As the building industry in Ireland is getting busier, renovation of old terrace houses is becoming more frequent. A competent builder will engage a surveyor to do a pre-construction survey of the adjoining houses before construction starts. This will preclude any person with existing cracks claiming that they’re new as a result of the works. If the neighbours contractor causes damage to your property, there are a few avenues that the you can take.
- If your relationship is good with your neighbour you may able to claim off the neighbours insurance or the builder’s insurance. It will depend on the level of cooperation. Certainly if the works are repair works following a claim at the original house (e.g. mini piling to repair subsidence), it would be normal for the original insurance policy to pay for damage in neighbouring properties if the damage was unavoidable. In any event it would be worthwhile engaging your own surveyor. In PCLA we are Building Surveyors and we can assess the damage and negotiate to a good settlement on your behalf
- Not every policy has accidental damage, sometimes its included as an extra. You will need to check your policy schedule to see if its covered. If it is and your neighbour isn’t cooperating, we would advise that you claim on your own policy. PCLA can help you with this. We would put the insurance company on notice but we wouldn’t proceed till the works are finished unless it’s an emergency. We would carry out a complete survey and include all damage in the claim
- If your neighbour isn’t cooperating and you don’t have accidental damage on your policy, you can take a legal action against your neighbour who in turn will adjoin the builder to their defence. You will still need a surveyor’s report and in PCLA we can provide same.
If you have damage as a result of a neighbours builder, have it professionally assessed. In Property Claims Loss Assessors Ltd we are Engineers and Building Surveyors. In addition to accidental damage we also cover damage from fire, pipe leaks, storm, flood, subsidence, break-ins, etc. Our first survey is free and we are a ‘no win no fee’ company.
Call us:
ROI: Land 01 5620082 Mob 087 6165435
NI: Land 028 95212991 Mob 077 95374150
Web www.pcla.ie Email info@pcla.ie
