National Entity poor work led to rat infestation

born_again

Workmen will say what a customer wants to hear, so they do not get a ear bashing.

If they said "there was an open sewer under the hole, swooned and gagged" then you would be able to smell it.

You usually find, one lot dig a whole, then another lot take the soil away, then the repair is done, then it comes back awaiting another team to fill the hole in.

eskbanker

You usually find, one lot dig a whole, then another lot take the soil away, then the repair is done, then it comes back awaiting another team to fill the hole in.

Off-topic but that puts me in mind of a Paul Merton joke about sitting in his local park and seeing one guy digging holes, after which his colleague filled them in again - asked why, they said "normally there are three of us but the one who plants the trees is off sick today…"

ellymoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099211#Comment_82099211

I certainly didn't want to hear that there was an open sewer outside my front door. This is what I thought but I didn't get close enough to take a look. Naively perhaps I believed them - but I'm not a plumber or a drain expert or anything of the sort.

I don't have anything in writing but I have got in touch with the last man who did the work and am waiting a call back. Apart from anything else, why would they go to all this effort and repair the issue if they didn't think it was their fault?

eskbanker

I don't have anything in writing but I have got in touch with the last man who did the work and am waiting a call back. Apart from anything else, why would they go to all this effort and repair the issue if they didn't think it was their fault?

I suspect that there'll be a reluctance to admit any liability in writing, especially in terms that would constitute proof not only that they'd caused or left a hole but that this in turn directly led to rats getting inside your house.

Have you had a pest control firm involved yet, and, if so, are they able and willing to comment about that?

Boohoo

@eskbanker in the OP's earlier thread about this they mentioned drain and rat man investigating.

There is a link in this thread post no.3 or something like that.

Jumblebumble

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099633#Comment_82099633

Let me see if I uinderstand correctly

Issue 1 4 years ago someone cracked a sewerpipe

Issue 2 someone else dug a hole and did not backfill correctly which caused a problem as a consequence of issue 1

Either issue on its own would not have allowed the rats to escape

You did not own the house when issue 1 arose so were not owed a duty of care by those responsible forissue 1

The careless ness of the causers of issue 2 could not have been foreseen that their actions would cause a rat escape so they are not negligent as far as rats are concerned

I think you are going to have trouble getting any compo as you cannot show either issue to be at fault

ellymoo

That doesn't make any sense. You can't be negligent in your work and say "Oh, I didn't foresee that that would happen, dearie me!" and get off scot-free. Negligence has consequences, whether you foresee them or not, and it isn't the fault of anyone who suffers it that you didn't anticipate them. If the contractors had simply backfilled the hole properly in the first place, there would have been no way for the rats to get at my property from the sewer pipe. There is no other way of them escaping from the sewer, in my area, as the pipes are all underground. If the contractors hadn't lied about there being an "open sewer" outside my house, I may conceivably still have a job, as the stress drove me out of my mind. I don't see why the company and workers are getting away with this, when in any other job they would be held accountable for what they've put me through and the significant cost I've had to fork out.

The rat man has written me a statement. The workman said he would happily send over the photos he has but if he did a statement he'd lose his job and I obviously don't want it to have any repercussions on him so I said not to worry. I rang the loss adjuster who was exceptionally snotty to me, saying his email had been "perfectly clear", rude ****. I pointed out that it can't have been that clear, as I didn't understand how the company had come out to fix the fault but were claiming there was no evidence they'd caused it. He explained they accept they botched the repair, but not that this led to the rats (useful if he had said this in the first place).

I have a lawyer friend who has told me to get a copy of their "evidence" for starters. I am going to submit a claim with my insurance but given this has been going on for years I doubt I'll get anywhere as you're supposed to put something in within 3 months I think. I can but try.

born_again

If it was a open sewer & they filled it in, then they would have blocked the sewer?

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105272#Comment_82105272

Unless the OP has a different idea of an open sewer?

It will soon be sorted though as the OP has a "lawyer friend" on the case to assist them.

Aylesbury_Duck

Just let your insurance deal with it. Arguing with people here will get you nowhere, you don't need to convince us.