Could I pursue this myself via small claims? ( long read.. sorry)

hoxtonbabe

Good Morning

I currently have/had a drainage disrepair issue against my landlord that is being handled by a solicitor. Following a pre-action sent by said solicitor , The LL surveyor inspected my property and he said all pipe work should be renewed, and reworked as my sink had been progressively been blocking over the years to the point I had the plumbers out on a weekly basis. The schedule of works was agreed as per the surveyors report as it all made sense and only confirmed what countless other plumbers that had reported the issue in the past , were saying and work went underway.

The LL decided to use a contractor that thought it best without consultation to only do half the work, so he did not rework and reset the pipes (it's at an angle that doesn't make Sense and is noted as such) also the basin pipe ( which is the root of the issue) should be going into the main stack pipe but contractor had other ideas and decided to leave it as it was which is going into the toilet vent, which was not agreed and actually goes against building regulations.

Then LL surveyor came back on one of his site visits and told me that the contractor hadn't carried out all the works as agreed and he would call him back however he clearly had a change of heart and decided the next day to remove the scaffolding, not to bother and just keep it at one renewed, not reworked but just a fresh new pipe still going into the toilet vent that is against the building regulations.

I mentioned (numerous times) to my solicitor that they had not carried out what we agreed and whilst they have changed the one pipe and so far my sink is running ok it's not actually dealt with the root of the issue and more likely I will have to deal with this pipe getting blocked again in the future.

The solicitor basically said the LL does not have to carry out the legally agreed works, it does not have to be perfect but they just need to remedy it?!? I get they just need to remedy it but the remedy was by carrying out what we all agreed and not a half way sort of job.

She even had the audicity to say if I encounter problems in the future with the sink/pipes I will have to make another disrepair claim which has me baffled as I don't see why I'm instructing them to say "its ok if the LL don't do all the works now, but if the half job they do now causes problems later down the road, instruct another solicitor, and battle it out again at that point"

Surely the point of my instructing them was to get all
the work carried out and resolved so I Don't have to have this issue come up again and I'm not wasting the public purse for the same problem I'm trying to get resolved now ( as it's funded by legal aid)


I'm thinking of just taking the case off and going small claims myself and then putting a formal complaint against the solicitor as I also privately paid for an independent expert that advised the works that was supposed to be carried out had not all been carried out, but the solicitor says "as long as your sink isn't blocking now at this precise moment then it's been sorted"

Any advice please as I'm losing my patience with this solicitor and I'm at a loss as to why they took on the case to then go against the agreed instructions on the schedule of works

scd3scd4

Is the LL paying for a plumber each time??................

caprikid1

I suspect this is a housing association and the action was taken using Legal aid.

I would wait to see if it blocks again before wasting more money on a blocked sink

FBaby

Why are you so invested? Surely the only thing you should be concerned is that you don't experience any blockage any longer. How this happens is nothing to do with you, you're not paying for the work and it's not your property. You say it is working now, so the problem, from your perspective is sorted.

You're not a plumber (or are you?), so you can't comment on the work that was carried out. Your LL has done the cheapest he thought would resolve the problem. It's not an unreasonable approach if indeed, the problem is sorted. The fact that it might not be so long term is his issue.

caprikid1

I would add a paid Surveyor is going to say replace everything but unless he put a video camera down the pipe he is not to know the extent of the blockage, when the plumber took it all appart he could tell, I suspect he re-used some of the verticals as they would make no difference new or old.. I struggle to see how a sink would keep blocking unless you are not using enough washing up liquid or forcing lots of food waste down it.

shortcrust

I genuinely don't understand why a landlord would have to do anything beyond providing an unblocked sink. Isn't this like trying to force a landlord to replace an old boiler instead or repairing it on the basis that it may fail again at some point in the future?

If I did everything my surveyor said needed doing to my house I'd be bankrupt.

G_M

What exactly do you plan to sue for in the small claims court? What is your loss?

Repair work has been carried out. In the long-term, this might or might not be adequate - time will tell.

As per your solicitor's advice, if the problem recurs, you deal with it then. You cannot claim anything for a problem which might or might not arise in the future.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Christ on a bike. I must be getting old. This is the first time I have ever said "THIS is where all my taxes go?"

G_M

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

..... "THIS is where all my taxes go?"

Don't panic. This is just were some of your taxes go.

The rest goes on supporting our gallant military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan etc, and on endless public enquiries that run on year after year after year before reaching recommendations which the government then cannot afford (or chooses not) to implement.

So it's not all bad eh?