Water supply leak under my premises

svr24

Hoping someone on here as had a similar experience and/or can advise me on the best route of action to take.
Basically I have a leak under my business premises which is flooding my workshop. I have been in touch with Yorkshire water and they have been to investigate and told me that it is a supply pipe running under my premises that is leaking, but it is not my supply. 

After a few conversations with Yorkshire water over the last couple of weeks they told me that they will serve the owner of the supply with a “section 75 notice” this is a legal obligation to get this repaired. I asked who’s supply it is so I could explain to the owner/my neighbouring business what is happening to my premises and hopefully get it fixed asap. They told me they could not tell me due to GDPR rules, so basically left me in limbo. They have also told me that I will have to claim from my own insurance for the damages to my premises.
yesterday morning I got to work and checked my mail only to find that they have served me the section 75.
where do I stand with this,
it is not my supply but massively effecting my business.
I rung Yorkshire water and all they said is they are looking in to it but yet they’ve served me the legal notice.
HELP!!!

MattMattMattUK

svr24 said:

Hoping someone on here as had a similar experience and/or can advise me on the best route of action to take.
Basically I have a leak under my business premises which is flooding my workshop.

Do you own or rent? Have you told them to cut off the leaking supply?

svr24 said:

I have been in touch with Yorkshire water and they have been to investigate and told me that it is a supply pipe running under my premises that is leaking, but it is not my supply. 

If you own then the ownership of the pipes may be documented in the documentation from when you purchased the property. 

svr24 said:

After a few conversations with Yorkshire water over the last couple of weeks they told me that they will serve the owner of the supply with a “section 75 notice” this is a legal obligation to get this repaired. I asked who’s supply it is so I could explain to the owner/my neighbouring business what is happening to my premises and hopefully get it fixed asap. They told me they could not tell me due to GDPR rules, so basically left me in limbo. They have also told me that I will have to claim from my own insurance for the damages to my premises.

They are correct on the insurance*, have you already contacted your insurance company, as they may be slightly more effective at forcing Yorkshire's hand.

*that does vary slightly and if it goes on for a long time then the other party may become liable due to negligence, but your insurance company will handle all of that.

svr24 said:

yesterday morning I got to work and checked my mail only to find that they have served me the section 75.
where do I stand with this,

That depends, I think you really need to try and establish whether they are incompetent, or you actually own the pipe.

svr24 said:

it is not my supply but massively effecting my business.
I rung Yorkshire water and all they said is they are looking in to it but yet they’ve served me the legal notice.
HELP!!!

Do you know where the stop c*cks are in the road, usually in a hole with the water meter. If they are I would go out there over the weekend and turn them off in turn until you find out which one stops the leak, then leave that one off and you will likely find out who the supply belongs to on Monday (but I would probably not admit it was me that turned it off). The issue might be if it is a shared or branching supply, as it may cut off multiple properties (including your own), but still a potentially worthwhile exercise as you would then know how the pipes are setup.