To think the council can't charge me for this?

[EwItsAHooman]

The drains from my house and the house next door connect/intersect before joining the main pipe, the manhole cover where they join is on the boundary between the two properties, both council houses.

Two weeks ago our toilet wouldn't clear when flushed and all of the plug drains in the house stank. Next door had the same problem. I rang the council who came and flushed the pipes out. The man who did it said there was a blockage in the shared drain consisting of wet wipes and tampons, he said that when he started flushing it through the mass seemed to come out of next door's pipe but also said he couldn't be certain and that if it happened again we would both be charged for the call out/blockage removal as it's a shared drain and therefore a shared cost.

I've been to the loo a few minutes ago and upstairs reeks of drains again and the toilet isn't clearing when flushed so I'm certain there is a blockage again.

Can the council really charge both of us when I know for a fact we're not causing the bloackage? I wasn't having a period when they were blocked last time and I'm not this time plus I use a mooncup so the tampons were 100% not mine. We do use wet wipes for the baby but they go in the bin along with the nappies and no packets of wipes, including cleaning wipes, are kept in either of our toilets so there's no chance the DC have mistakenly flushed any. I also have hotel receipts proving that the DC and I were away visiting family the back end of last week/this weekend and a work schedule showing that DH is working down in Manchester from Thursday until tomorrow so the house was empty from Thursday night until late yesterday afternoon when I got back. This is only the second time we've had a blockage and I'm presuming it'll again be down in the shared drain but next door has had blockages on their side of the drain (so pipe blocked before it reaches the shared drain) at least half a dozen or more times in the last year (they moved in a year ago). I don't even know if she would be intentionally creating a blockage, the pipes are rubbish anyway with slow refill on the toilet tank and poor water pressure, other neighbours have had problems with frequent blockages too but they're a mix of privately owned and privately rented so not maintained by the council.

If it's a shared drain then it should be maintained by the water company (eg Thames water), so call them out. In the meantime have a gentle word with the neighbours about what is appropriate to flush?

The drain is on the property , the part belonging to the the water board is where the pipe meets the street after the two pipes have merged into one (or so it was explained to me anyway).

Next door are friendly enough, say hello/goodbye when passing, but we're not on the sort of terms where I could talk about appropriate flushing.

Well, yes they can.. the shared part is not their responsibility, its yours and your neighbours, so you and your neighbour pay.

If there is a dispute about who has caused the problem, you and your neighbour must sort that between yourselves.

So either you pay half or you strap on big girl panties and go round and explain politely that they must not flush certain things down the loo.

It's called adulting. It isn't actually that hard.

Start a conversation to ask whether they are having similar issues, mention what was suggested as likely cause previously.

It's called adulting. It isn't actually that hard.

Which part of my post made you assume I'm not a functional adult or that I find being an adult hard? Considering that the council website states they are responsible for drains and gutters then no, it really isn't my responsibility to discuss with my neighbours what they should or shouldn't be flushing down the loo and that conversation would be the job of the council either in person or by letter.

It really annoys me that people flush wipes/ sanpro/ nappies down the toilet then it blocks other peoples toilets and they have to pay. This happened to us and we did pay. I was earning decent money then and could afford it tho.
Now I probably would go and ask neighbours what they are putting down the toilet, as it isn’t us and never has been.

The owner of the property (properties in this case) is responsible for the drains up to the boundary. The owner of the property is the council as you are both renting.

You need to check out your local council's repair policies. You should find they take responsibility for this repair. After all, they would not be best pleased if you went messing with council pipes on council property and caused damage (then they'd really go to town with charging you money for so-called rechargeable repairs). You would be better of speaking to the repairs management centre than taking the word of the bloke who came out to fix it. The people who come to your property to do a repair are quite often contractors (especially if out of office hours) not direct council employees and I have found a number of them to be full of shit on ocassion.

There is a however here though. Any council repair that would be classed as their responsibility can be made into a rechargeable repair if they deem willful damage or gross negligence as the causal factor of a repair. Even in this circumstance though, you do have a right to appeal if they decide to charge citing negligence etc.

The council will be responsible for the maintenance of the drains I imagine but their responsibility ends if people are putting things down the loo that they shouldn't be.
It could be blockages moving that have been there for months and months so saying you were away probably won't help.
Unless you can prove that you didn't put anything down there even if it was a year ago then I think you're going to have to pay. And have that discussion with your neighbours too, otherwise it could keep happening.

Lots of misinformation here but hibbledibble is right. ALL shared drains are the responsibility of the water company and the council should have refused to do anything once they realised the drain was shared!

All sewers outside of your property boundaries and any sewers shared with another property are our responsibility.

www.stwater.co.uk/help-and-contact/faqs/who-is-responsible-for-the-sewer-drain-on-my-property/

Tell them that and report them to the local water company!

Sorry, cross posted there, see you've already checked the councils policies.

I think you can only talk to the council about this and tell them what you put in your opening post and see what they say.

As you say, it is surely up to the council to tell your neighbour off (for want of a better phrase) for blocking the drains. She is their tenant to manage, she's not paying her rent to you. Saying that, you have to let them know it's not you.

Best of luck to you, plumbing problems like this are a right pain in the arse, especially when it's your neighbour who is causing them and/or getting in the way of repairs. Been there, done that, got the wet tee shirt because of an upstairs neighbour who wouldn't let them in to fix a bloody leak...twice...three months first time...second time was nine months and counting when I left.

Thank you, I'll speak to the water board

It's not so much the cost if we do have to pay, we're not hard up for money, it's the annoyance of potentially being charged when I know it's not us who is flushing tampons and wipes.

it really isn't my responsibility to discuss with my neighbours what they should or shouldn't be flushing down the loo and that conversation would be the job of the council either in person or by letter

Er... unless you tell them what's causing the problem, it's going to keep happening.

Why not just pop around for a 5 min chat instead of deciding that this is the job of the council? The guy that cleared the first blockage has already told YOU what caused it. I think you'll be waiting a long time for that letter.

I'm not being paid to deal with informing them whereas the council are. If it comes from me then I'm the busy-body neighbour laying blame at their door and I should mind my own business, it's the surest and quickest way to create a sour atmosphere between us. If it comes from the council then it's not personal, has no potential to turn into an argument between me and the neighbours, and it's "official" rather than "her next door being a cheeky fucker and telling us what do in our own toilet". My business is my house and speaking to the council and water board to see that I don't get charged a fee, it's up to them to deal with my neighbours.