Reply With QuoteSounds like your only option is to fix it yourself ,maybe put a letter through the letter box with an invoice,eventually someone will read it and you may get your money back when his affairs are sorted
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Just looking for a bit of forum wisdom. A big section of fence between my property and a neighbour blew down last night. The fence belongs to the neighbour as he replaced it a couple of years ago when the same thing happened. The neighbour was a lovely old guy who sadly passed away in hospital in October after a fall. Since then his house has sat empty slowly deteriorating. He was a very private man and from talking to the other neighbours nobody seems to know anything about next of kin or what is going on. We think he has a niece living in Italy as he went there a few years back for a visit but none of the neighbours have any details. Given this I presume I’m just going to have to either leave this fence down, which is unsightly, or pay to get this fence repaired myself. Do you agree or is there any official way of finding out who might be handling his estate? Maybe the local council may be worth speaking to or are they likely to be the waste of space they usually are?
Sounds like your only option is to fix it yourself ,maybe put a letter through the letter box with an invoice,eventually someone will read it and you may get your money back when his affairs are sorted
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Personally I would just bite the bullet and fix it. This time with concrete posts?
Where we live we often have a strong sea “breeze”. My neighbour put up a fence using concrete posts which have all “snapped”. Only the reinforcing rods are holding them together.Originally Posted by sprite1275
We have a similar fence with timber posts which, being more flexible, can withstand the wind better.
But in answer to your question, it’s probably best to just get it fixed. You could put an invoice through next door but don’t expect to get it paid. Just treat it as a bonus if it is!
I'd just fix it. What a shame a property just sits empty day after day.
I concur.
Pragmatism rules. Fix the fence yourself, assume you will not be recompensed, keep the paperwork, keep a weather eye out for an opportunity to recoup your outlay from the estate (via a claim for reimbursement through the letterbox).
Concrete spurs with timber posts can be a great solution. You get the aesthetics and flexibility of wood but without the issues of ground rotting. If they do snap you just bolt another post in place. Adds about £15 per post to the cost for the spur.
Might be worth a search here https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...robate-records
If the guy owned a house then whoever is executor will probably have applied for probate by now, assuming he had a will.
As above - there must be ways of contacting the new ‘owners’ and ask that they carry out repairs.
But - I see from the initial post that there is no statement as to ‘absolute ownership’ of the fence? That is usually specified in the title deeds.
Just because he replaced it previously - does not guarantee ownership.
And is there even a requirement to keep it in good order?
Fix the fence yourself, if you get recompense good, if not that's life.
mike
A valid point
It will only show up on there once probate has been granted. I wouldn't think that would have been done yet if he only died 3 months ago.
The fence belongs to the neighbours house. This was clear in the deeds. The old chap actually used to own our house and built the next door bungalow in his massive garden and the deeds are very clear that the entire new fence belongs to the new property. Not sure about requirements to keep in good order. Thanks for all the tips. I think I will have to repair this myself.
I would put up a fence on my own land rather than fix something on someone else's.
Can’t do that as it would shrink my driveway.
I'd be inclined to post any correspondence to next door; a remote relative may have a Royal Mail redirect in force. Don't send it signed for, however, as I believe that they don't redirect those.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Firstly it's easy to find out if he left a will or dies intestate. link has already been provided. Probate office will be dealing with it by now or will welcome a call if they have not been notified of the death.
As to the fence you age going to have to suck it up if you want something done quickly.
As to the structure of the replacement fence:
If it's a windy location then consider reducing the height of the fence.
Secondly consider something that will allow the wind to blow through it to reduce the loading.
Thirdly, generally concrete posts are the longest lasting, but if you are in a problem area you could consider alternatives. e.g. poured concrete pad 2 ft or more deep and 18 x18 square. On top of this fix met post bolt down fixings. Now you can use wooden posts to build the fence but they are now easy to replace, you just unclamp them from the bolt down. A good tip - soak the wooden posts in 5 star wood preserver for a day or two (or at least soak the bottom foot). Another tip, the bolt down met posts can get damaged (rare) so make sure they too are easy to replace. Best way is to bond studs into the concrete and oil the stud before bolting down the met post fitting with a 4 nuts. Or use heavy duty wall anchors with removable bolts.
mine went down last night the council and club responsible for initial damage are hard to contact or get a response.
I was out at 2.30 am trying to shore up the remaining posts.
so I paid someone for a temporary repair while I get quotes the first one is for £800 I have no idea if its good or bad.
Had the air ambulance land in my field yesterday morning, unfortunately the fire brigade cut a gap in my 8ft high hawthorn hedge to gain access to them to carry the casualty. Got a fencing contractor coming tomorrow.
Thanks all.....I got home from work to find half the fence back up. My wife is good with a hammer but not that good. Turns out that another lovely neighbour has been looking after the garden and keeping an eye on the house out of kindness. He spotted the fence was down and after checking with my wife got on with it. This guy is a retired builder in his 70s and seems to be doing a good job. I just popped around he said he’s enjoying doing it, no bother. Nice bottle of whisky coming his way. I do like living in a proper village community sometimes.
So it's not a matter who IS responsible, more a matter of who FEELS the responsibility. Certainly a village I would like to live in. Great community if you ask me.
Menno
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