Council no help with water ingress assumed from neighbour

We had an almost identical problem with an equally awful next door neighbour/landlord. His drains continually blocked so that his back yard was nearly a foot under water and we realised his foul water was going underneath our rental house. As there were only floorboards and then a cavity underneath which, it turned out, the neighbour's water seeped into, we made a claim on our insurance. Like you, it didn't occur to me immediately to do this. The insurance company paid for the cavity to be filled in with concrete and a new floor laid on this, as well as paying for alternative accommodation for the tenant for a couple of weeks. It came to about £4,000 as I recall. We then chased the neighbour for over a year. I rang him and his 'Elite' property company and he was completely obnoxious and denied liability and also the so-called 'legal protection' of the insurance company chased him as I wanted the excess paid by him at the very least, but I told the legal firm to chase him for the whole amount as I knew my premium would go up. The legal firm were useless and the man never paid a penny. Our premium went up and we had to pay an excess of about £250. I find that when neighbours cause us problems like this, we always end up footing the bill and on the rare occasion a leak from our gutter for example causes a neighbour problems, we also pay...

It never ceases to amaze me how this type of Landlord (and I think we all know them) is able to completely shirk their responsibilities and slide through life, Lambeth should be able to pin a number of enforcements notices on him but are choosing not to - reasons unknown at this point. I heard from one of his tenants that he moved all the possessions of one of his tenants out onto the road, changed the locks and threatened them, so I'm trying to stay on the right side of him.

I'm grateful for the advise on calling Thames Water to check the water and will save this info, but the insurance company are now onto it so I'll leave it to them.

Reply to the comment left by "Paul Baker" at "02/01/2015 - 12:25":

I copied the OP into a link to a page on Thames Water's site, and directed her to what I believe is a relevant paragraph on that page. After stating that they will fix a leak of indeterminate origins for free, it goes on to say this:

"If your neighbour is not cooperating in deciding how to fix the leak, please call us on 0845 600 2988 to discuss your options. We may be able to use our legal powers under Section 75 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to repair the leak. Alternatively if it’s clear the leak is only on your private pipework we may be able to fix it without their permission."

Note, they have legal powers to force their way onto someone's land and effect a repair that's affecting neighbours, at least in certain circumstances.

Reply to the comment left by "Harlequin Garden" at "02/01/2015 - 15:28":

its not surprising that they can 'shirk their responsibilities' when people are reluctant to confront them.

Reply to the comment left by "Joe Bloggs" at "03/01/2015 - 09:44":

Maybe Lambeth will be able to confront the rogue landlord when they get landlord licensing.... Hang, on they already know about him, and they're also his freeholder....but still, only the special landlord licensing magic dust will make him visible...

thanks everyone for your comments and help - I'm aware that I have given this neighbour a bit of a light touch so will take that criticism on the chin (Joe Bloggs!) but with 11 tenants in my block at the risk of bricks or threats from this man I'd prefer to play it cool with him (and it is a very good income I don't want to lose particularly) - I've tried the authorities and they are useless - so hopeful the insurance people and Thames Water between them may find the source (and does look as though this issue is causing grief to my neighbour as well as he is also getting his drains looked at which is miraculous ), so I may finally be coming to a conclusion with the cause - the remedy may be just as tricky.

It would be good if Lambeth could confront him as a rogue landlord, but as he is only a landlord by default - he doesn't have permission for residential in his building only commercial and he won't get it - and his flats are done without building control - one with no windows he is not likely to put his head above that particular parapet and however much good a landlords' register or licensing would do it will only be those who put themselves forward that will be on it - as with HMO licensing and deposit protection - there are a very high percentage who think that these rules don'e apply to them.

My last communication with my neighbour was when he rang me (!) yesterday and also asked if I wanted to sell - poker face on.

Reply to the comment left by "Harlequin Garden" at "03/01/2015 - 11:25":

i was answering the question you posed. my answer wasnt necessarily a criticism but a factual statement; its a shame that some people resort to intimidation and its a greater shame that it often works.

An update on this - my insurance company are not interested until I find the cause of the leak - I had called them in to give me a bit of expertise in finding it, I'm not interested in a financial claim - totally useless infact, the 'surveyor' appointed was no more than an ex builder (his admission) who said he doubled as a 'detective' to find fraudulent claims, my claim, without cause, could not be validated.

The neighbour has finally (after 4 false dawns) had his drains inspected with a camera - the drain was totally blocked with 'wipes' - I've had it unblocked for him in the past and he assured me pre inspection that he had checked and all was clear - the camera showed no real problem, we were expecting either a collapse or an obvious break which would explain the leak. His basement is full of water not on my side but the other side (definitely sewer water, the side next to me has been blocked off which is a bit suspicious, but I can't insist that he breaks in).

I've rung Thames Water and they are happy to come - next Thursday. So there has been lot of action (and thanks to those that gave some sensible suggestions) but still no source of leak.

I will be re routing my rain pipe away from the building, though there is no suggestion that it is this, the old Victorian drains/gullies cannot be inspected with a camera unfortunately (unless someone knows any different?). I have suggested to my neighbour that he calls Thames Water to look at his basement (I've tried before, but he doesn't do anything, just moans to me about how it's wrecked his stored stuff), he's clearly very reluctant to have an 'authorities' in.

Lots of action but no result.

Possibly consider advising your local councillor of the problems in the first instance, then take legal advice in sueing Lambeth for their failure to act on matters concerning public health. Regret my own knowledge on these legal points dates back to Public Health Act 1936 and Housing Act 1963, which I'm sure have been long since replaced with provisions in more recent Acts. .However a public health nuisance is doubtless still a nuisance which should be resolved by the LA. Best of luck with what appears to be a LA and its officers who appear to be utterly incompetent from the information provided.

John

A conclusion to this but not satisfactory.

The drain man came and the drain was blocked (the neighbour had assured me that it had been unblocked and hadn't been blocked during this fiasco, when it clearly had and just lifting the man hole would have shown this, he keeps a car parked over it so we couldn't check ourselves). Once unblocked the cctv showed minor cracking where we have the problems - and his cellar fills up - and a break at the back. He says he's going to have it fixed and the moon is made of cheese. The conclusion from the drain man was that the blockage caused pressure on the joints which then 'leaked' into the ground and flooded the cellar and into my property.

As for 'authorities' I've had another response from the council that it is between me and my neighbour and Thames Water came out a week later, after the drain had been unblocked (and this did clear the water from the cellar in my neighbour's property) and said that there was no problem, drains clear, the water couldn't be tested as it had dried and they left me - they will return if it happens again, but their time scale is pretty rubbish, as if I could survive a week before dealing with it. They can't do anything about the neighbour as his drains are 'private' - only 'advise'.

My councillor can't do anything as there is no one, apart from my neighbour, to address with this.

Insurance company were also rubbish as they wouldn't advise on finding the source of the leak and wouldn't authorise a claim as the source of the leak was 'unknown'. I may need to change this company as I'm pretty sure my last one wouldn't have behaved like this, they sent an 'assessor' who admitted to being 'just a builder really and bit part detective'. Had my place been ruined I wouldn't have been able to make a claim, I called them in to use their expertise and they are sadly lacking.

So conclusion is 'I'm on my own' - thanks for all your comments.