My neighbour stole half a metre of my backyard when he changed his fence. What ought to I do? DEAN DUNHAM KC replies

I agreed to pay half the £2,200 cost of replacing a fence that I share with my nextdoor neighbour. 

However, it was installed in the wrong place, about half a metre into my garden. 

I refused to pay as my neighbour has stolen part of my land, but he says he will take me to small claims court. What shall I do?

Name and address supplied.

For your neighbour to succeed in the small claims court, he would need to prove that a binding agreement existed between you, clearly establish the terms of that agreement and show that you breached those terms by failing to pay the £1,100. 

This is where his case is likely to fall apart.

Fence fight: A reader’s neighbour is demanding he pays half the cost of a new fence, despite the fact it was installed in the wrong place taking half a metre of the garden (file picture) 

A fundamental term of any such agreement would have been that the fence was installed in the correct position. 

If the fence has been placed incorrectly then it is your neighbour, not you, who is in breach. Until that issue is put right, you are entitled to withhold payment.

However, there is a more important issue at stake. 

Once a fence is erected on your land without your consent, the matter goes beyond a simple payment dispute and becomes a question of boundary encroachment. 

If left unchallenged, this could have serious long-term implications for your legal ownership of that strip of land. 

Adverse possession, where someone may eventually claim ownership through continued occupation, can begin with situations exactly such as this if they are not addressed.

You should act promptly and decisively. Start by instructing a qualified surveyor to confirm the true boundary and provide written evidence of any encroachment. 

Then write formally to your neighbour, ideally by recorded delivery, stating your position and requiring them to either reposition the fence or remove it altogether. Ensure you keep records of all correspondence, too.

If your neighbour refuses to co-operate, you may need to escalate matters through a formal boundary dispute, either via the courts or the Land Registry. 

Crucially, do not allow yourself to be pressured into paying for a fence that encroaches on your land. Doing so could be interpreted as acceptance of its current position.

Electricity thief plugged into my car charger 

I was charging my car at a motorway service station recently and someone parked next to me, took the charger out and plugged it into their vehicle.

Is there any way to get my money back?

K.M., Gloucester.

This is an increasingly common issue with electric vehicles, but the legal position is likely simpler than it first appears. 

The charging point operator, whether that’s Gridserve, Osprey, BP Pulse or another provider, has a contractual obligation to supply the service you paid for. 

If a third party disrupts that service, the operator has effectively failed to deliver what you purchased. As a result, you’re entitled to a refund for any unused charging time or electricity you didn’t receive.

Your first step should be to contact the operator directly, explain the situation and request a refund. Most reputable providers have customer support teams experienced in handling these kinds of disputes and will usually resolve the matter easily.

If they refuse or fail to respond, you can escalate the issue. The method you used to pay is important here. 

If you paid by credit card and the transaction exceeded £100, you may be able to rely on Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. For smaller amounts, requesting a chargeback through your bank is often a practical alternative.

In either case, you need to explain to the card provider that you have been charged for electricity that you did not receive and that this amounts to a breach of contract. 

You could add that the operator had a duty to put measures in place to prevent electricity theft and that it has clearly failed in this regard.

As for the individual who unplugged your vehicle, their actions could amount to theft of a service or, at the very least, interference with your contractual rights. 

However, the primary victim in legal terms is the charging point operator. It would be up to them to report the matter to the police or to pursue the individual to recover the cost of the electricity taken.