Next door's damson tree split its trunk and went over the fence into our garden. It may have spludged the fence on the way over, can't tell yet as it's a chain link embedded in a lonicera hedge. I shall wait til the rain eases off before inspecting.
Q: is next door liable for the cleanup?
Only if negligence can be shown ?
Whose fence is it? Yours, his, or is the boundary a joint responsibility? Who erected the fence?
If the fence is embedded in a Lonicera hedge, when the Lonicera is tidied up and has re-grown, will any damage to the fence still be visible, i.e. is it really worth making a fuss about?
AIUI you are permitted to cut away any of the damson that's overhanging your property, but you have to chuck the bits back to your neighbour, as they're his.
My fence my erection hem hem hem.
Prolly not visible and prolly the fence will recover. His lonicera.
He has a chainsaw so I'm hoping he'll just come round, cut it up and bung it back over the fence. Or leave it for our woodburner rather than his :-)
Pity as SWMBO enjoyed the damsons and next door is rather more visible than it used to be.
What sort of relationship do you have with your neighbour? If it's cordial, I'm sure you can sort it out between you without worrying unnecessarily about "liability". Friendship is usually worth more than the letter of the law.
Well said.
Besides that, unless the tree was obviously rotten, the neighbour is not liable for any damage done. He probably ought to come round and reclaim his wood.
I'd say it depends whose fence it is. Nothing to stop you bodging it up but if its theirs then you can moan if they bodge it up but they acn moan if you do. Its pretty simple really. Of course if you have a dog then if it can get into their garden, you might be having an issue! Likewise the other way around.
Brian
I agree with what seems to me to be the emerging consensus - viz "it depends".
It depends in particular on whether it was foreseeable. On which see e.g.
If you need (or perversely just plain /want/) to "go legal" you could consult your home insurance. And see also if that gives you legal cover to help you claim any excess from the neighbour.
But the substance of the tree belongs to your neighbour so you have to offer it to him before you stock up your wood pile. That seems to me a good reason for trying to reach agreement - even before you add in the fact that he has a chain saw :)
Our neighbour and our neighbour's neighbour had a Polar tree on the boundary. Our neighbour discovered it was rotten and had work done on it to remove that portion. A couple of years later, another part fell in high winds and landed on the garage/workshop that their neighbour ran a watch repair workshop from.
Their neighbour sued them for damage and loss of income. It was determined that the tree (on the boundary) was equally owned by both neighbours and the weakness was not obvious, but the claim was successful, as it was deemed that by having had work done on it, our neighbour had taken responsibility for it and should have continued to pay to have it regularly inspected.
SteveW
They are actually the ones likely to have a dog (we'd never have one), and in fact in the past their dog (or perhaps their kids' dog) has got into our garden, which is why I had the fence put up.
They are generally speaking nice enough people but not that cooperative on boundary issues. I was asking because I could imagine they'd expect me to pay to have the remains chainsawed and would then expect to get it back. It's always useful to know where you stand.
That seems perverse. So if two people have what might be considered a joint problem, it's the one taking some responsibility who is suddenly stuck with all of it.
Yeah, the law can be a complete ass at times.
Same with divorce. If you buy the bitch a brilliant home she gets half of it. If you had left her in a council flat, you wouldnt be liable
As so often it's hard to know in the absence of the full facts but I can see it might look different to the watch repairing neighbours. It may never have occurred to them that the tree was their property. Even if they had wondered about it, if their neighbour had work done without them being consulted (let alone asked to pay) they may reasonably have concluded it was nothing to do with them.
But that is better than anarchy, any day.
How much can it cost to restring a chain link fence? Not worth 'going legal' over, surely?
I did start "If..." But the cost could involve paying for the removal of the tree; replacing one or more fence supports; and replacing some of the fence if it's been crushed. Wouldn't come cheap in London. Of course Tim may not care about the fence - but OTOH he may eg in case the hedge vanishes on a change of neighbour.
I was thinking that the tree would sort of remove itself, transforming itself into firewood. So, it's just a bit of chainlink and maybe a fencepost. For a couple of hundred pounds, it's probably better to stay on good terms with the neighbour.
When you raised concerns over the neighbour having a chainsaw, were you thinking of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? :)
SWMBO put up a FB post to next door and, as it turns out, they were already on it. They had another tree down and other damage elsewhere. Chummy came round and now the tree is gone; chain link had the top stringer broken which he will replace. So good neighbourly behaviour.
BTW, folk shouldn't assume that because I enquire about something, that it indicates a direction I wish to follow.
Not at all. I had in mind the truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a wood burning must be in want of good relations with a neighbour in possession of a chain saw.
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