Should we pay?

djbakez

In Saturday, whilst we were out,  our neighbour called out a plumbing to unblock a drain in his front garden. He said there was sewage coming out and it needed to be done urgently.  He has since posted a letter through the doors of all 3 properties claiming that each of us reimburse him for our 25% share. 
The compnay on the 'invoice' does not appear to be contactable, the email I sent remains unanswered and there is no VAT number or address for them i cannot find them anywhere, the can parked up was unmarked and they are claiming £649 labour to unblock the drain. On top of this other charges adding up to £900!
My neighbour never obtained consent for this work and has not even spoken to us all just posted a letter grumbling about how he will have to clean his white stones at his expense. Where as I feel for him having to pay this, he does not appear to have used a reputable company or contacted Thames Water. Any thoughts? Also we are insured for this type of thing but not sure if the invoice will suffice.

Aylesbury_Duck

djbakez said:

In Saturday, whilst we were out,  our neighbour called out a plumbing to unblock a drain in his front garden. He said there was sewage coming out and it needed to be done urgently.  He has since posted a letter through the doors of all 3 properties claiming that each of us reimburse him for our 25% share. 
The compnay on the 'invoice' does not appear to be contactable, the email I sent remains unanswered and there is no VAT number or address for them i cannot find them anywhere, the can parked up was unmarked and they are claiming £649 labour to unblock the drain. On top of this other charges adding up to £900!
My neighbour never obtained consent for this work and has not even spoken to us all just posted a letter grumbling about how he will have to clean his white stones at his expense. Where as I feel for him having to pay this, he does not appear to have used a reputable company or contacted Thames Water. Any thoughts? Also we are insured for this type of thing but not sure if the invoice will suffice.

In summary, no, you don't have to pay.  Whether you want to pay to maintain good neighbourly relations is another question.

There's lots to unpick here, but the first port of call for your neighbour should have been to establish if Thames Water were responsible before paying a contractor himself.  However, let's assume it is a household responsibility.  Then it comes down to whether it's a shared drain.  I'll assume it is and that's the basis on which he's asking for others to contribute.  Even after all of that, he really should have spoken to you all before getting a contractor in, and obtained your agreement to contribute (or not) before work started.

So the choice to contribute or not is yours.  Neighbourly fallings-out and disputes can be emotionally and financially expensive, so giving him £225 might save a lot of hassle.  Depending on his character it might also open the door to all sorts of other shared costs he might want to put your way, so at the very least you need to be clear about process if this happens again, even if you do relent and contribute this time.

born_again

Did they state where the blockage was?
As that is important in this. As it could have been the blockage was their fault.

Penguin_

Is the company contactable on Facebook?

Tucosalamanca

That seems like an awful lot of money.

I have an informal agreement with a business neighbour, who has drains unblocked a couple of times a year (we don't get problems but we do share the same run of sewer, I contribute as I want to be a good neighbour).
The total bill is less than £150.

Google suggests similar costs.
Personally, I wouldn't be paying and get the feeling that neighbour isn't being entirely honest with you...

djbakez

In in Australia!!!
I contacted the compnay using the email on the invoice asking for clarity on the blockage but they have not replied and there is no other contact details on the invoice. 
Our neighbour couldn't even confirm this on the letter he posted.

Relationship is strained as they do not maintain the land at rear of our properties and we have had to cur it back on several occasions to get our car round the back!
I feel we could make a gesture but not for the full amount asked for, but we could claim on our insurance, but not without a proper invoice.

Tucosalamanca

This might be useful? Invoicing and taking payment from customers: Invoices - what they must include - GOV.UK

Is there a chance that the neighbour has just made it up?

pinkshoes

What does his lease say about drainage and the drain being on his property? What does your lease say about drains?

I thought if it was a main drain it was the water company's problem who should sort it, unless it proved to be caused by mis-use, in which case the water company would then send you the bill?? Did they even call the water company?

What sort of set up is it with the four houses?

Regardless, £1500+ is a HUGE amount just to unblock a drain when you can buy a set of drain rods from Argos for £22!!! I certainly wouldn't be paying such a large bill. I would perhaps get another couple of quotes that other (more reputable??) companies would have charged then pay 1/4 of this amount.

CliveOfIndia

djbakez said:

In in Australia!!!

?????? 

Sorry, I've no idea what this is referring to ?

djbakez

The company name, I can only find it in Australia not UK.

born_again

djbakez said:

In in Australia!!!
I contacted the compnay using the email on the invoice asking for clarity on the blockage but they have not replied and there is no other contact details on the invoice. 
Our neighbour couldn't even confirm this on the letter he posted.

Relationship is strained as they do not maintain the land at rear of our properties and we have had to cur it back on several occasions to get our car round the back!
I feel we could make a gesture but not for the full amount asked for, but we could claim on our insurance, but not without a proper invoice.

So ask them for full contact details for the company so you can find out what they did & where the blockage was. Talk to other he is asking to pay what they feel about the situation. Till you get the info then you are not paying.