I have to pay £1,500 to get my water pipe replaced. Do I actually have to pay?

[Deleted User]

All the neighbours got a letter saying a leak has been detected and if we don't pay the £1,500 to replace the entire supply pipe, they will get a warrant from the court to do so and leave us with the bill. 

My issue is that a leak has been detected, but they can't specify where. I accept I'm responsible for the pipework on my property, but struggling to understand why that means I need to pay to have the whole thing replaced if the leak hasn't been specifically detected on my property.

Brie

Who's the letter from?  Hopefully your water supply or waste company.  I'd ring them to ask what's up.

Jonboy_1984

Are you on a private road or similar setup?

[Deleted User]

Brie said:

Who's the letter from?  Hopefully your water supply or waste company.  I'd ring them to ask what's up.

It's from the water company.

Jonboy_1984 said:

Are you on a private road or similar setup?

Cul de sac. Not a private Road. 

victor2

This might explain who is responsible for what...
https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/supply-and-standards/supply-pipes/#:~:text=You are responsible for the,pipes that are your responsibility.

twopenny

But the op hasn't been given an indication of where the leak is so a plan is no help.
The water company can't specify where the leak is.
I would certainly want to know what such a large sum as £1,500 was for and where.

They have been replacing mains all over my area and no money asked for.
There is something else going on here. Private road, something in the deeds?
But the company asking for the money should know what and why. I'd be inclined to put this request in writing and ensure a written reply so you have something concrete to work with.
And read your deeds throughly.

elsien

When this happened to me, it was because the water supply to me and five other terraces runs up the alleyway and behind our properties along a private bit of land. Severn Trent’s responsibility stopped at the boundary. So even though the leak wasn’t directly on my property, it was a shared responsibility for the communal  pipework.
The cost was because they had already repaired a couple of leaks so decided that all the pipework needed replacing along the path and into our backyard to our individual house supplies.
If it does need doing, and you can find a private contractor that your water company will accept, you can get cheaper quotes and get it done yourselves. The issue that I had was that they all wanted one person ( me) to pay upfront and reclaim the money off the other people rather than billing each house individually. Which wasn’t going to happen. 
In the end we got lucky. One branch of Severn  Trent didn’t know what the other  was doing, so they came and dug the whole lot up and replaced it free of  charge. 

[Deleted User]

elsien said:

When this happened to me, it was because the water supply to me and five other terraces runs up the alleyway and behind our properties along a private bit of land. Severn Trent’s responsibility stopped at the boundary. So even though the leak wasn’t directly on my property, it was a shared responsibility for the communal  pipework.
The cost was because they had already repaired a couple of leaks so decided that all the pipework needed replacing along the path and into our backyard to our individual house supplies.
If it does need doing, and you can find a private contractor that your water company will accept, you can get cheaper quotes and get it done yourselves. The issue that I had was that they all wanted one person ( me) to pay upfront and reclaim the money off the other people rather than billing each house individually. Which wasn’t going to happen. 
In the end we got lucky. One branch of Severn  Trent didn’t know what the other  was doing, so they came and dug the whole lot up and replaced it free of  charge. 

It's the "supply pipe" running around the back of our gardens that needs replacing. 

MattMattMattUK

Deleted_User said:

elsien said:

When this happened to me, it was because the water supply to me and five other terraces runs up the alleyway and behind our properties along a private bit of land. Severn Trent’s responsibility stopped at the boundary. So even though the leak wasn’t directly on my property, it was a shared responsibility for the communal  pipework.
The cost was because they had already repaired a couple of leaks so decided that all the pipework needed replacing along the path and into our backyard to our individual house supplies.
If it does need doing, and you can find a private contractor that your water company will accept, you can get cheaper quotes and get it done yourselves. The issue that I had was that they all wanted one person ( me) to pay upfront and reclaim the money off the other people rather than billing each house individually. Which wasn’t going to happen. 
In the end we got lucky. One branch of Severn  Trent didn’t know what the other  was doing, so they came and dug the whole lot up and replaced it free of  charge. 

It's the "supply pipe" running around the back of our gardens that needs replacing. 

It is likely a private pipe then, rather than one owned by the utilities.