Where to go now, 5 years of sewage flooding.

Hawdy

Hi,
Just needed thoughts and advice about where I stand. Have been offered £400 "Good Will Gesture" from my water supplier and been advised by the customer rep that it's a great deal , that had to get approved from the very top :O, and I should accept it as I am likely to fail if I try going down the compensation route.

Here is the situation. Regular sewage flooding of basement for over 5 years. Engineers would come and unblock the manhole and flooding would stop. Engineers said manhole being blocked was the problem. We would tell our water supplier this and they would always deny responsibility. In 2013 we redid our basement so flooding became more obvious, on each occasion I would mop the water to a sunk pump to remove the water and clean up after, as always engineers would come and unblock the manhole and like clock work Thames Water would deny responsibility when we would ask them to rectify this recurring problem.

The sewage flooding would leave a greyish sediment on the tiles, on one occasion the entire basementd got flooded and the entire flooring got stained. As always Thames Water denied responsibility , despite the fact that they had sent out engineers who again unblocked the manhole, and on this occasion removed the water, and requested a clean up team be sent the following day. All of this was done free of charge. We were never once charged.

Our entire new black tiled flooring was now stained with some kind of residue. It took my father and I several days to get them clean again. We managed to dry and harden the sediment which kind of lifted it on to the surface of the tiles, and then we scrapped and moped it away, before finally cleaning the tiles. Although clean they have lost the black color and now look dark grey.

When requesting an engineer during another leak, the telephone operator read out the T@C and I mentioned to her that we had never been charged, yet Thames Water keeps denying responsibility , so by their own terms and conditions either we owe them money or they are responsible.

Engineers came and unblocked the manhole, two days later we get a call that the manhole is going to restructured. All this after over 5 years of Thames Water denying responsibility despite their own engineers unblocking the manhole each time we had a flood, as a result we have had to clear sewage water, have had our new tiles damaged and then had to try and restore them to a near decent condition.

Was initially offered £250, rejected that. Was allocated a customer rep who came over and saw the basement etc, a week later he said the tried very hard and was able to get us £400. He advised accepting it and says Thames Water are fully covered. I think my logic beats Thames, but I also know legislation often covers big companies.

His point is that the leaks was caused by people putting illegal things down the drains. He got a bit flaky with what. Initially he said fat and grease, when I said I never saw the engineers use any jet equipment etc he changed to "well illegal refers to fat, wipes, nappies etc". When I think about it, if it was a quantity that was out of the ordinary, the engineers would have mentioned it and Thames Water would have definitely mentioned it.

He obviously accepts that the manhole was restructured to the reduce the likelihood of the manhole getting blocked again by illegal things. From Thames side, he says they didn't have to do it, but they helped us out and also in the long term it's cost effective for them but they are not liable for what my neighbours put down their toilets and sinks.

From my perspective. The manhole restructure that they did should have been done 5 years ago when they realised it was a recurring problem. It didn't take a lot to block the manhole, because the engineers were usually done in 5 minutes, and I'm certain if it was an unusual amount then they or Thames Water would have mentioned it. So surely Thames Water has a responsibility to ensure that their systems can deal with a certain amount of non traditional sewage waste without issue. The fact that they finally restructured the manhole proves that they acknowledge this, while still denying it when it comes settling with us.

Thoughts? Anyone have any ideas on where I stand. £400 seems low considering what we have been through, all their denials, and the fact that fix was simple and should have been implemented 5 years ago.
At the same time if its fair and the best that they can offer or they really are protected by legislation and I have no case I will accept it. I just don't want to sell myself short or aim to high.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


You might try the Consumer Council for Water http://www.ccwater.org.uk/ and see if they will take up your case.


Failing that, go to the Small Claims court which doesn't cost much. They might decide to up their offer simply to save the expense of appearing in court.


They might say that the offer of £400 isn't an admission of liability, just a goodwill offer.

Hawdy

Hi, and thank you for your reply and links. Will check them out.