Neighbour's builder damaged my house and fence - Sydney

Hello Everyone
Could you please give me some advice?
My neighbour is building a new house. The builder was doing excavation about 2 meters without a retaining wall. Now my bedroom wall and my fencing were collapsed on their property. The builder came to me. He will fix my fencing and bedroom wall, but he told me no as original because my house is double brick. It is illegal to build double brick after a collapse. He can only do a blue board for me. I told the builder I wanted as original, nothing less. You have caused a lot of headaches for me. The builder has refused it. The builder also refuses to give me their insurance policy.

Any suggestions please on what should I do? i took most of the pictures, and I called work-safety nsw

I called my insurance company too

Thank you
Marto

 

attach photograph if you can.

i must say that don't agree to whatever bull crape builder or tradie gives you as most of them are BS unless you take them to the court.

also take legal advise on this as it is not just about fixing wall but if he has broken your roof or flooring and anything else as a result also needs to be reinstated to original condition.he/she needs to compensate for mental stress and inconvenience they caused you.

the person might run away so call police to get involved to help you get other person's insurance details and licence details.

also remember he can't simply put one wall brand new and don't do anything to others as it mismatch and impact you if you try to sell so he has to paint everything including doors & window if they are broken... in my opinion. but check with lawyer.

talk to your insurance company as they can give you some idea on what are your rights.

i have my garage broken (middle pillar) broken by the tenant living in the property. the smart ass real-estate agent told me that i should ask my insurance company to fix it and i rejected that idea outright because once your insurance company fix it then your premium will go high moving forward so i told him that tenant needs to fix it or i take them to court. tenant end up fixing ,but i was interstate so couldn't ask them to do proper fix such as painting and other stuff but wall and new garage door was installed.

 

You need legal advice. From a solicitor. Police have nothing to do with it. Safe work may have workplace concerns for a unreported unsagfe workplace accident (a penalty ?) but they wont otherwise assist repair issues.

The builder should have insurance however that is his policy to claim on when he encounters a claim event. So create one.....And if he doesnt have relevant insurance the insurer will sue him or perhaps the neighbour even if it was unapproved works. A solicitor will advise on this and whether you should claim on your policy. Your insurer may require his insurance details for that policy to indemnify your insurer. They will manage all this. Start with legal advice but dont rush to them first. It may even be something YOUR insurer may pay for. So call them first and explain the issue and see if they will open a claim and pay for the legal advice you need ...It a claim benefit etc. You may need to initially pay a excess until its sorted as a actual claim rather than provisional. The builder will engadine maccas his pants when he gets a legal claim from a insurer and their legal advisers. Not to fix it....Oh no. The cost. Their full cost incl legals and all sorts of other costs.

Yes your insurer may pay and manage repairs but old mate will be liable for the cost (incl independent builders) to MAKE GOOD to return to the original state no matter what the cost is. Its out of his hands. Yes a whole new matched double brick wall to the foundations and likely roofing and more. Not a patchy cheap fix. A full proper repair. DONT allow him on the property. DONT even speak to him. Once you have it sorted let your neighbour know so they understand

 

If this happened in Victoria you would involve the Building Surveyor that issued the building permit, and their details must be on the outside of the property..

Tools

 

I'd be going down the track of notifying your insurer who will look after everything (well, mostly). Council inspection - advise council that the works next door have caused damage to your property, even if they aren't the certifying authority, they will be involved.

Workcover is also a good notification as it is a non-injury work place accident ie near miss. Heaven help his excavator & the builder for not following the engineer's design.

Would you seriously consider this joker as the builder to 'fix' your property?

As paul@pas notes, it won't be a cheap exercise.

 

Some very good advice by Paul and Scott above, I highly recommend you take it in as this is a pretty serious matter. Good luck

 

Hello ASX GJ1 / Paul / Scott / Tool/ Sanj/Everyone, thank you for the information and advice. My apologies for the late reply because I am very busy with this issue. Like a second job and high in stress. I have contacted my insurance Allianz after the accident happened 3 weeks ago. The assessor came 2 weeks ago. He told me the insurance could not do anything to this because it was damaged by my neighbour's builder, so I should be asked the builder for their public liability insurance.
I have called a lawyer. Now my lawyer is preparing the document. today consultant will come to my place from the lawyer to audit the damage. Thank you, everyone, for the advice. i have posted the picture of the damage

 

more picture

i have made a video
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zpPeZpJcNFkmCnkt8
i felt no safe everynight now for the last 3 weeks since no wall or fencing.
Thank you

 

Holy crap that's a lot of damage. I'd want a structural engineer engaged to assess what of your house is ok and the best way to fix it.

The builder should have immediately put some boarding up to enclose the room to make it weatherproof.

Just wow. I feel for you.

 

That's a shocker - no wonder the builder has gone to ground.

I'm surprised that your insurer has passed the buck.

 

That builder cant be a builder surely?
Thats a demolition!
Keep tabs on him, dont let him get away.

 

Hello, Scott / Wylie / Westminster. Thank you. Yes, that has caused me a lot of headaches in the last 3 weeks. I was surprised too when my insurance told me. I thought I paid them to claim me for me. I called the ombudsman today. They asked me to fill up the complaint form and attached photo.
They will pass it to Allianz. My only hope is that the lawyer can fix it up and claim all the expenses to them. My neighbour, the one who is building the house, keeps quiet.
I will update again the news from them.
Have a great day
Best Regards

 

yes I will Phar lap thank you

 

WOW!

They have literally demolished part of your house and your bedroom!

That's major reconstruction required, and there's no question that your building insurance should kick in. The builder needs to definitely do some make safe remediation asap so that your house doesn't get further water damage etc.

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks! I hope you and your family are doing ok!

 

Oh gawd, your lucky you have insurance.

I would be talking to them and let them sort it, they have the muscle to fix up people like this.....

Agree with others, get the peoples details & advise them not to come onto your property at all, also they need to have a temp fence anyway.

unfort this is going to be a pain for you.

Forget about the unsafe part regarding fence, but there could be other things that may collapse as well, I would not be sleeping anywhere near the back part of that house, you need someone to look at the structure, there is going to be damage everywhere, that wall is a major part of the structure. The foundations are impacted too.

eeekkkk someone is in trouble

 

@origin - I think we are all surprised by the insurer response. Can I suggest you call them again and ask to be put through to the complaints department as the situation is dangerous and needs to be urgently addressed. Ask for a response in writing today if they are not able to help you.

 

It is not the neighbour that did it, so they will not have much to say.....unless they are owner builder.

 

This thread should be named "Neighbour's builder demolished my house and fence".

I mean seriously. I really hope you get this sorted and it's in your favour completely.

 

Check the video of this brisbane collapse

https://www.news.com.au/finance/rea...r/news-story/42b2c91037ae57801a0918df910b5bee

That pic paints a nasty picture. Love the cheap flimsy ply as formwork for concerete into sand. I assume no foundations into rock. I would call council in to shut the site down. @origins solictor and even council is probbaly seeking an injunction / orders to halt further works.