Help! Neighbours drain was cleaned and caused ours to block.

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15 Jun 2013
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Location
Plymouth
Country
United Kingdom
I'm after some advice as to where I stand with regards to my drainage problem. I live in a semi detached house on a council estate. Tonight the household 2 doors up from me had their drains pressure cleaned by a professional company. I could hear the work being done for what seemed like hours and thought nothing of it. Roughly half an hour after the contractors had left I noticed a sewer type smell as I walked past my front door. Upon opening the front door I was greeted with a massive stream of black foul smelling water which had come up from our drain. The drain in question is the one for the roof gutter water to escape into via the drainpipe.

Also within the stream of water was a gritty type sludge and there was a lot of it. Obviously I couldn't leave it like that all night so I got my garden hose and broom and cleaned it up into the back garden which slopes downhill. I then checked my drain and found it to be overflown. I pushed a stick into the drain and found it to be full of grit/sand which is causing the blockage.

I'm wondering where I stand legally in this situation now. Is this now a problem in which I will be told it's up to me to pay to get it unblocked? Or is this something the contractors should sort out as my drainage was fine until they started working tonight. The house which was having the work done is a council house but I own my home and am worried I will be told the blockage is my responsibility and will be left with a hefty bill! Any advice much appreciated.

Lee
 
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This is a difficult situation!

Firstly you need to advise the contractors what has happened and see if they will do anything.

If they will not then you will have an uphill task proving in legal terms that your drain problem is connected to the work being done.

You can always write to the council telling them that you hold them responsible for the problem and damage done to your property. In theory they will send their insurance agents to inspect.

One thing you do need to do is to keep careful receipts for anything you spend and to ensure damaged carpets are kept to be inspected.

My experience is that 80% of people will just spend what is needed to put the plumbing right and claim for carpets and cleaning on their household insurance. Most policies have a £300 excess!

Best of luck!

Tony
 
is your drain shared
as in your blockage is in a part off the drain where others waste flows through that section
if so its the responsibility off your water company housing association or council
 
Surely some legal advice would be better than plumbing advice
 
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. The house which was having the work done is a council house but I own my home and am worried I will be told the blockage is my responsibility and will be left with a hefty bill! Any advice much appreciated.

Lee
First place to check is the local Water Authority - they will " probably " have adopted the drain a couple of years ago - this was a Nationwide policy that they like to keep quiet about ;) ;) Their website should have a diagram explaining . . Like Big All said - then it`s the council , and their contractors . As to the mess and damage , that`s your Insurance co.
 
Yep, as above contact your water provider and local council.

All shared drains were taken away from the house holder in Oct 2011.

Andy
 
Thank you for all the advice guys, much appreciated. The UKDN contractors arrived again this morning and I decided to mention the problem to them. They were great about it and said the blockage must be due to a build up in the line from further down. They unblocked it for me and all is now sorted :)
 

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