Who is responsible for a shared rainwater drain for terraced houses?

AntySoo

I share a single down pipe and drain with 2 neighbours (I’m in the middle) for the rainwater collected in our respective gutters at the front of our terrace.  We believe it connects to the sewer in the road.  The down pipe and drain sit between mine and “Fred’s” houses.  “Paul’s” gutter feeds into them.  Fred and I have concrete plinths in front of our bay windows, meeting at the drain.  Both are cracked and partially collapsed (especially around the drain) and there is soil erosion underneath on my side but not Fred’s. This has caused cracks in my walls.  

Fred and I asked a Drainage company (DC) to have a look and sent them photos.  They said as it’s a shared drain, we should get our local water authority (TW) to have a look before paying DC to come out.  Online research of other drainage companies and CAB also say “may be the responsibility of the water authority”.

TW sent someone but they came at 4am and left a card to say they had come to attend a blockage (wrong), had fixed it (really?) and were “…unable to survey pipe from gulley due to that being private. Would need a private contractor to survey”.  

DC said “They would say that but don’t be fobbed off.  I worked for TW for many years and they are responsible.”  I paid someone to dig carefully to uncover the pipe and sure enough, it is cracked and leaking on my side.

I called TW and they are insisting it is a private pipe but are sending someone to have a look tomorrow.  

Does anyone know whether a shared rainwater drain such as this is the responsibility of the water authority or the homeowners, please?

flashg67

Not sure but assumed it was the householder until I found this (although it doesn't mention solely rainwater drains specifically)...  https://www.ccw.org.uk/faq/who-is-responsible-for-my-drains-or-sewers/

Section62

AntySoo said:

...

Does anyone know whether a shared rainwater drain such as this is the responsibility of the water authority or the homeowners, please?

The gutter and downpipe being shared isn't relevant.  It has to be underground drainage.

To be public (and the responsibility of the water company) the pipe has to be connected to drains on more than one property, or be a pipe from another property crossing into a different property.  If the whole of this pipe is on your (or the neighbour's) land then it would be private up to the point it leaves your garden and/or joins a pipe from a different property.

Off the top of my head I don't know what happens if the pipe runs exactly on the boundary - I suspect it would probably be public, but the water company might try arguing it is one side of the boundary or the other.

Bigphil1474

Disagree with above. We had a similar set up with a shared down pipe on neighbours side which our roof gutter and bay gutter fed into, that went into a drain on the neighbours side, straight out underground into the under road sewer. The downpipe was shared responsibility but the drain from the neighbours property to the road was the water board's (Yorkshire Water) as part of some adoption process pre 2010, not sure when, but that's when we had the subsidence caused by the drain being damaged. YW did try and fob us off too, but fortunately I knew a drain guru who provided me with the water board map showing it was theirs. I passed that onto the insurers who dealt with the subsidence claim. 

Ask your insurers to investigate. My claim was in 2010 to 2012 and came in around £25k from memory.

AntySoo

UPDATE:  Thank you all - especially Bigphil1474.
TW's engineer arrived on Monday at 01:20am and - as evidenced by my cctv) spent less than a minute on the property.  I then received another text message at 05:00am advising me that they had attended to clear a blockage (again) and after a "full investigation" were happy that they had done their bit and the problem was with a "private" drain which they could not survey.  This is clearly utter nonsense - quite apart from the fact the engineer came outside the appointment time and in the early hours. 
I called TW on Monday morning at 8.30, got an apology and a re-scheduled appointment.  
The engineer that came today really knew his stuff and told me that the drain and pipe running from it to the sewer is 100% the responsibility of TW.  He had to argue with a middle manager but the top man agreed that it is their responsibility.  I now have paperwork confirming they will replace the pipe by 29 August. 
I didn't want to rock the boat with TW by blaming them for the subsidence before they carry out this work - in case it causes them to change their mind about who is liable.  I am going to call my insurers now.
Thanks everyone.

FreeBear

AntySoo said: The engineer that came today really knew his stuff and told me that the drain and pipe running from it to the sewer is 100% the responsibility of TW.  He had to argue with a middle manager but the top man agreed that it is their responsibility.  I now have paperwork confirming they will replace the pipe by 29 August.

Assuming the downpipe is cemented in to a 4" socket (that is pretty common practice), I would urge you to get an interceptor gully fitted. Well worth the effort as it traps all sorts of rubbish coming off your roof (leaves, moss, etc) before it can cause problems in the pipes underground. Also gives you an access point to rod the drain with a flexible snake. And should you have the slightest interest, monitor the water flow when it rains real hard.

You may well need to purchase a gully yourself (your local Screwfix might have one on the shelf) and talk to the TW engineer overseeing the work.