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 .

Force Majeure is a contractual concept. The NDN’s dispute with the OP surely lies in tort.

Can you expand on how you think Force Majeure could come into play?

I think it needs resurfacing but you need to get expert help from drive way specialist

Tell me you know nothing about law without telling me you know nothing about law.

Force majuere has no relevance here whatsoever. Not in the slightest. Throwing phrases you’ve learnt doesn’t make what you say right.

@prh47bridge is a lawyer and the one you want on these threads. I’m a lawyer and know they will come along and give the right advice more succinctly than I ever will. You dismissing them as knowing nothing about the law really won’t earn you any credibility here but I guess sometimes people want to hear what supports their view rather than what the law actually provides.

If you’re employed, your employer may have an employee assistance program. These can sometimes help with legal advice. Worth both you and husband checking.

On the tradesman front, if you haven’t already, ask for his insurance details. Your contract is with them, so it’s on you to get those and provide to neighbour. Then leave it between the neighbour and his business insurance.

What the whole drive for a stain ? If the drive had been actually damaged yes I would agree but a stain caused by rain your saying she can demand a whole new drive ??

Interesting

You’re hilarious - IAAL, although not my area but I can tell you force majeure is absolutely irrelevant to this analysis.

as per my previous post I suspect OP is on fairly safe ground here but not for the reasons you’ve made up.

I have not in any way disparaged said member.

So lets break down their remarks:

"If her neighbour's drive has been damaged by their actions, she is liable."

IF being the operative word - the NDN would have to show before and after conditions of their driveway to determine/prove that damage has been caused. None of us here can know that except maybe the OP.

"On the information posted, her neighbour may have a valid claim. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the neighbour can claim the full cost of resurfacing her drive."

May have a valid claim is key. Not that the NDN does have a claim.

The NDN claim would struggle to justify them wanting the OP to cover the cost of an entirely new driveway - NDNs driveway has not been rendered unuseable etc. The degradation is very visible but is still in a condition in which it can be used.

Ergo, there is very little legal basis upon which the NDN can or could hold the OP liable. If it never rained, would the NDN have known or complained?

Similarly, a badly laid tarmac drive or an ageing tarmac drive can be severely impacted by years of rain on it - and its evident from the pics that the NDNs driveway is already poor - attributing that to the OP's work is a stretch and a half.

She probably doesn't want or expect a new drive. She's just trying to frighten you with those quotes as you've ignored the problem for 18 months. No way would I let an amateur paint it and potentially make it worse. The least she could expect is a professional to do it.

Is it going to be an ongoing problem every time it rains, even if it's painted? You don't seem mortified enough that your tradesman has damaged and devalued her property.

Hang on…

How much higher is your drive? Doesn’t look significantly higher than neighbour’s.

As a pp said, there is a black gap between your blocks and the sleepers that has no staining. Surely if it’s coming from your hardcore it would have to pass over that gap?

The hardcore is underneath the blocks, yes? Surely it’s there as a foundation that also provides drainage into the ground. How is water going in between the blocks, soaking into the hardcore then coming back up to go onto the neighbour’s? Is there drive the same height as the hardcore layer?

That amount of water would be noticeable. Have you noticed sitting water traveling into your neighbour’s? If you run a hose on your drive, where does it end up?

Your neighbour would have to prove your property is responsible for the damage. Can they do that?

You should have had a specialist in by now to give you options and quotes for what can be done to remedy this. Yet all you’ve done is chase a tradesman who clearly wont play ball. No wonder they are fed up.

You are a nightmare neighbour. You need to sort it out and then sue your builder if needed. I would have thought first port of call would be your home insurance to see whether it is covered. If it is then they might pursue the builder themselves. Cannot believe you have done nothing except chase your builder. That is not ok.

Long Drain on side of your drive if it is higher? That you clean regularly? Ask around contractors for an actual solution?

The problem is you throwing around phrases like force majeure which have no relevance whatsoever.

Oh I think she is definitely trying her luck on getting a new drive . She’s told me herself she wants hers done but can’t afford . So how can I stop that happening I can’t physically stop the rain fgs . Sorry if I don’t seem mortified enough … next time I’ll have a nervous breakdown

There is plastic drainage between the blocks and the sleepers

There is plastic drainage been fitted between the blocks and sleepers

Painting tarmac is a quick fix that doesn’t last it goes patchy wears off and will need redoing

i wouldn’t accept it as a fix

When this happened and the workmen weren’t playing ball she told me she had pictures of the drive before our work . I asked her to send them to me so I could forward onto the workmen . She never did so unsure if she has any

So what would you accept ?

No, your issue with the tradesman is yours, your neighbours issue is with you, your neighbour never had a contract with your tradesman.
You should've put it right, sorry. Yeah, expensive and seems unfair, but your neighbour didn't ask for her property to get damaged.

Just fix the drive.

Nightmare neighbour 😂

No, neither would I. It's a bit cheeky offering it as a solution imo.

It's strange that it's that shape of stain and it doesn't run all the way down towards the pavement, it just sort of stops midway, like ppl say is there a dip in her drive and standing water, if you have drainage channels then the surface water from the block paving should run into that, what does the drain channel empty the water into. What are the sleepers stained with, they look white and the stain is white, do you know what the paving was sealed with, do you get any staining from the rain on the block paving. The house opposite has the same issue.

Here’s a scenario. Your NDN has their drive redone and when it rains a black stain from the shiny new tarmac runs all over your drive and it doesn’t come out. You ask your NDN to make it good and she shrugs her shoulders and say, nah sorry, my guy won’t answer my calls, what can you do eh? Then she washes her hands of it, and says she doesn’t give a “shiny shite” what others think.

Just because you might think her drive is shit it doesn’t give you the right to make it look worse. I don’t blame them at all for taking you to court. May 2024! Seriously?