House Built Over Public Sewer

welshman10 · 30 May 2012 at 12:30PM

I moved into my house in 2003. I then had a letter from Welsh Water in December 2006, saying my house (one of 6 new builds) was "built over a public sewer without consultation or agreement with Welsh Water". They said that the sewer has been filled with rubble and flows diverted by the developer into a private sewer running at the back of the properties. They went on to say that they are prepared to undertake work to correct the situation, but the householders will have to pay and they will provide a quote.

I then wrote to my solicitor, asking why we should pay, as we had already paid for a Drainage search prior to purchase. They replied saying they have written to the Developer's solicitor, as they would be responsible for the costs.

We got an invoice from WW in 2007 asking for around £500 per household. We forwarded this letter on to the solicitor. After chasing up the solcitor for months, we were getting nowhere. They would not return phone calls or respond in writing. In fact we would be told a solicitor was in the office but when we said our name and what it was regarding they were suddenly too busy to come to the phone.

I had to resort to writing to a partner to express my dissatisfaction with the solicitor's office. We then received a letter of apology and a cheque for £500 to send to Welsh Water, though the partner stated this was a goodwill gesture and they were not admitting liability. We then received a receipt from WW in Nov 2007.

Two years later we had not heard anything, so I wrote to WW asking when the work will take place. They replied saying they were in disupte with the other households over liability and would write to us when there was a date scheduled for the work to take place.

A further 3 years on we had heard nothing, so in Feb this year I wrote to WW asking for an update. They replied saying they were looking at a resolution, due to the legislation change regarding transfer of responsiblities for these sewer systems. A few letters went back and forth for a few months chasing updates etc.

Then a few weeks ago I decided to ask for "our" money back. I know the solicitor had paid it but I didn't like the fact we had sent them money and none of our neighbours had. I told them we had been patient enough and this has gone on for over 5 years and that basically if nothing is happening, they should send us the money back. I told them I was fed up with how long they were taking and my next step would be to escalate the matter to the Consumer Council for Water.

We then received a reply saying that they are "looking at solutions" (again!). They propose transferring the sewer back to the householders responsibility, but that if only 1 household objects, then it can't be done. They kind of hinted that we should go round all our neighbours canvassing opinions. I'm not prepared to do this, as I don't see why I should do their job of liaising with their customers.

They've given us 21 days to respond. It'll be coming up to 6 years on and we still won't know who is liable or what is to be done about it! Has anyone got any advice?