Good fences ...

H

Henny Penny

Registered User
Messages
559
... make good neighbours.
I live next door to an elderly couple. Whenever they have their nephew or grandchildren over, they think nothing of popping the youngsters over the fence into my garden to play on my childrens' swings etc. No such thing as ask first or stay with the children while they are in.
My gripe is two-fold. Firstly the arrogance of it ... I'm not a babysitting service. Secondly while it's not nice to be the child on the outside looking in, it's not my problem. If one of those children is hurt on my property I am liable.
Just having a general rant. Thanks
 
Blimey. That would annoy.

Ask them to go fifty-fifty with you on the cost of putting up a decent wall between you.
 
If I was you then, as soon as I noticed the child(ren?) in my garden, I'd return him/her (them?) to their rightful guardians explaining that they had strayed into my garden by mistake. With a pleasant smile at all times of course!
 
Sorry to jump into your post like that Henry Penny but I have a question regarding the liability. If I understand you correctly, anyone who enters in your property without your agreement and something happens to them you are liable, is it correct ?
 
Samantha,

Anyone who enters your property invited or uninvited can hold you liable if they are injured.
 
Yep,

There have been instances of burglars, getting injured and then claiming off the owners of the house they were robbing. There were a few cases like this in England, not 100% sure how the law stands here though
 
Yes - I remember a Dublin case a few years back where a kid retrieved a ball from someone's garden. In doing so he climbed over her wall which was topped with a metal fence & injured himself. His parents sued and won.
 
I dealt with a case a few years ago when a guy broke into a betting office. In doing so he forsed up the window shutter and whilst climing in, the shutter fell down on top of him. He sued the betting shop owners and was awarded over 10K in a out of court settlement.
 
I really don't think it is fair if someone enters without permission in your property and get injured, he/she can sued you. Can you sue them back for causing your hassle/stress, I wonder
 
I can see what argument the boy (who harmed himself on the fence) and the betting office burgular would present, ie we have an injury incurred on your property therefore your responsibility. What I dont understand is in both cases the damage was done entering/exiting the property from a legal point of view in both those cases couldnt the property owners have argued and won saying that proper entry and exit facilities are provided to the property (ie front door, back door) and that they are not liable should the proper facilities not be used. (and then show that they have a safe front door etc)? ie walls and windows are not safe entry and exit points anywhere.
 
I think that Clubman's suggestion should be your 1t course of action & remaining polie about it. Don't use it as an opportunity to vent. If they do mention that there is no ham in it, you could add that you couldn't bbe responsible if anything happened to them & that if they had an accident that it would be your insurance premium that would suffer. Hopefully they will understand your situation. Don't let yourself get cajoled into letting them have the run about.

You could also mention that Argos (or Woodies or whoever!) have a great deal on swings & slides at the moment etc...
ninsaga
 
I Know a dude who could sort you out with some savage Razor wire.....

That seems to keep them out of our garden ......!!!
 
You are not allowed to place what are considered man-traps in places where a child could access, e.g. on top of your garden wall. That seems quite reasonable to me. It would not be ok for a child to loose two or three fingers while retrieving their ball from your garden.
However it is legal to have a large dog that can eat any unwanted children who venture into your garden as an Irish family found out in England a year or so back when their child was killed getting a football from the garden next door.

Clubman's suggestion is still by far the best one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top