Rented property - costs of clearing a blocked drain

Petef15h

Last week, the drain at the front of the house we rent (private rent, through a lettings agency) became blocked and was leaking water in the front garden, its the not the first time this has occurred, previously our lettings agents asked us to contact the water company, and twice previously they have cleared it, however on this occasion, they attended and stated that it was a private drain and they wouldn’t touch it. We contacted the lettings agents, and they arranged for one of their contractors to come out and take a look. When the drain was cleared, he informed my wife that the blockage was due to a high number of baby wipes, as well as what he thought looked like a tree root, he then said he had to report back to the lettings agents as he thought it was our fault, and that we may be charged.

We have now received a letter from the lettings agents, with a payment demand of £160+vat, for the work. (was around half an hour, plus he didn’t clear it completely first time and he had to come back a second time)

At no point prior to the work being carried out, did the contractor warn my wife that we may be liable for the cost, give a (potential) quote or estimate, or offer us the opportunity to find a different contractor that would have been potentially cheaper.

The lettings agents have stated payment terms in seven days, which we can not afford at the moment. But I'm not happy with the whole situation, fair enough, if we have 100% caused the issue, I would be prepared to meet the costs, but I don’t think we 100% caused the issue, and we were not given any quotes, or estimates, or the opportunity to find an alternative.

Has anyone got any advice on where we can go with this, or been in a similar situation themselves? Any thoughts would be appreciated

DaftyDuck

I'd say the cost was about right - given that I've never seen your drain, nor know where you live... It's the same as I was charged for a clear-out and camera inspection. I did ring around for prices, and they were all similar. Your guy must have used a camera if he was able to see what was causing the obstruction. So, I don't think there's a huge amount of mileage in challenging the cost.

If he did state he saw a tree root, that implies the drain is in imperfect condition, and I would not expect a tenant to pay for clearance - pretty much whatever they'd flushed that could be construed as "reasonable". Are baby wipes reasonable? What does it say on the box? If it says "Dispose of with household waste - DO NOT FLUSH", then I'd have thought you are at fault, at least in part. If it says nothing, you aren't.

The tree root is key. Firstly, if you are expected to pay, then the report should be yours. Did you get a copy? If not, ask for one prior to paying. If it lists tree root**, then I'd guess you should point out that the poor condition of the drain is not your responsibility. If it isn't listed, call the drain clearing company, and ask for elaboration.

** If the tree root was of any significance, I'd expect it to be mentioned in the report, as the DynoRod guy would put it down as a reason the drain might reblock 10 mins after he left, i.e. "in't my fault, Guv, yer drain is cerllapsin". If he hasn't mentioned it, maybe it was only a minor problem.

I assume you do flush baby wipes ....

ognum

First question is do you flush baby wipe down the toilet and if so why, you are aware that there has been problems with the drains before.

if you don't and you flush only human waste and toilet paper then it's not your fault. if you do then it probably is your fault depending on the size of the tree root.

you may be entirely responsible or partly responsible for the bill. Enter into a dialogue with the landlord!

If I was your landlord I would probably pay once, then if they blocked again with any evidence of misuse I would not pay.

Petef15h

Thanks for your reply - no camera was used, it was all observation, he pulled a number of baby wipes from the drain by hand, and I believe he also rodded the drain (I wasnt home when the work took place, but my wife was, and saw what he was doing). We have not received any report, just the letter from the lettings agents. We do have 3 young children, one of which is going through potty training, however we are very careful not flush baby wipes, as we know they shouldnt be. I can't say that we never flushed any away, but I'm as confident as I can be that its not anywhere near the quantity that could cause the main drain to become blocked.

Petef15h

ognum wrote: »

First question is do you flush baby wipe down the toilet and if so why, you are aware that there has been problems with the drains before.

if you don't and you flush only human waste and toilet paper then it's not your fault. if you do then it probably is your fault depending on the size of the tree root.

you may be entirely responsible or partly responsible for the bill. Enter into a dialogue with the landlord!

If I was your landlord I would probably pay once, then if they blocked again with any evidence of misuse I would not pay.

We no not to flush them, but during the course of potty training, I cant heonestly say that a few havent gone down the loo by accident, but not in the quantity that I believe could have caused a blockage, previous blockages have been cleared by the water company, and they have never specified what the issue was.

ognum

Petef15h wrote: »

We no not to flush them, but during the course of potty training, I cant heonestly say that a few havent gone down the loo by accident, but not in the quantity that I believe could have caused a blockage, previous blockages have been cleared by the water company, and they have never specified what the issue was.

I'm not sure I understand this, either it is the resposibility of the water company or it is not, there can't be a sometimes it is option.
Why did they refuse, can help feeling we don't have the full story.

G_M

How long have you been there? The babywipes came from somewhere! Could it have been a previous tenant/occupant?

Are you sure your other half does not flush them? You seem to be admitting some get flushed whichimplies to me......

If baby wipes were the problem,you are responsible.

If a tree root is responsible, the LL is.

If both were partly responsible, your and LL are jointly responsible.

The fee sounds about right.

Petef15h

ognum wrote: »

I'm not sure I understand this, either it is the resposibility of the water company or it is not, there can't be a sometimes it is option.
Why did they refuse, can help feeling we don't have the full story.

The first time the drain became blocked, we called the lettings agents, and they asked us to contact the water company (Wessex Water), the attended and cleared it, the second time, we called Wessex Water directly, and again they attended and cleared it. When it happend again for a third time last week, Wessex Water attended and this time the worker who turned up said that as the drain was on private land he would "have a lot of explaining to do if his rods got stuck" whilst doing the work. I dont know if we've just been lucky with previous call outs, or if Wessex Water have a change in policy about how they approach these issues.

olly300

Petef15h wrote: »

The first time the drain became blocked, we called the lettings agents, and they asked us to contact the water company (Wessex Water), the attended and cleared it, the second time, we called Wessex Water directly, and again they attended and cleared it. When it happend again for a third time last week, Wessex Water attended and this time the worker who turned up said that as the drain was on private land he would "have a lot of explaining to do if his rods got stuck" whilst doing the work. I dont know if we've just been lucky with previous call outs, or if Wessex Water have a change in policy about how they approach these issues.

You've been lucky.

It's likely the water company has logged each visit and as you have called them out 2 times already there is clearly an issue with the drain or you blocking it with wet wipes.

LEJC

so this is the third time the drain has blocked..in how long?

Whilst the tree root may have had some bearing on the blocked drain and restricted flow,its more likely that the blockage wasnt helped by the wet wipes .

I think you need to pay the bill and perhaps buy a few nappy sacks or similar in order to dispose of any wet wipes with other rubbish...sadly they dont break down the same way that toilet paper does and even a few a week will collectively cause a blockage over time.

Petef15h

G_M wrote: »

How long have you been there? The babywipes came from somewhere! Could it have been a previous tenant/occupant?

Are you sure your other half does not flush them? You seem to be admitting some get flushed whichimplies to me......

If baby wipes were the problem,you are responsible.

If a tree root is responsible, the LL is.

If both were partly responsible, your and LL are jointly responsible.

The fee sounds about right.

We've been there nearly two years, so unlikely from a previous tenant, not impossible, but virtually impossible to prove. We are always very careful, and do not routinely flush them down the toilet, as said before, a few may have gotten down over the course of potty training, but not enough to cause a blockage of the main drain house.

As suggested in another reply I have asked for the report from the lettings agents (which they have not yet received, only verbal details from their contractor, who also didn’t tell them about the tree roots either)

I'll wait and see what happens from here, I'm not trying to get out of paying, I'm annoyed that we didn’t get the opportunity to source our own service at a potentially cheaper price / or offering a better service (doing a cctv inspection etc) and want to make sure that we only pay what we are genuinely liable for.