WorriedNeighbour

Thanks, Folks, you have been wonderfully supportive so far! Insurance company it is tomorrow as well, am going to exploit every avenue, and yes, took lots of photos as soon as the damage was noticed and it was dry enough to not need an underwater camera Any more bright ideas? Please send them in, and I am going to report on the outcome, of course, so that other people can benefit from it.

Am in London. Will follow HCR's advice and try to get a free initial consultation with a solicitor tomorrow. Also have a free appointment with an assessor from a local tree surgeon company to get an estimate, and he can probably already confirm that the tree is absolutely unsafe.

One of my neighbours has a tree (very high evergreen, no idea what it is) that borders 3 properties, and parts of it could fall into any of the 3 gardens. A few years ago, a huge branch fell off and into my garden, damaging some plants, and a man (tenant?) came to remove it, making quite a mess. I told him the tree had many more dead branches and needed checking, but he just shrugged. During the storm last weekend, the whole top of the tree fell off, a chunk 2 metres long, approximately 40/50 cm in diameter, definitely enough to kill somebody. It landed on my shed, destroyed the shed roof and damaged several long established plants. I sent a note to the owner who lives in the road behind and got an abusive call back, telling me to sort out the mess myself, and he would neither pay for any damage nor a tree inspection. What is the legal situation? What does he have to pay for? Can I force him to get the tree chunk removed by a professional to avoid further damage? What can I do? Can I have the tree chunk removed myself, get a new shed and plants and claim the cost in court? I am struggling financially as it is and fear he will never pay up. Any specific procedures? Even after the incident, the tree is still 7 meters high and looks very dangerous with many dead branches. It is an obvious health and safety risk. My neighbours have a 2-year-old who has a playing area at the back of the garden, pretty much directly next to the tree, and we are all very worried that more bits will fall off. We called the local council, but they do not get involved with trees in private gardens at all. What can we do to force him to have the tree inspected? Do we need to follow certain procedures? Can we get a court order and, if so, through which kind of court? Please help, even if you can only answer some of my questions.