'I broke neighbour's fence, now she's charging me extortionately for upgrades'
Being cordial with your neighbour is important for many people, as you don't want to be living next to someone who tries to make your life a misery. But, inevitably, spats between you can happen over things like parking, fences, shared spaces, and noise - you just have to take each incident as it comes.
One woman was left beyond baffled, however, when she accidentally drove into her neighbour's fence whilst her partner tried to teach her to drive. The neighbour called the police, who "calmed the situation down and recognised it was an honest mistake", and the woman agreed to "fix the fence" as she had broken it. But when another neighbour got involved, things took a rather expensive turn.
She took to Reddit to write: "My neighbour's garden fence is connected to the car park to my flat. My partner was teaching me how to drive and I accidentally drove into a part of the fence. The neighbour called the police and they came and calmed the situation down and recognised it was an honest mistake. I agreed to fix the fence of course. I went to the neighbour's home to next day with my sibling to asses the damage and we both agreed to fix the fence, garden shed window and a cover to her BBQ. We confirmed that was it and she said yes (none of this was recorded).
"The issue now comes when other neighbours got involved (one is a fencer and wanted to fix the fence for the neighbour but also upgrade it so this situation wouldn't happen again). We spoke to the neighbour who got involved and confirmed that we already spoke to the lady whose fence is broken and have already agreed on the terms. He didn't believe us so we all went to the house again and the lady was happy for us to just fix it on our own without the help of this nosy neighbour. But it seems as if he went behind our back once again to speak to her because now she is demanding more.
"The neighbour that wanted to fix the fence immediately was charging an extortionate amount to fix it and of course, I said no. I have now bought the materials and I have hired a fencer to fix the issues she pointed out. I confirmed the timeline to her which is the end of the week and she was ok."
'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'
But the woman next door has since changed her mind and is now threatening the original poster with police, confusingly. She continued: "As of today, she is now threatening me with the police and with contacting the car insurance because she wants it fixed today (the incident happened only Saturday night and it's Monday). She also now wants us to do additional things such as paint, and buy more items but we checked everything and it was fine and the fence was unpainted.
"Could you please give me any advice on what to do? She was fine until the neighbours talked to her about upgrades and now she is trying to gain more out of the situation. Please note that I called the police, and they said it is a civil case and has nothing to do with them and they won't get involved. We didn't share any car insurance details but the lady took a picture of the license plate.
"I have apologised profusely, I have immediately taken action to fix the situation and I've already made payments towards it but she is increasingly being unreasonable. This is the third time her fence has been broken. It's positioned where people have to drive out of the car park and it is wooden."
In the comments, people weren't happy with the woman and the nosy neighbour. One wrote: "You've paid for and supplied the materials and workman to fix the issue. She's refused. I'm not a lawyer, but I'd consider this event to be over and whatever happens now is her responsibility. No longer your problem."
Someone else said: "I would drop a letter through her door, stating that as discussed, you agreed you wanted X repairing. You visited her on X date with the workman as agreed, and she refused. State in the letter that you have tried to do what is reasonable to fix the issue. Leave it there until she contacts you through her insurers or lawyers."
Another commented: "Practically speaking, the obligation here for you/your insurer is to 'make right' i.e., repair the fence and damaged items or replace with an equivalent, or if replacement isn't possible, provide the equivalent in money. If they want to install something 'better' or want it done in a way that exceeds what it should reasonably cost then they would be paying the difference.
"Personally, I would offer to follow through with the previous agreement or provide the financial equivalent. If they're unwilling to move forward with either of those tell them to take it up with your insurer. Make sure you have photographic evidence of what damage you actually caused etc."
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