Help! Neighbour doesn't want to sign party wall agreement for loft conversion.

[vez123]

We served notice last week and she asked me for a covering letter by the builders to make sure any damage to their house is covered. Our loft extension company had provided me with such a letter but she told me that it is no good to her as it's 1) not addressed to her and 2) not signed (I had printed out the PDF that the builder had sent to me.)
What she wants is a letter by the builder addressed to her and signed by the builder - which I am sure will be ok to get, but she also wants it stated in the letter that we would also take responsibility for damages alongside the builders. Now I understand that she is concerned that there could be damages but I am not feeling comfortable to take on personal responsibility for any mess up that could happen during the built, who knows where this could end up! Surely the builders are ensured for this, we are just a normal family, not a business. She said she got this recommendation from the council. The council had also mentioned to her that she can get a surveyor in but I didn't get the impression she wanted to go down that route.
Is this a reasonable request?

Oh no, this was supposed to be in the property section. Will ask to get this moved..

Ok, so DH has done some research.. We have to make sure we are covered by our insurance so we need to speak to them and also check our builders' insurance.

I think it's not unreasonable for them to ask this. How else would they have redress if the builder caused damage to their property then went bust? Make sure you have proper insurance in place and give them what they need.

The letter should be addressed to them from you, not the builder - as it is your responsibility/liability. You need to ensure you have a decent builder who won't damage their property/will rectify it if he does. Check his insurance/references.

Your neighbour is quite within their rights to get a party wall surveyor involved (paid for by you). But if you can then avoid this as v v expensive for you.

I think it would be worth getting some sort of survey done beforehand as you don't want to end up paying for damage that wasn't caused by your builders.

Ok thanks everyone!