Water repair rip off

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mark_gretason
mark_gretason Posts: 1 Newbie
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in Water bills
Severn Trent carried out a repair to a pipe on a joint supply. They deny the pipe is theirs because it is on private land; however, after the stop !!!! on the main road there is another which they admit they own a few feet from this pipe as it enters the house. From that point on the pipe is clearly the responsibility of the owner. If they own the outside stop !!!! surely they own the pipe between it and their other stopcock on the main road. Then they put in a bill for reasonable costs which was not broken down. If I am liable for £2k as 50% of the repair how do I find if these costs are reasonable (reasonable not meaning cheapest of course)? Thoughts? I wrote to them at length but had a brush off letter from them.

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  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,037 Forumite
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    Welcome to the forum



    Any pipe under your land i.e. from your boundary, and going solely to your house is your responsibility.



    https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/supply-and-standards/supply-pipes/

    Supply pipes are the smaller pipes that carry water from company pipework into the property. Supply pipes run from the boundary of the property (where there may be a company stop-tap) up until the first water fitting or stop-tap inside the property. Stop-taps along the length of the supply pipe, and any water fittings, are the property owner’s responsibility to maintain.
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,223 Forumite
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    As Cardew mentions they are responsible up to the boundary only , a stop tap does not define responsibility
  • jk0
    jk0 Posts: 3,479 Forumite
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    Mark, check if your buildings insurance covers this. Mine does.
  • Epizone
    Epizone Posts: 13 Forumite
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    mark_gretason wrote: »
    Severn Trent carried out a repair to a pipe on a joint supply. They deny the pipe is theirs because it is on private land; however, after the stop !!!! on the main road there is another which they admit they own a few feet from this pipe as it enters the house. From that point on the pipe is clearly the responsibility of the owner. If they own the outside stop !!!! surely they own the pipe between it and their other stopcock on the main road. Then they put in a bill for reasonable costs which was not broken down. If I am liable for £2k as 50% of the repair how do I find if these costs are reasonable (reasonable not meaning cheapest of course)? Thoughts? I wrote to them at length but had a brush off letter from them.

    Who instructed Severn Trent to carry out the work?

    They cannot unilaterally decide to come along, do some work, and then expect you to foot the bill for that work, nor 50% of it.
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,223 Forumite
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    Epizone wrote: »
    Who instructed Severn Trent to carry out the work?

    They cannot unilaterally decide to come along, do some work, and then expect you to foot the bill for that work, nor 50% of it.

    I believe they can if they issued a section 75 notice and it wasn't acted upon.
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,609 Forumite
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    edited 20 December 2019 at 3:28PM
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    deanos wrote: »
    I believe they can if they issued a section 75 notice and it wasn't acted upon.

    Correct - we had a leak and were given a leaflet by Anglian Water that if it wasn't sorted within 28 days then they would come and do the work at our cost.

    I contacted our insurance who got it sorted it out and AW gave us a refund for thelost water.

    Have a read of this and check the legal info at the back - https://www.stwater.co.uk/content/dam/stw/my-water/document/repairing-leaks-leaflet.pdf

    Apparently the actual legislation only obliges them to give you a minimum of seven days to get it fixed, so did the OP did get a notice, leaflet or warning and fail to get on with it within the timescale.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • DawnCrush
    DawnCrush Posts: 220 Forumite
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    edited 21 December 2019 at 9:01AM
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    deanos wrote: »
    I believe they can if they issued a section 75 notice and it wasn't acted upon.

    Sorry, but where does the OP mention having been served with such a notice? :huh:

    I've looked but I can't see it myself. Maybe I need to go to SpecSavers!

    But if it is there, then the OP's post wouldn't make much sense. If they had received such a notice then the OP would not now be asking if they are liable for somone having carried out the repair following their failure to do so, such repair being necessary as defined by the act..
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