Collapsed drain

paulac_3

My Dad has been having problems with a blocked drain for several years now and has been rodding it on a regular basis to keep it clear.

Being a pensioner he was worried about the cost of repair. He suspected the drain had collapsed when his neighbour had his patio built, approached the neighbour who, very kindly, told Dad that it was not his problem as the drain only served Dad's property.

Anyway, a friend of mine recently had the same problem and had it all sorted out on her house insurance, so I persuaded Dad to contact his insurers too to get it all sorted, since he is about to sell the house to move into a bungalow. The insurers sent out a surveryor who said the collapse (on the neighbour's property as Dad thought) was due to wear and tear and also that there is an incorrect fall on the drain. The insurers wont cover it!

Now I feel terrible that I've made things worse - Dad will have to tell any prospective buyers about this which could affect the sale of his house, or will have to put it right beforehand. Does anyone have any idea how much it could cost to repair the drain and is it absolutely necessary to correct the fall? The house is a semi, built in the 70's.

Thanks for any advice

Tayus

Right, first off, im no expert but do have a rough idea of these things. The drain shouldnt cost too much to repair as it is only made of clay/cast and i think that all they will need to do to repair it is to replace the damaged clay/cast using two couplings. If the drain has been funtioning ok before the collapse i wouldnt worry too much about the fall as it will only create a "trap". get a couple of quotes.

woodbutcher_2

I've done a lot of drainage in my time and the main work is in finding the collapse and getting to it.A lot of digging sometimes needs to be done but it is amazing how often the drain is just below the surface.Once accessed the repair itself is simple.Cut out the affected area and replace with plastic drainage and a couple of rubber connectors.The fall thing sounds like the insurers doing what they can to wash their hands of it.If it worked before,it will work when repaired.

Debt_Free_Chick

woodbutcher wrote:

The fall thing sounds like the insurers doing what they can to wash their hands of it.If it worked before,it will work when repaired.

I think the claim was refused as the collapse was due to wear & tear, which isn't covered - the fall comment was irrelevant to the claim and probably just an observation.