Raising an Injunction (Stopping Next Doors Property Ext'n)

[Pro Bono]

Breadvan72 said:

OP, to add to what Lurking Lawyer said above, you should be under no illusion about the cost or difficulty of litigation. An application for an injunction would easily cost five figures, and to obtain an interim injunction you would have to promise to pay any damages caused to the opposing party if it later turns out that an injunction should not have been granted.

It's simply not correct that an application for an injunction "would easily cost five figures." For a start, most applications for injunctions are settled at a very early stage without there being a contested hearing. That's particularly the case in a situation like this, where the defendant (the neighbour) is very clearly in the wrong, so that an injunction would be awarded almost automatically.

The usual outcome is that the defendant gives an "undertaking" to the court. This is a legally binding promise that's the equivalent of an injunction.

In practice, it's very unlikely that proceedings would even have to be issued. A solicitor's letter would probably do the trick, as it will probably prompt the neighbour to take legal advice, which will be to the effect that they're banged to rights and they should just apologize and comply with the PWA requirements.

Even if an application did have to be issued that's probably as far as it would go, for the same reasons.

I'd estimate the cost of getting a solicitor's letter to them at around £250 + VAT, which you should (if so inclined) be able to reclaim from the neighbour. If you wanted to issue an application for an injunction the court fee is £308, and I'd estimate the solicitors' charges at around £1,000 - £1,500 + VAT, depending on where you are and what sort of firm you use. It's a fairly simple application, and you shouldn't need to involve a barrister at the issue stage.

However do NOT try to do it yourself. You can't issue online, and you need to know what you're doing.

As it's 99% certain the claim would be settled without a hearing you should be able to recover most or all of your legal fees as part of the overall deal. However, as has been said, you should check if you have legal expenses insurance - this is often bundled with your contents policy. If you do have such cover you MUST notify them of the claim ASAP and ideally before you start employing solicitors, as if you fail to do so they may deny cover.

Let us know how you get on.

[anonymous-user]

I suspect that you have little or no real life litigation experience.