Neighbour helping with DIY - legal implications?

[anonymous-user]

Hi Chaps,

A neighbour has kindly offered to help with replacing our guttering - when the weather finally allows!

However, I'm having second thoughts, wondering what the implications are should he fall and break a leg - or worse...

Would I be liable for his injuries; do I have a 'duty of care' towards him, even though he's doing it 'as a favour'?

I could really do with his help, but in today's litigious world I thought I should get some opinions!

[Boosted LS1]

Have you got house insurance? As for the neighbour I guess you have a duty to make things as safe as possible but you're not responsible if he does anything careless or reckless imo.

[grumpyscot]

How we suffer from one of the worst imports from the USA - always blame somebody else for your failure, and sue the backsides off them.

Whatever happend to taking responsibility for your own actions?

[Drumroll]

280E said:

Hi Chaps,

A neighbour has kindly offered to help with replacing our guttering - when the weather finally allows!

However, I'm having second thoughts, wondering what the implications are should he fall and break a leg - or worse...

Would I be liable for his injuries; do I have a 'duty of care' towards him, even though he's doing it 'as a favour'?

I could really do with his help, but in today's litigious world I thought I should get some opinions!

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

[anonymous-user]

Drumroll said:

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

Quite possibly - but if he were to lose his ability to earn a living though falling off a ladder supplied by myself, then his family may see things differently!

[BoRED S2upid]

Drumroll said:

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

This I hope. Good grief is this how people think nowadays?

[Drumroll]

280E said:

Drumroll said:

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

Quite possibly - but if he were to lose his ability to earn a living though falling off a ladder supplied by myself, then his family may see things differently!

I can only suggest you pay somebody to do it then.

Your nervousness about doing this is likely to make you end up doing something silly.

[anonymous-user]

Sadly, there have been many instances where 'common sense' hasn't prevailed in negligence claims.

In the past I've freely helped out with car/DIY repairs for friends & family without a second thought. Had I chopped a hand off doing so, I'd just have blamed my own carelessness - and been thankful I still had another one!

[Panamax]

If you're supplying the ladder you'd be well advised to make sure it's a suitable one and can be used safely for the job. I thought there was a strong preference for use of "towers" these days. My limited understanding is that if a ladder is used there should be proper arrangements for securing it to the wall so it can't slip. There's advice about ladders in HSE guidance on this link,
https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/ladders/type...

It's also worth reading your home insurance policy.

[Leptons]

BoRED S2upid said:

Drumroll said:

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

This I hope. Good grief is this how people think nowadays?

+1

Absolutely bizarre.

[E-bmw]

Unfortunately yes. There are far too many people out there who decide not to use common sense & then seek someone to blame rather than take responsibility for their own actions.

[deckster]

The simple fact is that yes, you do have a duty of care towards anybody entering your property. But that doesn't automatically mean that anything that happens is your fault. If you supplied a ladder which failed and caused him to fall then I daresay you would have some liability; if he chopped his leg off with his own chainsaw then less so.

The good news is that your house insurance will definitely have a couple of million or more of public liability insurance thrown in that will cover you in exactly this situation. So don't worry about it.

[CraigyMc]

280E said:

Drumroll said:

My opinion is you are overthinking this, many people help out neighbours without ending up suing them.

Quite possibly - but if he were to lose his ability to earn a living though falling off a ladder supplied by myself, then his family may see things differently!

The only suitable course of action here is to intentionally disable him before he can use the ladder, then you're off the hook.

Jesus wept.

100% removal of all risk from life at the cost of being a totally asocial robot is guaranteed failure. We simply did not evolve this way and aren't built for it.

[Griffith4ever]

280E said:

in today's litigious world

you mean the USA? because I'd not say you are describing the UK.

But hey, it's your call. When he turns up to be a nice helpful neighbour, you should dutifully hand him his hard hat, high viz, then send him off on his working at heights training course, and demand to see an up to day ticket for any machinery he uses.


You do have to wonder how much people let the fear of something happening actually outweight the reality. I watched an episode of The Gadget Show the other day (I know, I know, it was just on at the time I was there) - they had a couple "testing" battery pressure washers. They made them wear safety goggles (the full on enclosed types you use in a lab), ear defenders and hard hats - to clean theri own cars, and patios - with a battery pressure washer.......

[paulrockliffe]

deckster said:

The simple fact is that yes, you do have a duty of care towards anybody entering your property. But that doesn't automatically mean that anything that happens is your fault. If you supplied a ladder which failed and caused him to fall then I daresay you would have some liability; if he chopped his leg off with his own chainsaw then less so.

The good news is that your house insurance will definitely have a couple of million or more of public liability insurance thrown in that will cover you in exactly this situation. So don't worry about it.

No chance your home insurance covers you sending someone up a ladder to do work.

[Rough101]

Recent prosecution of a householder who had a wall collapse on someone helping out (for a few quid).

Householder failed to get any structural advice for the alterations, wall blew over on to a cash in hand labourer.

[Ruskie]

If I am helping someone by going up a ladder, and I fall off, then it’s my fault for not taking appropriate precautions, or it’s my mistake. Utterly bizarre that I would be interested in a legal claim and someone.

[Rough101]

Ruskie said:

If I am helping someone by going up a ladder, and I fall off, then it’s my fault for not taking appropriate precautions, or it’s my mistake. Utterly bizarre that I would be interested in a legal claim and someone.

Might be your dependents suing if you end up in a coma for a year and they are losing the house though, rather than you claiming for a twisted ankle out of spite.

Things can get desperate for people, although yes, many claims are spurious money grabbing attempts.

[Mr_J]

Rough101 said:

Recent prosecution of a householder who had a wall collapse on someone helping out (for a few quid).

Householder failed to get any structural advice for the alterations, wall blew over on to a cash in hand labourer.

The scale of the work being undertaken in that case were significantly greater than replacing guttering. Evidenced by the home owner being prosecuted under CDM 2015.

[Sheepshanks]

280E said:

In the past I've freely helped out with car/DIY repairs for friends & family without a second thought. Had I chopped a hand off doing so, I'd just have blamed my own carelessness - and been thankful I still had another one!

Have you got any dependents - what would they think if you unable to earn a living?