Boundary dispute - who pays costs?

[ToastMan]

I've recently had a boundary dispute with my neighbour. We had our driveway constructed and unfortunately it encroached a pocket of my neighbours land. This was not done intentionally and was based on previous plans submitted to planning rather than land registry plans.

They appointed a surveyor and the first I heard of the issue was via a solicitors letter. At no point has my neighbour attempted to discuss the issue with me.

I have since rectified the encroachment, however my neighbour is now insisting I pay their damages and costs (surveyor).

Where do I stand with this - I fully believe that if my neighbour had engaged with myself we would have resolved this. Can they take me to court to settle their fees even though we have rectified the issue?

[atticus]

You can only be made to pay costs by a court order. I suppose that these neighbours could take you to court for damages for your trespass.

Much depends on the kind of relations you want to have with your neighbours. Would you consider offering a contribution?

[ToastMan]

Thanks for the reply - would that be the case even though my neighbour instructed a solicitor and surveyor without even attempting to talk to us? (which they haven't done as of yet). The first we heard about the encroachment was via letter when a surveyor had already compiled a report.

[atticus]

Possibly.

Would you consider offering a contribution?

[R0b]

Thanks for the reply - would that be the case even though my neighbour instructed a solicitor and surveyor without even attempting to talk to us? (which they haven't done as of yet). The first we heard about the encroachment was via letter when a surveyor had already compiled a report.

Just chiming in my piece in addition to what has already been said, in a dispute, there is a general principle that an injured party is under a duty to mitigate their losses. It is not a duty per se as there is no positive obligation on the injured party but what the courts will say, is that they will not award any losses that could have been reasonably avoided.

In my view, there is an argument that by failing to reach out to you in the first instance and having that initial conversation about it, your neighbour unreasonably incurred losses that could have been avoided, especially if you and your neighbour were on speaking terms. The flip side to that is if the relationship between you and your neighbour were hostile to each other, then it's possible a court may take the position that the losses could not have reasonably been avoided, but that would be a question of fact and how hostile both parties are to each other such that it was not possible to try to resolve it informally.

Personally, that would be my starting position as a response, assuming you are on reasonable terms with the neighbour. Of course there is always a risk that the neighbour may take you to court anyway to try and recover those losses if you refused so you have to bear that in mind.

Out of curiosity, what are the damages being claimed by the neighbour? Where there has been a trespass to land, courts will award nominal damages if the injured party has suffered no loss at all and those nominal damages are a reflection of an acknowledgment a trespass has occurred. You mention that the encroachment was a pocked of land but don't say how big the pocket is. If the pocked is minimal and the neighbour hasn't got any specific use or loss of use as a result of the encroachment, I'm not sure how they could claim anything more than a nominal amount. If these damages are what you would call significant, you may want to get the solicitor to explain how they have arrived at that decision, whilst still denying liability per above if that is your intention.

As Atticus has said, you could offer a small contribution in full and final settlement, but if the sums claimed are less than £10k then it would also be a risk for the neighbour since they wouldn't be able to recover their legal fees even if they were successful, which may or may exceed if not close to the damages and costs being claimed.