Neighbours drain blocked and is asking us to pay

D_Edwards

Hello, apologies for the long post but I’m hoping for a bit of help and advice with a current problem. Our neighbour has a drain running close to our fence (on their land and it isn’t a shared drain). They recently had a small flood and had the drains inspected, cleared and two linings put in. He has done a deal with them to pay cash and not pay any VAT but has come to our door to say he wants us to pay him £450 which is half what he has paid. I didn’t see what blocked the drain and he has admitted he didn’t (due to it being blocked) but is saying it was our roots at 2m and 4m down the pipe from the manhole. We don’t have any plants at 4m and this is the location of where they had a big conifer tree but this was cut down 20 years ago. We have removed a Buddlea and other possible mature plants that may have caused the problem as we want to be good neighbours and he has said he will strip all his plants growing over the pipe on his side. We don’t think we should pay him the £450 as we don’t know for certain it was our plants that caused the issue. When the drain people came back the second time I was invited round to look at the camera and I did see three roots, two from our side and one from his side coming into the pipe at the joins between the old clay pipes. I am aware of this being classed that we may have caused nuisance to his property but without certainty that it was us we don’t feel comfortable paying him. He has said if we want we can pay £280 for a drain report and if we want to see an invoice then the drain company can produce one but they will have to add the VAT on and we would have to pay the VAT content of the invoice as well as half. It has turned a bit sour now as he came to the door asking why we haven’t paid as he is adamant that we should pay £450 to him. Are we right not to pay and what possible position does he have to be right that we should pay? Many thanks in advance for any advice!

Section62

D_Edwards said:

Hello, apologies for the long post but I’m hoping for a bit of help and advice with a current problem. Our neighbour has a drain running close to our fence (on their land and it isn’t a shared drain). They recently had a small flood and had the drains inspected, cleared and two linings put in. He has done a deal with them to pay cash and not pay any VAT but has come to our door to say he wants us to pay him £450 which is half what he has paid. I didn’t see what blocked the drain and he has admitted he didn’t (due to it being blocked) but is saying it was our roots at 2m and 4m down the pipe from the manhole. We don’t have any plants at 4m and this is the location of where they had a big conifer tree but this was cut down 20 years ago. We have removed a Buddlea and other possible mature plants that may have caused the problem as we want to be good neighbours and he has said he will strip all his plants growing over the pipe on his side. We don’t think we should pay him the £450 as we don’t know for certain it was our plants that caused the issue. When the drain people came back the second time I was invited round to look at the camera and I did see three roots, two from our side and one from his side coming into the pipe at the joins between the old clay pipes. I am aware of this being classed that we may have caused nuisance to his property but without certainty that it was us we don’t feel comfortable paying him. He has said if we want we can pay £280 for a drain report and if we want to see an invoice then the drain company can produce one but they will have to add the VAT on and we would have to pay the VAT content of the invoice as well as half. It has turned a bit sour now as he came to the door asking why we haven’t paid as he is adamant that we should pay £450 to him. Are we right not to pay and what possible position does he have to be right that we should pay? Many thanks in advance for any advice!

Roots wouldn't get into the pipe unless it was defective to start with.

Given he's used a contractor who is evading tax he would be unwise to turn this into a legal dispute.

If the pipes are shallow enough to be affected by roots then there's a good chance he's been ripped off paying £900 to have them lined.

Although you need to think about avoiding a dispute you may need to declare when/if you sell up, I would lean towards telling him it was his decision to deal with this trader and he shouldn't expect you to be liable to pay half the cost.

fryedslyce

Pay him nothing, he had the work done without consulting you first and now expects you to stump up half

If he wants payment he would have to start a money claim online, that would cost him £50, he'd need to get a drain report to prove to the judge that your roots caused some of the damage, another £280. He would need to show the judge an invoice, which he doesn't have due to a cash VAT evasion deal, to get an invoice he'd have to pay the drain company another £180 VAT.
So he'd need to pay out at least £510 to have any chance of even winning a court case.

Nobbie1967

Another for telling him to do one. I suspect he’s paid £450 for the cash job and is chancing his arm at getting you to pay the lot. I don’t think he has a legal case since there has been no negligence on your part. Plants are normal in gardens and if their roots get into pipes it indicates faulty pipes which require maintenance by the owner, not their neighbour.

DRP

Agree with others. Not your responsibility. 

If it was , then he should have consulted you *before* he had work done. 

Teapot55

When the old clay pipes next to my house, built c1900, cracked and were leaking water and the concrete path cracked as a consequence, I claimed on my buildings insurance. 

Doozergirl

If it's a shared drain at your side then the water company have responsibility for them and the repair! 

What did this other company do?  Surely they didn't fix your drains?  It should be free for you with the water co.

ThisIsWeird

DEd, what type of 'drain' is this? What job does it serve? Where does it lead or ultimately discharge in to?

In essence, tho', this is your neighb's drain and on their land = their responsibility. And your perfectly normal roots wouldn't have got through without the drain being faulty.
The sections that have been sleeved should now be fully impervious to root attack. As would a drain in good condition.
You would ideally want this sorted as amicably as possible, of course, so would you be 'happy' to give a token sum, coupled with the full info given by others on this thread?

D_Edwards

ThisIsWeird said:

DEd, what type of 'drain' is this? What job does it serve? Where does it lead or ultimately discharge in to?

Hi, it’s their own sewage drain. It’s old clay pipes that go down the side of their fence (about 4 metres in length) and join the main sewer across the road. I wasn’t aware they had their drain so close to the fence!

Doozergirl

I'm laughing. 

It's their drains on their land but they want you to pay towards the repair because they've decided the roots are yours? 

🙈

stuart45

It has to be proved that the damage was caused by tree roots from your property. It would have needed a report from a arborist, and also a surveyors report on the damage. He can't just come to you and expect a wad of cash from you.