Sueing a Council....waste of time ?

[Chuggaboom]

Short story is:

My house is on one side of the lane and land I own is on the other side of the public road....sold as two distinct plots for agreed total price.

Previous owner, if not before, so pre 1970’s, had sceptic tank for the house installed in the land opposite.

I have been there 6 years and the supply pipe to the tank became blocked last year.

Contractor said that the road had moved/collapsed, cracking/crushing the clay pipe....you could and still can see where. Council visited pre works and naturally denied liability.

Contractor completed work – bill came to £2800 inc VAT, part of which was £550 plus VAT to council to close the road for a day !

What are the chances of a successful outcome ?

And any solicitors out there experienced in winning against councils ???

Thanks.

[Sheepshanks]

No idea, but might they say the leaking pipe caused the road to collapse?

[aw51 121565]

I'm fairly sceptical about what the contractor said, to be honest; as posted above, it's more likely the sewer leaked and washed away some of the material supporting the road as well as the material supporting itself at that point and so it broke - but for a sewer serving one property that would take quite some time and generally mean either a septic tank now containing a fair bit of foreign material or some odd local geology...

Can you claim on your buildings' insurance?

[TooMany2cvs]

aw51 121565 said:

I'm fairly sceptical about what the contractor said, to be honest; as posted above, it's more likely the sewer leaked and washed away some of the material supporting the road as well as the material supporting itself at that point and so it broke

They're not mutually exclusive.

A small leak from the pipe could, over time, have easily caused the road to start to sag, further cracking the pipe, causing the road to sag more, causing the pipe to be crushed.

[robinessex]

I'd certainly query the road closed fee. Is that the supposed cost to the council to comply with the legal notices that have to be generated to close a road?

[daveinhampshire]

I'd go after the closure fee, as you can't prove it was them they can't prove it was you either. I'd look at using the council's own complaints procedure first, it's free and surprisingly impartial. You can always nag your local councillor/MP if you have the energy.