Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the drain
was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt want to
know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under the bus
stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken

On 19 Feb, 21:38, "Ken" wrote:
Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the drain
was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt want to
know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under the bus
stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken

I would be inclined to run a new pipe from the soil stack etc along
the surface and left it discharging onto the public footpath at the
end of your property. Then see how long it would take them to come out
and fix the drain.

dg

"Ken" wrote:
Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the
drain was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt
want to know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under
the bus stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will
cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken

If your insurance company must be as daft as Southern Water.

Ken wrote:
Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the drain
was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt want to
know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under the bus
stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken


My daughter had a very similar
experience with Southern Water. They
seem
to have a policy of trying to fob
their customers off, she persisted &
they
eventually came out & fixed it. They
also refunded the money she paid to
a private contractor who couldn't
clear the blockage.

"Ken" wrote:
Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the
drain was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt
want to know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under
the bus stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will
cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken

If the boundary of your property does extend to include the bus stop then
the drains are your responsibility and you should be charging the bus
company for the use of your property. If the boundary of your property
doesn't extend to include the bus stop then the drains are not on your
property and therefore are not your responsibility.

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:48:18 -0000, Legal wrote:

If the boundary of your property does extend to include the bus stop
then the drains are your responsibility and you should be charging the
bus company for the use of your property.

Unless there is a right in the deeds...

If the boundary of your property doesn't extend to include the bus stop
then the drains are not on your property and therefore are not your
responsibility.

How old are these drains? Google back in here for other information.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Feb 20, 7:48 am, "Legal" ? wrote:
"Ken" wrote:
Hi,

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the
drain was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt
want to know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under
the bus stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will
cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

ken

If the boundary of your property does extend to include the bus stop then
the drains are your responsibility and you should be charging the bus
company for the use of your property. If the boundary of your property
doesn't extend to include the bus stop then the drains are not on your
property and therefore are not your responsibility.

And this posted under the pseudonym of "Legal"...

Your drain is your drain (and thus your responsibility) until it hits
a public sewer, within your property or not.

I imagine if the council did a really poor job of maintaining the road
and this
contributed to a collapse, or someone identifiable ran a 44tonne HGV
over the pavement, then you might be able to claim some or all back,
but it'd be best left to your insurers anyway. One might hope there's
no excess for claims outside the property boundary.

--
"I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go."

On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:38:11 UTC, "Ken"
wrote:

Just to pass on my recent experience regarding a blocked drain. Had a
blockage, drain man came out and could'nt shift it. The blockage was out
under the road. Southern water came out, they could'nt shift it. They told
me it was my responsibility even though it was in the road. I got on to
Southern water who assured me it was my problem. I told them that the drain
was right under the bus stop out-side my house. They still did'nt want to
know. Drain man put a camera down and found collapsed drains under the bus
stop, now they have to dig up the road. Luckily my insurance will cover it.

So beware--check whose responsibility your drains are.

They are yours - all the way up to where they join the public sewer
(usually in the road). If part of that is used by two or more
properties, that part is a shared sewer, and it's the joint
responsibility of the owners of the said properties.

The only exception is pre 1937 (ISTR) properties, where shared sewers
are the water company's responsibility. You can Google for more details.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:48:18 UTC, "Legal" ? wrote:

If the boundary of your property does extend to include the bus stop then
the drains are your responsibility and you should be charging the bus
company for the use of your property. If the boundary of your property
doesn't extend to include the bus stop then the drains are not on your
property and therefore are not your responsibility.

In a word - rubbish.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Owain wrote:

Dave Liquorice wrote:
Legal wrote:
If the boundary of your property does extend to include the bus stop
then the drains are your responsibility and you should be charging
the bus company for the use of your property.
Unless there is a right in the deeds...

A right in the deeds for the bus company to park their buses wouldn't
extend to them having a right to damage the drains.

Owain

Yes, but the bus company isn't using his property, is it? It's using the
public highway!

As others have pointed out, a householder's responsibility for the drains
doesn't stop at the property boundary - it stops at the public sewer, which
may well be outside the boundary.

My house is one of four which are served by private foul and storm drains,
both of which join their respective public sewers on my property. I and the
other 3 householders are jointly responsible for the *whole* of these
private drains.

Another private sewer - which *doesn't* serve any of the immediate 4
properties happens to join the public sewer under my back garden. A few
years ago, this needed to be repaired - and the householders further up the
road, whose properties *are* served by it, had to pay for the repairs.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Thanks for all you replies. I have received it in writing to-day that the
drain is my responsibility until it connects to the sewer. My drain goes
under the public footpath and then on under the road where it connects to
the sewer. My house is pre 1937 but not a shared drain, so really I am
stuffed. I just find it astounding that busses, lorries or whatever can
charge up the road, utility companies can dig up to lay their cables but I
am responsible if anything goes wrong with the drain.

ken

Ken wrote:
Thanks for all you replies. I have received it in writing to-day that the
drain is my responsibility until it connects to the sewer. My drain goes
under the public footpath and then on under the road where it connects to
the sewer. My house is pre 1937 but not a shared drain, so really I am
stuffed. I just find it astounding that busses, lorries or whatever can
charge up the road, utility companies can dig up to lay their cables but I
am responsible if anything goes wrong with the drain.

ken



Difficult to believe that something under the public footpath can be
yours. Presumably they won't mind if you dig it up and have a look.

If only Stuart. To dig it up you have to be a registered contractor with all
that entails. I should also make it clear that the camera pictures do show
the drain collapsed at about 3 feet into the road.

ken

"Stuart Noble" wrote in message
...
Ken wrote:
Thanks for all you replies. I have received it in writing to-day that the
drain is my responsibility until it connects to the sewer. My drain goes
under the public footpath and then on under the road where it connects to
the sewer. My house is pre 1937 but not a shared drain, so really I am
stuffed. I just find it astounding that busses, lorries or whatever can
charge up the road, utility companies can dig up to lay their cables but
I am responsible if anything goes wrong with the drain.

Difficult to believe that something under the public footpath can be
yours. Presumably they won't mind if you dig it up and have a look.

Friends had this - tree roots had blocked the drain, and needed it fettling
up to the join to the main sewer in the middle of the road (4 lane main
road). Fortunately this is covered by insurance. The drain people wanted to
dig it all up and replace it cleanly - unfortunately the road had just been
resurfaced, so the council told them to bugger off. They had to do it the
slow way...

(lessons learned from them : don't just use a famous drainage company -
they're likely to be **** (possibly literally :-) ). Find the one the
council use.)

cheers,
clive

Ken wrote:
If only Stuart. To dig it up you have to be a registered contractor with all
that entails. I should also make it clear that the camera pictures do show
the drain collapsed at about 3 feet into the road.

ken



I was chatting to the contractor replacing the mains water supply
outside my son's house the other day. They had everything dug up right
up to his front wall i.e. 6 feet of road plus the pavement. He wasn't
even told it was going to happen, let alone being asked to pay for it.

I know you've been told in writing, but this just doesn't seem to make
any sense. If only the water company is qualified/equipped to do the
job, how much do they want to do it? What do your insurance company think?

On 20 Feb, 19:34, "Ken" wrote:
If only Stuart. To dig it up you have to be a registered contractor with all
that entails. I should also make it clear that the camera pictures do show
the drain collapsed at about 3 feet into the road.

ken

Ken, can I just ask how much you paid for the camera survey ? I want
to have a look at the public sewer whose inspection manhole is in my
back garden. I will be building near it, and need to ensure the water
authority cannot blame me for any damage that may be present. I got
let of the compulsory camera survey, which would have cost more due to
"registered contractors" and "examination fee" (wouldnt you just know
it), but I'd still like the pictures filed and peace of mind.
Hope you also get some of that soon !
Cheers,
Simon.

On Feb 21, 10:53 am, Stuart Noble
wrote:
Ken wrote:
If only Stuart. To dig it up you have to be a registered contractor with all
that entails. I should also make it clear that the camera pictures do show
the drain collapsed at about 3 feet into the road.

I was chatting to the contractor replacing the mains water supply
outside my son's house the other day. They had everything dug up right
up to his front wall i.e. 6 feet of road plus the pavement. He wasn't
even told it was going to happen, let alone being asked to pay for it.

I know you've been told in writing, but this just doesn't seem to make
any sense. If only the water company is qualified/equipped to do the
job, how much do they want to do it? What do your insurance company think?

Water is the responsibility of the utility company up to their
stopcock which is usually very close to the property boundary. Gas
and electricity services are of course the responsibility of the
company up to their meter.

Drains are different, and enshrined in some Victorian-era law. A
drain is private until it hits a public sewer, however far away that
is. This is rather unfair on the homeowner as drain owner who of
course has no say whatsoever on what goes on by way of excavations,
road re-laying, etc. But I would imagine you should be able to bring
a civic court case against any party who damaged your drain even
though it was lying underneath a public highway. Best be insured,
though.

--
"You can tune a guitar, but you cant tuna fish."

On 21 Feb 2007 03:59:47 -0800 Sm_jamieson wrote :
Ken, can I just ask how much you paid for the camera survey ? I want
to have a look at the public sewer whose inspection manhole is in my
back garden. I will be building near it, and need to ensure the water
authority cannot blame me for any damage that may be present. I got
let of the compulsory camera survey, which would have cost more due to
"registered contractors" and "examination fee" (wouldnt you just know
it), but I'd still like the pictures filed and peace of mind.

http://www.direct-drains.co.uk/charges.htm quote £120

http://www.firstexpress.co.uk/pressure.htm quote £175

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk