Repeated flooding - please help!

Hannar

Hi there!


From the months of November 15 to February this year, we had 6 instances of the sewer flooding into our back garden. The water company stated that the hydraulics in the pumping station weren't working properly and they had to wait for the weather to improve to fix them. During this time every time it rained more than a drizzle we were unable to use the facilities/washing machine/sinks etc. and we had to throw away all the children's outside toys as they were covered in raw sewage. Also, our house is on a really busy road with no pavement, and the only safe way to and from the car with the kids is through the back - obviously though, we couldn't use that when the garden and path were flooded.


I've written to the water company to ask for some compensation due to all the inconvenience caused, but haven't heard anything for a good few months. I know they have now replaced the pump, but that doesn't really change the fact that we were without facilities for near on 3 months. Can anyone help with what to do now/ how much to request? Thanks so much!

SuzieSue

Hannar wrote: »

Hi there!


From the months of November 15 to February this year, we had 6 instances of the sewer flooding into our back garden. The water company stated that the hydraulics in the pumping station weren't working properly and they had to wait for the weather to improve to fix them. During this time every time it rained more than a drizzle we were unable to use the facilities/washing machine/sinks etc. and we had to throw away all the children's outside toys as they were covered in raw sewage. Also, our house is on a really busy road with no pavement, and the only safe way to and from the car with the kids is through the back - obviously though, we couldn't use that when the garden and path were flooded.


I've written to the water company to ask for some compensation due to all the inconvenience caused, but haven't heard anything for a good few months. I know they have now replaced the pump, but that doesn't really change the fact that we were without facilities for near on 3 months. Can anyone help with what to do now/ how much to request? Thanks so much!

Have you tried Ofwat?

Furts

Can you claim for your childrens' outdoor toys? And if so, what are these worth, when charity shops may have them for very little. By all means try, but the water company might argue you could have used disinfectant on them.

To pursue your claim it would be helpful for you to seek what has really happened. A pumping station should not be defective, and the technical principles on all that I have dealt with over many years are two pumps in the wet well. If one fails the second kicks in because it is the back up pump.

The failure could be negligence, apathy, cost cutting, or all round bad maintenance. Any of these would be of interest to OFWAT if this is the route you wish to pursue.

To stab at compensation, and only you know the toys value, say £500 and see where you get. Others might say £1000, but how long is a piece of string?

Hope this helps.

phil24_7

Furts wrote: »

Can you claim for your childrens' outdoor toys? And if so, what are these worth, when charity shops may have them for very little. By all means try, but the water company might argue you could have used disinfectant on them.

To pursue your claim it would be helpful for you to seek what has really happened. A pumping station should not be defective, and the technical principles on all that I have dealt with over many years are two pumps in the wet well. If one fails the second kicks in because it is the back up pump.

The failure could be negligence, apathy, cost cutting, or all round bad maintenance. Any of these would be of interest to OFWAT if this is the route you wish to pursue.

To stab at compensation, and only you know the toys value, say £500 and see where you get. Others might say £1000, but how long is a piece of string?

Hope this helps.

I fault can be proved then no insurance company/claim would ever consider cleaning children's toys that had been covered in effluent. Anything disposable would be disposed of and everything else would have specialist cleaning.

You need to make an official complaint, in writing, to the water company. They then have 21 days (I think) to reach a conclusion that you are happy with. If this doesn't happen then it can be passed onto the ombudsman (The water company will have to pay the best part of 1k for the ombudsman to compile all of the relevant info so they try to avoid this).