Not being informed of a drainage problem before purchase

seabiscuit_2

One of our neighbours has just come round to tell us that the drains are overflowing and would we be prepared to chip in for dynorod - we cant afford it but as its a street problem we said we would

BUT apparently this happens every year and the previous owners did not tell us - do we have any legal recourse? we will ring our solictors in the morning to get an offical yeah or nay but wondered if anyone could suggest anything

tho i guess its probably a case of tough (guess who cant be bothered to store any more post for them - redirection service is extremely cheap you know)

clutton_2

if it is a "street" problem and happens yearly, why not ask your local water/sewage company to come and have a loot and perhaps they can at least identify the real problem, and then maybe get it fixed permanently instead of having this annual bill ?

seabiscuit_2

that option was mentioned, and yes we will try to get it looked into more indepth so to speak

im just extremely relieved its not our garden that its overflowing into

lynzpower

cluttons right, this shouldnt be something you lot have to cough up for - the water board need to be doing what customers pay them to do -

( unless its a private road that might be a different matter, I dunno)

Mikeyorks

lynzpower wrote:

the water board need to be doing what customers pay them to do

The suggestion to get them out for advice is right - but suspect the locals wouldn't have been forking out for years .... if it's not their responsibility? Depends where the connection to the mains sewer is?

clutton_2

i think water/sewage boards can now identify quite quickly whose responsibility individual drains are, and if "public health/sewage" issues are raised when the initial phone call is make, they have to come out immediatley to do an inspection.

If this house is in Lancashire, i know of a superb drains company which i can recommend.

silvercar

Did you survey advise a sewer check? did it comment on the sewers?

Solicitors often ask about the sewers in their standard questions. usually the answer is "rely on your own survey" or "no problems but no guarantees", check what was said.

seabiscuit_2

thanks all

righto - been checking all our paperwork

we did have a drainage check, and apparently we have a private sewer through our 6 properties that leads to the main public sewer at the end of the road - and it did recommend insurance to cover for this sort of problem

BUT it didnt say whether there were problems annually nor did the previous owners mention it in the property particulars esp in the sections about whether they have had to pay for anything that the neighbourhood pay for (such as private road repair)

having just spoken to a friend who works at a solictors, apparently yes we do probably have a case against them for not mentioning it but it would likely cost more than the money we would get back so may not be worth it

clutton_2

""it did recommend insurance to cover for this sort of problem"" - did you take it out ?

lin473

One of our previous houses had a similar problem
It did not occur to me that the previous owners should have warned us prior to the purchase going through.It would probably cost more than you would gain to pursue the matter!
Because it was a problem involving drainage to several homes ( sewage used to flood our neighbour's garden when the drains to our row of houses blocked)
the local authority used to unblock it free of charge.
Perhaps it is not the same where you come from.
Worth looking in to though before paying out.

silvercar

If its flooding every year it sounds like the cause is not being dealt with. Maybe a pipe has moved underground or a bend is clogged. Really someone needs to investigate the cause so that the drains can be sorted once and for all.

Check your building insurance cover. I know direct line include drains cover in their standard policy.