Burst watermain outside entrance damaged driveway. Claim damages against Council?

R

Rose

Registered User
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On Christmas morning a burst watermain outside our front entrance damaged our drive which we had tarmacademed in the new in November.

I rang the council as soon as I saw it but it took them nearly two hours to come and turn the water off.

The volume of water was so much that it actually lifted up part of the drive.

Just wondering have we any right to ask the council to repair this damage.
 
Can you contacted your house insurance company?

In any event fully document the incident with photographs / videos etc and engage the relevant professionals to help you.
 
Was it definitely a main and not the tee off the main servicing your house? If it was main I would say yes you prob do. If it was on your side of stopcock valve then no but judging by fact the council actually came out and switched it off then it seems it was mains burst
 
The main comes up our side of the road but it looks like all connections for both sides are made on this side and it was two connections for houses on the other side of the road which came undone, the workmen showed us. It actually took three men working non stop to keep the water from coming in to the house while waiting for water to be turned off as we are much lower down than the footpath. we are just glad it didnt happen during the night as we probably would have been flooded. Must be greatful for small mercies.
 
Hi Rose,

So the burst/leaks were on the "public side" and your private property was damaged as a consequence. Is this correct?

When you reported it to your insurance company what did they advise?

Have you documented the incident?

aj
 
Own insurer

Have you checked with your own insurer- it is regrettable that you would think first to make a claim against the Council! Surely, this was simply due to the freeze./ thaw - hardly some act by the Council- I am sure if you adequate insurance cover for your home this may indeed be covered. In addition, the lifting of the tarmac would not simply occur because of 2 hours of water- there was probably some underlying defect in the tarmac and you are probably aware if this from pre Christmas!
 
MarySmyth said:
it is regrettable that you would think first to make a claim against the Council!
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OP simply asked if she any right to ask the council to repair this damage.
OP, of course you could contact council and see what they have to say.

MarySmyth said:
there was probably some underlying defect in the tarmac and you are probably aware if this from pre Christmas!
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Very presumptuous.
Looks like somebody was having a bad day.
 
MarySmyth said:
Surely, this was simply due to the freeze./ thaw - hardly some act by the Council-
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If the council (or their subcontractor) didnt bury the pipes deep enough in the ground to prevent freezing then surely it is due to some act by the council. Its not unheard of for councils (or their contractors) to do shoddy work.
 
MarySmyth said:
Have you checked with your own insurer- it is regrettable that you would think first to make a claim against the Council! Surely, this was simply due to the freeze./ thaw - hardly some act by the Council- I am sure if you adequate insurance cover for your home this may indeed be covered. In addition, the lifting of the tarmac would not simply occur because of 2 hours of water- there was probably some underlying defect in the tarmac and you are probably aware if this from pre Christmas!
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2 hours of water at mains pressure of 3 bar could do plenty of damage. If it's damage due to councils main bursting then yes 100 per cent they should make good the damage....freeze thaw shouldn't affect watermains as they should be buried 1m deep
 
If the ops insurance does cover it and she claims more than likely her insurance renewal will increase so its not unreasonable to see if a claim against the council is an option
 
I think my observations were indeed correct- as I have confirmed with engineer today- that would be most unusual for tarmacadam to lift simply because of water for 2 hours! Surely all our roads should have also crumbled...
 
Depending on the pressure and cover of main of course it could. Engineer here too btw!
 
Update

Yes - I agree! anything is possible- it could...
 
BICIP said:
Depending on the pressure and cover of main of course it could. Engineer here too btw!
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The size of the water main would also have an influence!

Water mains generally range in size from 50mm up to over 300m and larger.
 
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