"There is no sign of heave or subsidence and so insurance are saying no payout."
I would imagine the insurance company's position is based on the detail of your home insurance contract. I realise I have no idea what my own specifies about my garden.
"There is no sign of heave or subsidence and so insurance are saying no payout."
I would imagine the insurance company's position is based on the detail of your home insurance contract. I realise I have no idea what my own specifies about my garden.
They're probably working on the premise that it's a maintenance (or lack of) issue ... on reflection I tend to agree.
In some ways a clipped covering of ivy can protect an old wall or fence by keeping it dry and protecting it from frost getting into the crevices and causing damage ... once the ivy is removed, or alternatively if it is allowed to grow so large that when it rains it becomes very heavy and the wall/fence cannot support its weight.
This is what happened to the fence on one side of our garden the week after we moved here
Although the ivy was from our side (the garden had been very neglected) our neighbours installed a new fence ... they knew it was their boundary and they had been planning to replace the fence but had been waiting until the house was bought by someone who would maintain the garden.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks yes legal advice has been sought and now waiting to hear. In the meantime we’ve cleared all bricks so done what we can. Fingers crossed it’s shared responsibility although of course if not we will sort it all out. Agree a shame neighbours are unreasonable sometimes and that they are hassling us.
Yes, Dove. The mass of ivy is the only thing keeping my fence up. In fact I think there is very little fence left, it's mostly a living wall of stem. We certainly couldn't take the ivy off, we'd have to remove the whole thing, which the neighbours would appreciate.
Apparently before the previous owner put this house on the market, the ivy was up to the ridge tiles ... you can still see some of the aerial roots up there if you look closely! Fortunately it hadn't been that bad for too long so no damage had been done.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There clearly was a big ivy root going through the wall and a heavy weight of ivy on top coming from the neighbours side.
If the wall does turn out to be your responsibility, could you not argue that the neighbours ivy was the cause of the collapse of your wall, and ask him to pay for its repair.
From the photos, I would imagine that the wall just fell over due to old age and the huge amount of ivy on top/his side, especially if your original Housebuyers report mentioned it was already leaning then. Combined with the winter weather we've just had and probably a new growth surge on the ivy, that would be enough to push the wall over onto the lower side. I would also think that the wall is not your responsibility, if your house was built much later and there was no mention of it's ownership in your deeds. It's not quite clear from your posts whether the pub existed before the hospital you mention, whose wall it was originally? In which case are the owners of the flats now responsible? Hopefully your lawyer will be able to find out as he will probably be able to get copies of the Land Registry deeds for your neighbour's property and the flats. I wouldn't give up on the insurance company either. Their default response is to say no in the first instance but it might be worth having another go at them. I'm sorry for the stress you are now under, as we had similar problems a while back in a previous house, but you just have to grit your teeth and deal with it. Hang on in there!
Thanks Lizzie for your words. The hospital pre-dates the pub that is now my neighbours house. We are due to have a structural engineer over this week and also hoping to hear back on the neighbours deeds from our solicitor. Sorry to hear you had a similar situation previously, it's super stressful! I think the insurers will say no as regardless of the recent weather and the ivy, the wear and tear is what caused it to be weakened but if anything new comes to light we will indeed try again.
Posts
In some ways a clipped covering of ivy can protect an old wall or fence by keeping it dry and protecting it from frost getting into the crevices and causing damage ... once the ivy is removed, or alternatively if it is allowed to grow so large that when it rains it becomes very heavy and the wall/fence cannot support its weight.
This is what happened to the fence on one side of our garden the week after we moved here
Although the ivy was from our side (the garden had been very neglected) our neighbours installed a new fence ... they knew it was their boundary and they had been planning to replace the fence but had been waiting until the house was bought by someone who would maintain the garden.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.