Help - flooded by blocked drains

eddie456

My neighbour - local authority house - had a blocked drain which overflowed and flooded the underfloor void of both houses. The private drain in their garden had been blocked with household stuff - toilet paper nappies I was told by the water company who cleared it.
I got the ususal foul smells for weeks and had to lift floorboards, pump out and lost a carpet because of it. Now the local authority refuses to stump up because it says it was unforeseeable! When I rang them they said they said the tenant had already reported it and they had not done anything about it so far, but now they say they have no record of that! My neighbour confirms they did report it.
Surely somebody should be liable?
Does anyone have experience of this - or can point me to a rule or law that will help me to get compensation?
Many thanks for any help.

DTDfanBoy

Your home insurance should cover you, give them a ring

booksurr

stop blaming others and simply claim on YOUR insurance

moneyistooshorttomention

booksurr wrote: »

stop blaming others and simply claim on YOUR insurance

There's a snag to that - ie I wonder whether they might get charged extra for insurance bill in future years because of someone else's fault.

Add the fact that, if OP changes insurers, they would get asked how long it was since their last insurance claim and couldn't put down just how long it was since "their" last insurance claim. They would have to put down how long it was since "this" insurance claim that is nothing to do with them.

specialboy

booksurr wrote: »

stop blaming others and simply claim on YOUR insurance

If you had a car accident that wasn't your fault you would claim against the other party, why should the OP claim on their own insurance and not the guilty party's?

abankerbutnotafatcat

I agree it's unfair. However, claiming on your insurance is the way to go and hopefully they'll be a loss adjuster visit/investigation who'll establish that it was the LA who were at fault and perhaps counter-claim against them and not increase your premium.

DTDfanBoy

specialboy wrote: »

If you had a car accident that wasn't your fault you would claim against the other party, why should the OP claim on their own insurance and not the guilty party's?

If you had a car accident caused by another person who wasn't liable, eg they had a stroke or heart attack at the wheel out of the blue, you would have to claim from your own insurance policy.

In most instances insurance only covers your legal liabilities to another party, if there is no liability they won't pay out.

If the blocked drain was unforeseeable and the council took reasonable measures to address the issue, which is what they claim, the OP will need to claim from their own insurance or prove that the council was negligent in some way.

mgarl10024

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

If the blocked drain was unforeseeable and the council took reasonable measures to address the issue, which is what they claim, the OP will need to claim from their own insurance or prove that the council was negligent in some way.

eddie456 wrote: »

When I rang them they said they said the tenant had already reported it and they had not done anything about it so far, but now they say they have no record of that! My neighbour confirms they did report it.

If true, sounds foreseeable?

caronoel

Pass it to your insurance company, and let them sort out liability with the Local Authority.

No need for you to get stressed about it