The single story part of my house is connected to the house next door which is two storey so there is half a gable end and a chimney above my roof. The house next door was done with K-rend by a cowboy builder a few years ago in very hot weather and now its cracked all over and starting to fall off. A couple of weeks ago we had 80 mph winds and two pieces blew off, right over my roof, falling on either side of the VX but very luckily not damaging it, and another piece smashed on the other side of the roof just missing my solar panels which are on the roof below their gable end. I went on to my roof at the back of the house to check for damage and at the same time removed further pieces of rendering and scratch coat from their gutter including a big piece weighing approx 5/6 lbs.
They told me they weren't sure if they were covered by their insurance, without specifying what they meant. I noticed that there was a large piece of render hanging on the far side of their chimney (difficult to see from my garden) so I spoke to him about it asking him to clarify if his insurance covered only for damage to his property or also damage to other properties. He said he didn't know. She then waited till I was out and came round (bossy little madam) to tell my wife that in future I should not ask her husband because she was dealing with it and when I approached him he had felt 'cornered'. My wife pointed out that there was a piece of render hanging and I wanted to know what they were doing about it and if they were covered for damage to our property. She said “If there's any more problems they will be dealt with a the timeâ€. This seemed to me to be an unsatisfactory answer, but not wanting to sour relations between us I didn't pursue it. In the meantime a couple of builders have been to have a look at the problem from the ground, probably assessing for repair quotes.
Last night we had 50 mph winds which we have regularly (still 50 mph now). In anticipation of this I had moved the cars out of the way. The piece of rendering that is hanging remained where it was but another very large triangle of rendering came off the chimney and is stuck in the gutter, this time at the front of their house with smaller pieces in their front garden. Also further small pieces of rendering came off the further chimney but don't pose any danger to my property.
So I'm wondering, being aware that they have loose rendering that has narrowly missed causing damage and that it poses a further danger to my property, what is their responsibility? Can their insurance company refuse to indemnify them for damage caused to me because the owners are aware of the problem and have not addressed it? Can their insurance company refuse to indemnify them because they have failed to maintain their property properly? Is storm damage to me or them likely to be an 'act of God'? As there is a danger of someone being hit and injured by one of these flying pieces of render they must surely have a duty of care to take immediate remedial action?
This is just the beginning of the problem as all their rendering is badly cracked and likely to start falling off anytime soon. There is half a gable end of K-rend above my solar panels with cracks all over it, and this when it starts to go is likely to fall off in very big chunks. If it starts falling off do I have the right to go up on my roof and remove pieces that are insecure in order to safeguard my property or could that be viewed as criminal damage?
Advice appreciated.
