at her cost.

When you have work done, you check they have insurance.

At my cost ? I think not !! If he chooses to not have any public liability insurance that’s Upto him but that DOES NOT mean he can walk away from his mistakes . Absolutely ridiculous comment

A few hundred quid to professionally clean the driveway, and know that you’ve done the right thing, and kept relationships civil with your neighbours is not ridiculous at all.

What is ridiculous is using a tradesperson with no insurance, not sorting things with your neighbour for so long, taking cheap house insurance without legal cover etc etc.

But each to their own. Glad I don’t live next door to anyone like you. You’re one of the nightmare neighbours people worry about.

Oh fgs do one .. it must be lovely to be perfect !!