Ha ha, exactly! I report the lorry, but no news about that at all.
Oh dear, don’t open that can of worms 
Thankfully Mark Rimmer is no longer on the site.
1 Like
You say that you have a written admission of liability from the vehicle owner, but I think it would be helpful if you could tell us what form this written admission takes. Is it a letter delivered to you by post, or an e-mail you received. In either case it is essential that you preserve this item of correspondence. If anyone asks to see it, then send them a copy, but do not relinquish possession of the original.
You say that you do not have this person’s address, so if you received a letter, did it not have the sender’s address in the heading somewhere ? Also, as you have the name of the company, an internet search will quickly reveal the registered office address of the company to which you can send correspondence.
With reference to “a case has been made against me for my wall being in wrong place and height”, have you received any written official notification of this, or is it something that you have been told by word of mouth ?
If you have not received any official papers then it may well be a scare tactic that is simply untrue.
I believe that in most reasonable legal systems it is a requirement that the prospective defendant be informed in writing, and at an early stage of proceedings, about the precise nature of any case being made against them so that they have an adequate opportunity to mount a defense.
If you have received paperwork, then those papers will state who has laid a complaint against you, and also give the details of to whom the complaint has been made. (Which court, Tribunal, or other administrative body.)
If you have received such papers, then it is essential that you have them fully and correctly translated, as they may contain instructions for you to make some sort of reply, and/or inform you of time limits within which you need to take certain actions. Failing to comply with any time limits given may make you liable by default.
Clearly you need to bring the appropriate paperwork together in order to be able to deal with this matter.
Namely;
- A copy of the Acte de Vente for your house to prove that you are the owner of the land on which the wall stands.
- A copy of your original planning application to construct the wall.
- The receipt (Recipise) that you were given to acknowledge that you had deposited the planning application at the Mairie.
- The letter you received from the Mairie that informed you that planning permission had been granted.
- A copy of the Plan Cadastral that shows the boundaries of your property. (This would have been in the file of papers for the original planning application.)
- Any paperwork you have from the builder who constructed the wall, including the initial Devis and the final Facture upon completion of the work.
- Printed copies of any relevant photographs that you have showing the vehicle involved, the damage incurred, and hopefully one taken earlier that shows the wall to be in good order.
- A written estimate (Devis) from a builder to indicate the cost of repairing the wall.
- Any paperwork you may have from the two witnesses you mentioned in your original post here. If you do not have any paperwork from them, then as a matter of some urgency you should ask the witnesses to give you a written account of what they saw and heard, especially in relation to the actions of the vehicle driver immediately after the impact, and of any conversation they may have had with him.
Whoever may end up representing you will need sight of all of the above mentioned items.
Additionally, there is a tried and trusted method of dealing with an obstructive opponent which is simply to drown them in paperwork.
At the end of the day, he who has the proof, namely the paperwork, will prevail.
So don’t be frightened, and don’t worry too much. Just amass all the paperwork to support your position and you will be fine, provided that you take steps to ensure that you fully understand every word of any French language correspondence you may receive.
8 Likes
100% correct (unfortunately). Being with a French insurance company also guarantee some degree of security to the client as the client would have access to the French ombudsman and for free (it’s called le “médiateur de l’assurance”) 
2 Likes
Many of the Lloyds brokers did that (not necessarily Brussel though but creating a subsidiary in the EU). Some went bankrupt and others are still operating from “abroad”… I would not want to deal with the last type of brokers in France 
1 Like
Re: @Robert_Hodge’s post above.
That looks to be about the best, most comprehensive, advice that you will get anywhere short of someone legally qualified in France.
I note that you have found a conciliateur1 - hopefully they will be able to help or, if not, point you in the right direction. That seems to be a very positive move.
1] I’m not 100% clear on their role - seems to be one of arbitration - which suggests the possibility of “give” on both sides of the dispute.
1 Like
If you want to send a recorded delivey when not in france, create an account with la poste and you can send an electronic recorded delivey - it works as normal - used it to cancel sfr
Yes, discussed above - seems to be a good service.
I can only commiserate.
Three years after I reported a damaged wall (plus worse) matter, like yours in some ways, to the Mairie and the High Court prosecutor, I have met with nothing but inertia / inaction.
When directed to an advocate through my insurance company I was met with a similar degree of inertia and inaction.
I think it’s an ‘Erin Brockovich’ state of affairs, where stone walling by the responsible authorities can weary 90% of those who seek action and deliver a shorter less complicated working week for them. And it was evident long before Covid struck so no excuses there.
I see what you did there 
6 Likes
Very dry
4 Likes
[quote=“Porridge, post:52, topic:41733, full:true”]
Martini?
I thought more on these lines…
4 Likes
On the rocks!
2 Likes
Dry stone wall - classic feature of the British campagne.
Same problem here. Water mains sprung a leak and flooded my basement. They said I had to get my insurer to claim against Veolia’s. I have heard tales about insurers upping the premium subsequent to a third party claim so I let the matter drop. But this time it happened again and it appears that now I have to get my insurer to pay the mairie for the pompiers who pumped the water out and then get refunded by Veolia. Any water damage would be separate claim. Daft. Life is too short.
Hi thank you for your response Fabian, however I believe Lloyds would not underwrite insurance for a French address if not kosher? Yes dumb of me not renew insurance earlier but I did try and the French route took ages , not speaking French, slow, lunch breaks etc, However I was there and thought complete when got home as the French insurance always most time consuming and expensive. By the way French policies are cheaper…just very long to complete and prefer to speak English on a claim.
Oh no!! seems so unfair
had 3