Shared drain - who pays?

MrScott_2

Hi
On my patio we have a drain cover which (roughly every 2 years) blocks up and leaves lots of ummn, "toilet waste" all over the patio.

I currently cover external drains by paying extra on my boiler cover, but someone has told me that since it's a *shared* external drain between us and the neighbours (the other side of the semi-detached house) it's not our responsibility and that the water company has to take care of it.

Is this true? Hoping so, because then I can chop my boiler cover cost down a bit!

macman

If the point at which it's blocking is shared, then yes, it's down to the water utility. But not if it's blocking on a 'solo' section which is used only by you (i.e. upstream of the other property).

Cardew

This is a good link that gives a diagram of the explanation above:

http://www.unitedutilities.com/sewers-and-drains-explained.aspx