Driveway flooding cuased by blocked road drain

foel1987

Hi all,


Hoping for some advice. I have recently purchased a new home that sits below the main road that it's on. The drain on the main road (which is located by the opening of my driveway) became blocked and during heavy rain was not able to sustain the amount of water coming from further up the road. As a result this area of the road flooded and the water formed a natural path towards my driveway where it completely flooded the drive and garage. As my drive sits on a decline this made the issue worse.



I have sent the council video evidence of the damage and flooding during the time of the rainfall with the view that they will 1) repair the blocked drain 2) possibly move the drain from being located at the opening of my drive and 3) provide help/funding with repairs to my driveway.


Do i have any recourse here, particularly with the damage to my drive. If so do i handle this directly with the council or go via my home insurance company?

BoGoF

You need to establish if they were negligent which given the unprecedented rain we are having is unlikely.

sheramber

When did the drain get blocked?

Were the council notified?

What was blocking it?

The answers will show if the council were negligent or not.

unholyangel

BoGoF wrote: »

You need to establish if they were negligent which given the unprecedented rain we are having is unlikely.

Is it? Genuine question - we had some serious flooding here but being in Scotland, its nothing new and miles away from the worst I've seen!

Anyway, even if the rainfall did have precedent.....was it foreseeable that OPs garage would flood due to it? And what caused it? One factor or a combination? The blocked drive on the road or inadequate drainage on the OP's property?

Hunter_Jaeger

foel1987 wrote: »

I have sent the council video evidence of the damage and flooding during the time of the rainfall with the view that they will 1) repair the blocked drain 2) possibly move the drain from being located at the opening of my drive and 3) provide help/funding with repairs to my driveway.

How do you know the drain was blocked?

Regardless, the may action 1 but 2 and 3 aren't going to happen.

Paul_DNAP

If the drain was just overpowered by the sheer quantity of water, then it's not really anyone's fault.


There are houses near me that are in a similar situation - drive drops down from the main road - and they've all fitted a low "speed bump" over the driveway entrance, to help in medium rainfall. And some have the ability to install a proper "flood gate" to seal the driveway if there is a heavy storm.

sheramber

My son's drive slopes down slightly form the road and water ran into his garage when it rained.

When he had the drive mono blocked he got a drain inserted in front of the garage door to catch any water