Homeserve Policy, drains and water

looklook

Hello,

I am not sure if I can do anything now.

I have got Pipe and Drainage cover, costing around 170.88 annually. I have had this for around 8 years.......from Homeserve.

My neighbour and me have got joint pipes and drains from the garden. So I believe South Staffordshire water has been responsible for these all along.........So now I am wondering
what good was this cover I have had from Homeserve, I was never told about joint piping between neighbours, when I was sold the policy.

Thank You for your help

Can I do anything about this or is this normal?

macman

Cancel it.You don't need such cover, and never did. The water utility have always been responsible for communal drains. The policy would only be of use to cover any parts of your drains solely serving your property (i.e. up to where yours joins the neighbours). However you presumably have a separate supply pipe, which may be covered also?
No, you can't reclaim the money you have wasted-and I doubt that the salesman surveyed your drains first. It was up to you to check.

keystone

For houses built prior to 1937 a shared drain was the responsbility of the water/sewerage company. Individual houseowners were responsible for their own sole use drain up to the point where it joned to next doors.

For houses built post 1937 shared drains on private land were the sole responsbility of those owners sharing the drain up to the point where it enetered the public sewer - usually near the property boundary with the road.

In October 2011 this all changed. The water companies took on responsibility for all lateral (ie shared) drains irrespective of the age of the house.

This changes were widely publicised (although a shockingly high percentagge of people are still in ignorance of them) and your water company probably wrote to you about it and that was the time to review your home cover.

So in your case you possibly did need the cover (unless you were built prior to 1937) from eight years ago until October 2011. If your contract with Homeserve is a rolling one and just renews annually then I'm not sure why you expect them to have told you about it - because the water company would have done.

As for when you bought the policy surely it is your job to make sure the product you are buying is the right one for your circumstances.

Not sure what you think you can do about it apart from cancel the cover if it is no longer appropriate.

Cheers

looklook

Thanks for replies,

The house was built in 1890's, so I didn't really need cover.
When it was sold to me, I was told I would was responsible for drainage and pipes from main join outside the house, there was no mention of joint piping etc........:mad:

Anyway best thing to do is cancel the policy and my children want to me to walk around town with sucker written on the front of my forehead and idiot on the back. :rotfl:

Thanks again!!!

ihateyes

remember when cancelling you have internal plumbing cover as well, and that will be your responsibility, not the water board.

cbee01

I've had HomeServe Plumbing and Draiage Cover for a few years...noticed the price for renewal that I received a few days ago shot up from £7.84 to £9.95 per month! I phoned up to cancel as I'd shopped around and reckoned I could get cheaper cover...and hey presto..after negotiating for 10 minutes I got them to reduce my premium by £50 taking it to £5.78 per month. It pays to comparison shop!