Hello everyone and thanks for whatever advice you can offer. My house sits on a corner of a small lane which generally has one car and one tractor pass by per day. It has been like that for the last 22 years. The occasional log lorry, perhaps three per year spaced out over 6 months during the year started to come passed in 2024.
I converted the barn to a dwelling in 2010. It was originally built circa 1900. The small tarmac lane, approximately 2 m wide is jointly cared for between my mairie and the next village via the imaginary line in the middle!
Since December 2024 the forestry work of cutting trees down has increased threefold. I have already had issues with the large log wagons and trailers hitting and damaging my garage (which the companies previously tried to have destroyed so it would be easier for them to pass!!). No one owned up to the damage but it could only have been a high sided vehicle as the damage was from the roof down having possibly been hit by the top log on the trailer. I have repaired the damage and placed warning panels etc but it appears they just drive over them too!
I was informed yesterday by a distant neighbour that in the next two weeks around 40 - 60 lorries will begin removing the felled trees. The road is already showing signs of degradation. I noticed today a crack in the wall on the exposed corner of the house and also a new mark around 3m high on the exposed corner. I have taken photos. My worry is that the increased circulation of lorries risk my house or garage being hit again, the weight damaging the foundations (the lorries are less than 10cm from my house and run like that for the 20m of my house.
I spoke to a local forestry boss (not his company removing the trees) and he said to contact my insurance. I asked why the lorries could not be redirected to turn right into a forestry lane which then adjoins a main forestry track away from all homes ā¦which then joins the RN. He said it would be expensive for them to add more gravel to the 500m of lane to make it usableā¦.to which I replied ā¦but less expensive than repairing my house. Oh well just send an email to your insurer he said. He looked a little flustered when i said i think a letter to the two mairies raising my concerns would be better and perhaps a copy to my insurerā¦but registered or in person signed for.
So my question is : The road was never built to support PL and the planning permissions never considered for this type of vehicle. My property is at risk in my unqualified opinion. I am a foreign lone female of a certain age in rural SW France which sadly does not bode well for me .
How best to approach this without my insurance premiums going through the roof and would I even be covered for damage if they wallop my property againā¦which they have a high chance of doing. Or should I stay quiet and only raise concerns with the Mairie and ask them to propose that the forestry companies improve the connecting forest lanes and not enter the village.
Any advice appreciated
Off the cuffā¦ contact your insurance company and talk this through with them.
Contact your Mairie and talk it through with them.
If the building damage is caused by a logging company, their insurers will be liable (Iād have thought).
I know that when a tree fell down in high winds, it was the Owner of the tree who was liable for the damage to his neighbourās property and also for the damage and closure of the public highwayā¦
The Ownerās Insurance company paid up for the damage caused.
Iāll leave it to others better informed to advise you on the legal aspects of this, but if I were in your position Iād install a camera looking along the side of m house/garage to record damage. Itās illegal to video the public highway, but if the camera caught a tree trunk clunking your property youād have pretty firm grounds to get the loggers activities curtailed. Or at least better care taken.
Good luck with what sounds like a tricky situation. .
I would contact your Marie on monday. In person if you can as being lone female may actually work in your favour. But also write formally by LRAR to your maire and that of next village, plus office national des fƓrets (if it is their woodland). Ask for a diversion, but failing that monitoring, paying for a building expert to assess your house, and official warning signs. And be FRENCH! so polite, but direct, blunt and pushy.
Also as John says cameras pointing at the at risk part of your home also worth doing. But equally note down as best you can the lorries going past and times and dates (without of course putting yourself at risk - so not by standing in middle or road!)
I personally would not contact my insurance until there is damage to report. There is no such thing as an informal conversation with an insurance company as everything is recorded. And they have no role in forcing preventative measures.
You can also raise a āporter plainteā with your local gendarmes again person or persons unknown. They grumble a bit, but they will do it. You describe the damage, take photos, give specific dates and times, then it is up to them to pursue it.
Surely it would do no harm getting clarity that the insurance company would go after the loggers if there is sufficient evidence that the PLs cause/d the damage would at least be some comfort to the OP?
Equally if the insurers ruled out the possibility of such a claim it makes the OPās need for action that much more urgent.
Great idea!
And if no actual damage to report so you are complaining about nuisance you can also depose a main courant, daily if you want, to evidence this nuisance!
It would be their insurance that would have to cough up, but would involve an insurance expert to assess. Itās good youāre keeping photographs, records, and have spoken to the townhall. Make sure everything is in writing (recorded letters), which is more important than verbal exchanges, in case you need it for the insurance and/or potential legal proceedings. Emails and SMS also help in legal situations.
Do you have āprotection juridiqueā with your house insurance? If not, it might be worth getting that before the work begins, although I suspect you might have to wait a period between obtaining this option and actually being able to use it, in which case it may not give you enough time. Just something to consider.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and respond. I think I will prepare a letter and hand it in personally (i will have a second copy stamped and signed for by the mayor to say it was received) being as its 400m from my home.
I will ask the mayoress to liaise with her confrere in the neighbouring village to apply pressure onto the forestry company to avoid the village and make good the link route to the main forest tracks.
I kind of suspected that for now the insurance company is best avoided and as for the local gendarmes, misogyny rules massively and as they couldnāt be bothered to attend an emergency call when my now convicted (and ex) abusive husband was in the process of attacking meā¦I have zero faith in their ability to provide a listening ear. Plus as a result of their incompetence, several were āmoved onā because I made a complaint against themā¦ā¦so I guess I wouldnāt be treated fairly in any event.
Thanks once again and have a lovely fin de weekend!
Fair comment if folk feel uneasy about contacting their own Insuranceā¦
as I understand that situations can and do vary.
Thankfully, our Insurance company has a local office with very helpful staff, who are prepared to discuss how one might resolve whateverā¦ known 'em for years and they are well respected. I know for a fact that they do not class every ādiscussionā as a claim.
In the recent case I quoted, the Neighbourās Insurance company simply asked for the Insurance details of the Owner of the tree and took things from there.
The Original Poster has already suffered damage to the garage and the house has cracks appearingā¦ I hope things can be sorted out before more damage is causedā¦
Even so you are within rights to depose a main courant which doesnāt require them to actually do anything, but can be used in evidence if anything does result in an insurance claim. I can understand this is difficult but perhaps a new non-misogynistic gendarme will be in desk duty that day.
I was fortunate - my gendarme was a young woman, being taught the computer system by a youngish man. She was determined to be even more misogynistic than her male colleague - fierce scowl, pistol on her waistband, monosyllabic. Her colleague was called away and as she laboriously tried to type out my porter plainte with only two fingers of the ten that had the most incredible manicure, I said how wonderful I thought her (very long) nails were. She broke into a glorious smile. Things went very smoothly after that. It is impossible to overdo the flattery.
Can I just take issue with this please and point out that your experience in Eymet is absolutely NOT how it generally works in France. If you contact your insurers it WILL be logged as a claim and WILL affect your premium. Unless of course you are just getting in touch to wish them a Merry Christmasā¦
Sorry to nitpick but I feel uncomfortable when established members post information that new readers may seize on as being gospel when that simply isnāt the case.
thatās just standardā¦ nothing to do with hating womenā¦