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Help! Neighbours land causing damage to our wall

5 replies

Bibitybobity · 27/07/2015 14:59

I should point out this is in Scotland so we don't have the party wall act and the legal system is different to the rest of UK. Our neighbours put mono blocking on their drive a few years ago. Their property is about 1m above ours and a wall divides the land. Since they monoblocked the driveway their land has moved and pushed our wall out which now rests at a 45deg+ angle in places. This makes our driveway unusable for fear of the wall collapsing on the car or indeed the kids. The neighbouring property is tenants and the landlord has refused to respond to any contact from us to resolve this. It's a company rather than an individual. The local council say as its private land it's a 'domestic matter' and they won't do anything. We can't afford to go to a lawyer about this & have no idea what to do. Insurance say it would be a £1500 excess as they're claiming its due to subsidence and we just don't have that kind of money. They also said they could do anything to our neighbours land so it would probably recur.

Who is responsible for the damage and repair to our wall? Common sense would say the neighbouring property but they're not doing anything about it- although they've stopped using the driveway now to stop further damage.

Please help

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Bibitybobity · 27/07/2015 15:00

*couldnt not could

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wowfudge · 27/07/2015 16:02

Do you have before and after photos? I would send the photos to your insurers because it sounds as though whoever you have dealt with is misunderstanding the issue. I thought subsidence was undermining of the foundations of a structure from below, which isn't the case here.

I would have thought that ultimate responsibility lies with the firm which block paved next door's drive because they haven't correctly assessed and prepped the ground to ensure this sort of thing didn't happen. They should have public liability insurance which should cover a problem such as this. Your neighbour's insurance should cover PL too so that would be what you would claim against and they would have to fix it. What happens if next door's driveway ultimately slides onto yours?

Have you contacted anyone to see what would involved and what the cost would be to put it right? If you can't get any sense out of your insurers could you bring a small claim against the company that did the work - sorry, I don't know if that is an option in Scotland. Trying to think of all the options for you.

PigletJohn · 27/07/2015 16:32

I would have thought it was a legal question and the neighbours are trespassing by allowing earth to fall onto your property and by allowing their property to damage your wall.

However I have no idea of the law in such a case.

Have a look at www.gardenlaw.co.uk which I presume encompasses UK and not just E&W.

greenfolder · 27/07/2015 20:31

Do you have legal cover on either your buildings or contents cover? If so I would start there.

Bibitybobity · 30/07/2015 22:32

Thanks all. We're waiting to hear from the insurance legal team.

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