Dispute with neighbours

cyclopopcicle said:
Ok, update.

I got home from work around 8pm and he was there waiting with his van parked where. Usually park (clearly being an arse)
When he saw me pull up he gets out and from his van and waits by my gate.
Holding the envelope up and saying/shouting "what is this? It's not even £240, you have only put in £225" I. Tell him, no I put into £240 "don't call me a lier he shouts in my face. he then demands I have until midnight to pay the remainder or else he starts the court proceedings, I reply "OK"
He then proceeds to shout at me saying how he's going to take me to court etc, meanwhile I stay calm whilst he is ranting pointing at me, a guy I had coming round to look at some electrics for me stands in my garden, the neighbour becomes aware of him but carries on ranting not letting me get a word in edgeways saying how he is going to get a decorator in to quote the work and I will pay for it, I let him let off steam, then ask him to count the money, he counts £225 I say do it again, he gets it to £240, counts again, it's £240 I ask for an apology for calling me a lier.
then I put my point forward as to why I won't pay,
After lots of him shouting and me not raising to it, he slowly starts to calm a little.
And now I can talk.
It goes on for a while.

The outcome is he has dropped the £10 I don't need to pay for the decorating, there is no court proceeding, we shake hands and agree to let it go and move on.

RESULT :)

Thank you all for your opinions.
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meh, i wanted more drama,
/Vote ban OP: F1 yes F2 no

F1
 
CraigN said:
Party wall agreement in writing and signed before doing any future works.

Just had a loft conversion and did this to save any grief with next door.
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It's a roof not a party wall so the party wall act doesn't apply, you needed a party wall agreement as your loft conversion will have required steels resting on/into the party wall separating the properties. You can't have a party wall agreement for a few tiles!

Dis86 said:
Is there no membrane beneath the slates?
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My roof had no membrane under the slate for over 100 years and only leaked in the last ten years. Workmanship on that ridge is terrible my roofer would have been laughed at if he'd left it looking like that!
 
cyclopopcicle said:
Ok, update.

I got home from work around 8pm and he was there waiting with his van parked where. Usually park (clearly being an arse)
When he saw me pull up he gets out and from his van and waits by my gate.
Holding the envelope up and saying/shouting "what is this? It's not even £240, you have only put in £225" I. Tell him, no I put into £240 "don't call me a lier he shouts in my face. he then demands I have until midnight to pay the remainder or else he starts the court proceedings, I reply "OK"
He then proceeds to shout at me saying how he's going to take me to court etc, meanwhile I stay calm whilst he is ranting pointing at me, a guy I had coming round to look at some electrics for me stands in my garden, the neighbour becomes aware of him but carries on ranting not letting me get a word in edgeways saying how he is going to get a decorator in to quote the work and I will pay for it, I let him let off steam, then ask him to count the money, he counts £225 I say do it again, he gets it to £240, counts again, it's £240 I ask for an apology for calling me a lier.
then I put my point forward as to why I won't pay,
After lots of him shouting and me not raising to it, he slowly starts to calm a little.
And now I can talk.
It goes on for a while.

The outcome is he has dropped the £10 I don't need to pay for the decorating, there is no court proceeding, we shake hands and agree to let it go and move on.

RESULT :)

Thank you all for your opinions.
Click to expand...

Neither he nor his wife sound like the best neighbours tbh. Given that they both dialled the reaction up to 10 immediately, and that you've got to live with them, I'd be tempted to invite him / her out for a quick beer / tea / coffee at the weekend just to calm things over. Token effort, low cost, allows a bit of face and ego to be saved.
 
Seems rather foolish to have admitted liability by paying him £240.

fezster said:
Your neighbours have every right to pursue you for costs, due to vicarious liability. However, you in turn would pass these costs onto your builder through their indemnity insurance. Whether your neighbour would have actually pursued costs is another matter.

Given you already paid the £240, you probably should just pay the extra tenner to keep the peace. I'd get another roofer, as the ones you have used thus far seem to have not fixed the problem and possibly even bodged the repair.
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Vicarious liability extends to employees not independent contractors...
 
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bad_ass_neil said:
I wouldn't have given them the money in the first place.

if the roofers did cause the damage the problem is with them, they have insurance for this reason.

Sounds like you have a battle on your hands. Unless the woman is just bat **** crazy and when the husband comes home he just tells her to STFU.

good luck
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You're being a bit naive - the neighbours didn't contract the roofers the OP did and it looks like they did screw up. The OP is responsible for making things right with his neighbours and he can in turn get the roofers to make things right for him.

cyclopopcicle said:
The outcome is he has dropped the £10 I don't need to pay for the decorating, there is no court proceeding, we shake hands
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I'd have wanted money to cover the decorating tbh... I think that was a lucky escape albeit you had to put up with them being ranting idiots instead of discussing things like adults. It really does look like your roofers made a complete mess of the job, your neighbour was out of pocket and deserved having it made right (though was silly to try and pass on an irrelevant cost like cleaning the gutters and a complete dick for ranting about you). But seriously, I'd get another firm to come and inspect that roof fairly soon.
 
Energize said:
Seems rather foolish to have admitted liability by paying him £240.



Vicarious liability extends to employees not independent contractors...
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When I spoke with a solicitor this morning she said the money could be considered "a gesture of good will to keep the peace" not admitting liability.

dowie said:
I'd have wanted money to cover the decorating tbh..
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I have since found out tonight from my daughter who is a friend of his son, that they had been planning to decorate his room for a few months.
The roof has been made good hence the original bill from a guy he had out to sort it out.
 
Your neighbours seem unreasonable and unpleasant.

You didn't damage their roof.
You promptly paid the amount they said the repair cost out of your own pocket.

If I'd been them, I'd have thanked you for being nice about it rather than shouting, ranting and threatening court action over the £10 cost of having a gutter cleaned. Which is, frankly, more than a bit nuts. It's the small claims court, not the tiny claims court.

Am I badly misinterpreting those photos or did the roofer really just very roughly cement a tile in what was obviously the wrong place, leaving a large and very noticeable hole in the roof right next to it? That's what it looks like, but I don't see how anyone sober enough to climb up to a roof could make such an obvious mistake.
 
All this over over a tenner and people using vicarious liability, indemnity insurance and party wall agreements big words. Oh my days as the youth would say.
 
Angilion said:
Am I badly misinterpreting those photos or did the roofer really just very roughly cement a tile in what was obviously the wrong place, leaving a large and very noticeable hole in the roof right next to it? That's what it looks like, but I don't see how anyone sober enough to climb up to a roof could make such an obvious mistake.
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In my opinion it was likely a loose slate in the first place that had moved since the job as the back of our house is exposed to the weather as we have open fields to the back.
 
I spent 4 years living in Chorley, its a strange town with strange attitudes and is doing a lot of villages out of a lot of idiots. Looks like the OP has one next door.

OP I only live down the road, if you ever need some extra poo let me know, I have plenty.
 
Energize said:
Vicarious liability extends to employees not independent contractors...
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Yes, good point. My mistake.

Actually, having now googled the subject, I'm unsure as to whether the homeowner is indeed responsible. It would be surprising, though, if the neighbour could not obtain compensation from the homeowner - especially if the builder is unreachable / unknown to the neighbour.
 
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