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You can't make this up!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Thanks to my local council failure to keep road drains clean we have been flooded out for the second time in three years. Much worse this time and we had the Fire Service come and pump the flood water clear. They were here for 3 hours and were able to prevent further damage using a 5 inch dia pick up tube and 4 inch outlet so a serious amount of water. These Volanteer guys are the best and i can not sing their praises high enough. They had by mid to late afternoon been out rescuing people and pumping house clear with not hot meal or drinks.

My wife and I have been overwhelmed by our neighbours arriving with buckets and mops and vax machines. It restores you faith in young people!!!!!

Unfortunately we are uninsured as we were unable to find an insurance company to give us insurance less than £3-4000. Pay three years premiums at that and you can swallow a lot for £12000 even if you could afford that sort pf premium. We are not even in a flood area just the lowest house in our street.

I have tried to find a Lawyer that would sue the Council but no takers. I have video of the road drain at our front pavement with the water 5" above the road drain pouring inton the garden and then into the house. Slam dunk you might have thought!!!!!!!!!!

My have to sell the TR this time but with no end or goal in sight it is extremely difficult.

Rod

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Rod,

Really sorry to hear of your troubles. 

Where did the brigade pump the water to? Is it possible that you can excavate a sump in your garden and install a pump to keep the water under control if it happens again. I use a 3" pump around my place and it can shift large quantities of water, ok not to the extent of a brigade system but if you can start early enough it might mitigate the amount of water on your property. A couple of hundred pounds for a pump and another hundred for the discharge pipe.

Is it possible to redesign your garden to divert any water ingress around the house and away, obviously depends on the fall of the land? 

Can you make some small plates to blank off any airbricks around the house and fit channels at either side of the external doorways to take a drop-in board and seal off the door? Just a few pounds.

and OK it is not your responsibility but if the council wont do it can you not buy a set of drain rods and keep the drain clear, after all it is in your interest to do so?

Alan

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Rod

Sorry to hear of this. Water is so destructive. A friend in Devon has recently experienced something similar. After living in the house for about 20 years, two years ago during a deluge, he had water coming back up the drains for his down pipes and an overflowing downstairs loo. His ground floor was flooded. This happened a few more times. Eventually he had to have the whole of his ground floor reinstated at a cost of £80k to his insurance company, which surprisingly, happily reinsured him at a similar premium. 

HIs battle is with South West Water who are in fact responsible for the drains. They consistently deny any issues / responsibility on their part. He also had videos, from the events showing water flowing out of drains and out of the loo. One of their reps was even present during one of the floods! SWW inspected downstream where my friend speculated that some obstruction had developed and was causing a backup with a heavy downpour. Allegedly, they found nothing. Magically, after their 'no issues' inspection, the problem has not recurred.

However, they are refusing to release any documentation, films etc., around their activity. He is in the process of trying to find an independent expert to inspect the drains (most in the area work for SWW to some extent). This is the starting point for anything other than a debate over liability with SWW. He is taking legal action against them in order to get disclosure. His reasoning is that unless he can demonstrate the problem was caused by their negligence rather than some innate issue with his property it will impact resale opportunities / value. He is a solicitor and so knows that even for him, litigation is not ultimately financially viable, but money spent on the independent inspection to get relevant evidence is probably a good (and less expensive) investment.

Miles

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