Private drains

MrOneLung

Recently bought a house and one of the searches showed that the drains serving our property and our neighbours in our street are privately owned and that we are responsible for unblocking,maintaining and the upkeep thereof. Just wondered what the situation is if there ever was a problem - would we contact Thames Water and be billed for work, or would we be expected to sort it out via private contractors etc. Hopefully will never have to find out
I Dont know anyone who has 'private drains' and its quite strange its not part of the main drainage network as its on a fairly busy road. Sorry for this very boring thread. Cone on Charlton !!

SoundAsa£

I'm certain Thames Water have a scheme where by you pay a charge for on-going maintenance or repairs for private property sewers and water mains etc.....I believe we have it here at home.
If they are a good few years old, it might be a good idea to have them surveyed to ascertain whether or not you think it's worth signing up.

WSS

[cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]I'm certain Thames Water have a scheme where by you pay a charge for on-going maintenance or repairs for private property sewers and water mains etc.....I believe we have it here at home.
If they are a good few years old, it might be a good idea to have them surveyed to ascertain whether or not you think it's worth signing up.

I think so too - only costs about 15 quid a year I think.

Ledge

yeah well worth the dough one lung - give them a bell they usually give you first 3 months for £1 and then about £4 a month ish after that

March51

Experience we've had on this is that yes you have to sort them out. Thames Water would charge you just the same as a private contractor would. However, down here in sunny Surrey our water company have an insurance scheme that covers eventualities such as blockages and leakages for around £6 a month. You phone up and a contractor should arrive within 2-3 hours. It only allows for 2 callouts a year though. Because we have trouble with tree roots and twice a year is not enough I've acquired a set of rods to do it myself. A mucky job but strangely satisfying when you clear the obstruction and there's a loud gurgling noise and everything disappears! There is a bill going through Parliament at the moment which intends to make the water companies responsible for all drains. All very well but it means the water bill going up to pay for it.Hope this helps Mr.O.

SoundAsa£

I think you'll find there's something about them only being liable for water supply to the main stop cock, beyond that it's down to you...the tenant.
With sewers it's a little different.....and I'm not certain exactly where it is that they stop being responsible and you start.
If it's only £15.00 a year then that sounds a mighty good deal to me, as these kind of repairs are astronomic.

Covered End

I thought the individual was responsible for the drains under their own property as far as the pavement or road. Water company are responsible from the road. I'm sure I've had to fork out to get the drains unblocked at least once.

LargeAddick

[cite]Posted By: Covered End[/cite]I thought the individual was responsible for the drains under their own property as far as the pavement or road. Water company are responsible from the road. I'm sure I've had to fork out to get the drains unblocked at least once.

that is correct.

eaststandmike

My sister in law lives in a private road in Meopham and they have just gone through this agro, they had a large wet patch that kept appearing at the bottom of their front garden, turns out it was a water leak on THEIR land.

They put a call in to their Insurance company who after weeks of wriggling tell them that it will be £4,500 to repair and due to the small print on the policy it is NOT covered on their Insurance.

Long story short a neighbour who lives down the lane had a similar problem a few years ago and they used SAGA Insurance, who after no questions, no wriggling and no small print fixed it under the policy.

So my sister in law calls SAGA, is completely up front with the girl on the phone explaining it is an existing leak etc however it did not put them off, so they switch Insurers, leave it a week, then put a call in reporting the leak.

Guy turns up with a remote camera and puts it down the pipe, gives them the results and tells them the contractors will be here in the morning to dig up the lawn, repair the pipe and re-lay the lawn, and they did, all under the policy!

So the moral of the story is, yes you are responsible if the leak is on your land, if you have existing Insurance "Buyer Beware" of the small print, and if you are over 50 switch to SAGA.

MrOneLung

cheers all - will make sure get this insurance

bingaddick

If the sewer serves a number of houses and you are not at the bottom where the pipe re-enters the public system, problems can arise when there is a blockage in the sewer further down the pipe which is stopping your waste from discharging and If the people below you don't agree to clear it, or it's unoccupied or such like. You may have rights agreed under contract but can your easily enforce them?

I can particularly forsee problems if the blockage is on their land but higher up than the junction serving their house. They may have a clear drain, but all those behind them will be blocked. If you are in that position it would be good to be on decent terms with your neighbours/occupiers/owners of properties down from you.

My Dad had a private sewer and his property was slap bang in the middle of 6 that shared. I Know this was something he worried about

I suppose in most cases of a simple blockage, rodding through from your property will clear it. More concern would be if there was collapse and the waste could not drain into the land quick enough and it backed up.

An insurance policy to cover your liability for effecting repairs to the drain if the problem is on your land is a good idea. As has been said, many policies either specifically exclude damage to underground services these days or exclude certain causes of damage as occuring due to poor maintenance or depreciation. Always check this out. The Thames Water specific policy sounds a good idea but again check out the small print. As for SAGA, well great news that they paid out the claim. Be careful that it wasn't done on a grace & favour basis rather than specifically covered under their policy.

(Yes I used to be a general insurance broker but I've been out of it now for eleven years).

March51

I know it's stating the bloody obvious Mr.O but if you ever do have an emergency and have to call out a contractor make sure they are a reputable outfit and nail them down on their rates.Many of them are cowboys (as shown on BBC's House of Horrers recently) and not all the franchied outfits are what they should be and can be economical with the facts in respect of hourly rates etc. Like with a lot of things in an emergency it is easy to phone the first number in the yellow pages: the March51 household has learnt this the hard way!