Damp due to broken drain outside house

Fishcake1

Hello,
Am really hoping someone can shed some light on what our options (if any) are:

We bought a flat-fronted terraced house in 2012. We bought it knowing it had damp issues - rising damp. House had not been lived in for at least a year and all shut up inside. (We could only afford a Doer-upper)

On slowly doing up the living room at the front of the house, the DIY manuals came out as the joists and floor were rotten and so needed replacing.
While the floor was up however the cause of our damp became very clear - puddles of water - a small stream even! were flowing into the property from outside the front.

On contacting the water company and council and going back and forth (as each said other was responsible) eventually council got local contracted civil engineering company to investigate.
They took up the pavement outside and they found that a cable company from probably the 90's had busted the drain and therefore it has been leaking into the property for years.
I took pictures of the broken terracotta pipe and the green plastic tube that appeared to be the culprit. So I have photographic evidence.
Obviously the engineering company/ the council will claim for the cost of rectifying the problem but......
Where do we stand??
Do we have any options? Its just the damage to our property is not your usual 'damp issue'.
Sorry for long post!!!!
Any ideas? :-{
Thanks for reading

AlexMac

I'm surprised that no-one better informed than me has replied... but off the top of my head, I'd guess that irrespective of who caused the damage, its the responsibility of the utilities company to maintain the integrity of water supply pipes and waste-water sewers. Where I live, the Water Board are responsible for both, but I'm not sure of the position in respect of street drains, if that's one of the fractured pipes(?) or whether your local Council seem to be admitting ownership of the underground infrastructure as you imply.

Either way, if I was you, I'd be arguing (in writing, not just phone or email) that the inflow of water is what has caused the damp which has caused the rot in your structural timbers and that you expect the Utilities provider (Water Company or Council) both to repair the breaks which are causing the problems, and then, to remedy the consequential damage, or at least make a substantial constibution to the replacemnt of timbers, re-plastering, making good, etc. Problem is, they may not accept your word for it, and may insist on independent reports on both the extent of damamge and the cause.

So I'd start by assembling the case myself; with
-a concise written description of the problem, and what caused it over the years; ie the leak and inflow (omit any speculation about cable layers)
-evidence (photos, bills, etc) and
-the remedy you expect (them mending the pipes and making good any holes in the road outside, fixing your internal problems, them paying for independent surveyors reports if these are required, (maybe leave out till later any question or offer of you chipping a sum in for betterment or for fixing rising damp which the house maybe already had?).

Put this to The Water Board and Council, in a letter (not only an email) marked 'without prejudice' - relatively meaningless phrase but one which implies you are considering legal action.

They won't cave in immediately, so begin to assemble back up info; in fact maybe make a few calls to people who are theoretically on your side
- Citizens Advice - via their website below, or better, by phone 03454 04 05 06 (have the initial summary complaint ready to email them in case they ask); http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/consumer_citizens_advice_consumer_service_e/if_you_need_more_help.htm
- The Council Environmental Health and/or Consumer Protection team (often in the same department)

Be prepared to be persistent and sytematic, as they will hope you'll go away. Remember that your local Ward Councillors who run the Council and whose contact emails or 'ward surgeries' will be on the Town hall website are there to protect your interests, but don't go direct to them- wait til you've been knocked back or ignored by their staff.

And along the way, you might just need a lawyer - but only as a last resort- as if (as is likely) your claim is under £10k, the small claims process may apply- descriibed on the Citizens' Advice website at http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/law_w/law_legal_system_e/law_taking_legal_action_e/small_claims.htm

Or if this is too much hassle, just fix it yourself...(lol)

Good luck

AlexMac

Oh and as an afterthough- put in a 'Freedom of Information' request to the Council for the report from the Engineers who did the inspection
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/official-information/

They will probably have a dedicated FoI officer in the Town Hall

G_M

To add to the above, it sounds to me like this will develop into a dispute. Whether eventually it can be settled agreeably, or goes to court who knows but either way I suspect you'd benefit from a professional report backing up your case.

Ring some local RICS surveyors, explain the prolem and ask if they are experienced in
a) drainage issues of this sort
b) litigation (just in case)
and if they say yes, ask for a price for a written report.

camptownraces

This is probably a matter for your building insurers, who might then claim against the water company's insurers(, who in turn might claim against the cable company, who could claim against the contractors, who have possibly gone out of business).

However you bought the place in 2012, so two and a half or three years ago, and you've only now started to deal with the issue.

Why was it so low on your list of priorities?

I think this, unfortunately, may be a reason for insurers to decline your claim.

Still, it's worth a try and will cost you nothing.

Fishcake1

We really appreciate you taking the time to give us some advice - Thank you for your replies!
You are absolutely right to wonder why so long! It took us until last august to finish the front-room and then we've waited out the winter to make sure the damp isn't coming through from anywhere else (just in case) but bone dry .
Perhaps we will get a report from the engineers on the freedom of info as you suggested - didn't know about this.
On the whole I suspect we won't have a leg to stand on but a letter or two may not do any harm.
Thanks again,
Kind regards :j