Help And Advice Needed Please
Posted Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 17:17
I have a neighbour whose drains empty into my drainage system.
The drains were put in 50 years ago when my house was built.
Recently my garden has turned into an evil-smelling quagmire. My neighbour put a CCTV camera down his drains and found no blockage or damaged pipes, but where his system joins my system we saw that the pipe had become misaligned, so that only half the output goes down the drain; the rest bubbles up in my lawn.
I say it’s his waste, so he should pay for it. He says the fault is under my land, so I should pay for it.
Who is right?
August 7th, 2009 at 09:36
Oh dear Gwyn
What a horribly smelly problem you’ve got.
Unfortunately, I would suggest (bearing in mind I have no legal training whatsoever) that as the pipe fault is on your land it cannot possibly be your neighbours problem. If you think about it, where would you draw the line? If a sewerage pipe fractured 50yds down the road, would everyone who ‘used’ it be culpable? How about 500yds, 1mile etc etc (you get my point).
Hope you manage to get it sorted – doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs does it (I take it the annual fotoLibra barbecue will not be taking place at your home this year) LOL
August 10th, 2009 at 17:16
Thank you Barrie. I wish other readers would comment here, rather than emailing me telling me I’m wrong. Someone might even come out on my side!