RICS Building Survey

teneighty

A new oil tank is between £500 and £1000 plus installation. You only need to replace the damaged section of water pipe not the full 30 metres (unless all 30 metres is damaged).

Probably no more than £2000 all in.

Whilst it would be tempting to go after the lying vendors sometimes a more pragmatic approach is best. Who needs all the expense hassle and uncertain outcome taking them to court for a relatively modest amount.

I think the surveyor is in the clear, from your own description you had to clear vegetation and items to inspect the tank so the surveyor has that in his defence. However the surveyor should have made the restricted access clear in his report and qualified his advice accordingly, it is therefore probably still worth going through the official complaints procedure and potentially the ombudsman scheme as it is free and for such a small amount they may settle rather than try to fight it.

karlos_the_jackal

I used to work for a water company and I came across a handful of cases where oil or petrol had contaminated a property's mains water. Often it was the result of theft where some scrotes had cut a fuel line on a vehicle and caused a spillage, but a few were caused by leaking heating oil.

If you ever replace a tank, I would recommend a bunded oil tank even if regulations don't require it.

kwackerUK

We have been informed by our insurance company that we are not covered as it's pretty clear the leak occurred before we moved into the property. Just waiting for full details in writing before we appoint a solicitor.

Not looking forward to this.

teneighty: We currently have a 2700ltr steel tank raised on 2 brick pillars. It still has 2500ltrs in it. The quotes we have been given for a new tank in a new location, fuel transfer, concrete pad, disposal etc are upwards of £2500. I would have to sell some of the fuel off to get a smaller tank or purchase a 2500ltr tank.

We were hoping to keep the tank where it is as it's in an ideal position (requires a brick wall being built between tank and garage door for a firewall) but chances are, we will need the tank moving to clear up the contamination.

davidmcn

kwackerUK wrote: »

We have been informed by our insurance company that we are not covered

Have you actually read your policy to check whether or not you're covered? (or got somebody else to do so if you don't understand it). What about legal protection for pursuing action against the sellers?

I wouldn't rely on what "advice" the insurers give you about your policy (they would say they don't have to pay out, wouldn't they?).

Smodlet

I really feel for you, too. What a horrible thing to happen. If you have no legal cover with your insurance, many firms of solicitors offer a free half-hour's consultation.

If Judge Rinder were to hear of this I imagine, with the evidence you have, he would have a field day with your vendors. I really hope you or someone gets some redress from them for you. They have clearly lied in writing if they "knew of no issues with the tank". Even I can see there are issues and I am not the most observant.

Best of luck.

kwackerUK

New Update...

So here is an update to this mess.

Insurance company = No hope. Not willing to help claim through the sellers insurance either.

We contacted a solicitor about getting the sellers to claim off their insurance but was told we can't prove the sellers knew about the issues!! If we wanted to go ahead, it would cost £2500 just to go through the paperwork alone with no guarantee we would win.

We also asked about claiming against the surveyor, but again, chances are the surveyor will state it's not his job to move stuff (bins) to inspect the area. However, we will try.

We also asked the seller in person, but was told we didn't stand a chance in claiming off his insurance. This was followed by shouting etc :mad:

So now we have to foot the bill.

We got in contact with spill company who visited site and took some samples. We received the quote today:

£6000 to visit site 7 times, take samples, 2 x 8ton skips and disposal. We were also told we would have to get a building surveyor in as the brickwork has signs of contamination and will need to be replaced.

The labour to destroy the tank supports and dig down to remove the soil will have to be done by myself.

So that's £6000 for the above, £2500 for new tank, transfer, fittings and disposal. I'm hoping it will cost £200 to replace the mains water but have been told it's £500 just for the pipe alone(min 50m). Cost of back filling, hard-core and new concrete base ?. Plus, £1000 for some bloke to say the brick work needs replacing, and then a massive bill to do it. Lets hope the foundations are ok.

So I need some advice.

Anyone know of a company that can take soil samples so I can send off to a skip company to get a quote?

How many samples are needed to get a measurement for the skip company (current £60+ per sample).

From what I have seen from digging down, the foundations look to be ok. Need to remove the concrete base and pillars to get the full picture.

Do I have to replace the stained brickwork? Thousands of pounds just to replace 20 or so bricks

And I thought moving into your dream home was meant to be fun :eek:

Oh well.
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