House damagd by drain outside my boundary

angiec_2

The drain/sewer in the 'entry' behind my house has collapsed, it has been repaired before (by the council), were there had been cobbles there is now a patch of tar-mac. The tar-mac has begun to sink into the hole/drain. - my back yard wall has bevelled and there are cracks in my rear kitchen wall all only showing since the hole appeared. Who is responsible for the repair to my property please - is it the council or me through my buildings and contents insurance? I have the Land Registry Cert that shows the boundary of my house is at the wall, the drain is not on my land.

dogbot

You are best to contact your home insurer in the first instance and advise you suspect subsidence due to escape of water from or collapse of the council drain.

They will be able to investigate and progress. If the council is in some way liabile - e.g. they have not repaired the drain correctly or similar, then your insurer will be able to pursue a recovery.

Be prepared for the claim to take a long time to resolve.

huckster

Angie

I would suggest that you contact the council as a matter of urgency. You would only need a period of heavy rain and then suddenly the whole thing collapses again, causing more damage to your property.

dogbot

ah indeed quite correct, you should draw this to the attention of the council to attempt to mitigate the situation.

dogbot

p.s. it is worth popping out to check that your boundary wall is actualy safe and still stable - your insurer should be able to help with this as well but you don't want to end up with the wall falling down on something or worse someone. Take care when doing this though, don't go kicking it in case it falls on you or something!