Plumber drilled hold and made hairline crack on neighbours' property

[countdowntoxmas]

We had a plumber who drilled a sink into our downstairs property. It went through to the neighbours' storage cupboard. They are asking us to get a plasterer in to fix it. Can we get the plumber to meet the costs or are we responsible for it?

I'd say the plumber is since he did the damage but, unless it was a big reputable company or you have yet to pay him, you may have trouble getting him to cough up. Do you have very thin walls or was he using an enormous bit?

We do have thin walls and the plumber who was made aware of the problem by the neighbours - as soon as his drill went in - complained about the thin cavity in the wall. We have since paid the plumber so I don't know if he will be happy to foot the bill

If you didn't warn the plumber beforehand I think you should pay.

We have thinner than you would expect walls between us & next door. It used to really pee me off that our previous neighbours would never warn workmen about this. We had one instance if a newly plastered wall being badly cracked. After that as soon as I heard any drilling etc on the party wall I would call around to warn the workmen myself!