Damp from neighbours roof

[Margo34]

We have some damp and got a roofer round to assess. They found it to be from our adjoining neighbour's side of the roof, saying they have rotten fascias and no lead soakers.

We've approached the neighbours with the roofer report and they aren't happy, say they haven't got any damp or issues.

Help! Now what?

We had this problem. We contact our house insurance, they sent someone round to do a survey. I can’t remember the exact details but it did end up with the neighbour sorting it.

Cool thanks for that, insurance company is our next port of call on Monday but we thought we'd try and speak to the neighbours first, dunno if that was the right thing to do or not!

Insurance company said that as our damage is the result of a defect in the neighbours roof and not a one off event, it's not covered by insurance.

Now what?!

Do you have legal expenses cover? Then pursue neighbour for the cost of repair.

Unfortunately no legal cover 🙈

Well if the neighbours don't have any damp in their property I'm not surprised they don't accept your roofer's diagnosis. Would you if it were the other way round? Are you sure the roofer isn't fobbing you off because they can't find a problem on your roof? I don't see how rotten fascias could cause damp in an adjoining property.

Presumably the damp is on your side of a party wall. Are your roofs at the same height or is your property higher? Is your damp patch level with their roof space, so perhaps they haven't noticed a problem on their side?

We used UK Leak Detection to establish what the cause of the leak was. Numerous others blamed the neighbours...it was our bathroom . Insurance paid.

Its not just the rotten fascias, it's missing/defective lead soakers so run off is into our property.

I suggested they get someone round themselves to check their roof, gave them our roofers report for info. They were defensive (understandable) and aggressive about it (not called for). They said it can't be their roof they haven't done any work on the roof since they moved in (which was before we moved in). So basically they haven't maintained their roof.

If the shoe were on the other foot and they approached me with the issue, I'd be apologising no end and telling them I'd get someone round to assess myself ASAP, which is what I suggested to them.

Our roofs (rooves?) are level. Legit roofer - we've had more than 1 company visit.

Watching with interest as this is one of my biggest fears with living in a semi.

I had a similar situation, but with neighbour's flat roof causing the problem. Like you, my insurers weren't interested, after sending a surveyor, who is professionally qualified, let's not forget. It went on for months, with my neighbour asking if his builder (friend) could come and have a look, which he did, but it took months to get anywhere. He eventually had a new roof put on. I happened to be in the garden when it was being done, and it was so old that one of the workmen put his foot through it. NDN then denied any liability for damage to my house. Long story short, I instigated proceedings through the Small Claims Court. We were referred to a mediator, which worked really well. By this time I had paid for the repairs myself, but there were other issues that required attention. Mediator asked me what I wanted out of the process, I said that the other work needed to be done. And that was the outcome. It took two years. I am an older single woman, and I think he thought he could just bully me. Bit of a mistake on his part.

So, OP, it probably won't be a simple process, and can put a strain on neighbourly relationships, but you can't allow your property to be damaged by others' negligence. And I think in law, there is a duty of care to one's neighbours.

And he chats to me now as if nothing ever happened.

Oh god thanks for sharing your experience @Sallythedog but that didn't sound much fun for you!

I'm pregnant, due any day pretty much, and it's the nursery that has damp so I truly hope it doesn't take 2 years for the neighbours to pull their fingers out. We'll give them a couple of weeks to mull it over I think then chase them up and then threaten small claims court and pursing damages etc, see where that gets us.

@Margo34 I'd never had bad neighbours before, so it was a bit of a shock to the system. I got the form of words for the Letter Before Action, or whatever it's called, from the legal part of my house insurance, but other than that I was pretty much on my own. With hindsight, I probably would have been less accommodating and stopped his nonsense earlier. It was stressful, but I knew he was in the wrong.

I hope it goes well for you, and of course, with the new baby.