About a month ago, we experienced a sewerage blockage at our property. Water was going down very slowly and gurgling loudly in the pipes which we could hear at ground level. Being sensible homeowners, we engaged a local plumber who water jetted our pipes but to no avail. He put his camera down our bathroom pipes and was underwater the entire way to our property's boundary and still remained underwater without locating any blockages in our pipes.
He immediately stopped at the boundary and did not go any further and asked us to call Urban Utilities as it was off-property. The contractor with Urban Utilities shows up an hour later and checks the first sewerage manhole opposite our house. It is completely full to the top with sewage with about 20 families of cockroaches spewing out. He closes that and checks the next manhole downhill and that is full too. Same story with the third manhole. Completely full and almost spewing out. There was no blockage on the fourth hole so the blockage appeared to be at the third manhole.
A couple of hours later, Urban Utilities trucks came to clear out the blockage and sewerage is flowing again, hooray! The contractor with Urban Utilities said as the blockage was not on our property, should be an easy reimbursement for our costs of engaging the original plumber.
Lodged a claim with Urban Utilities for reimbursement of the original plumbers cost of $700 a couple of days later after the blockage. A month later, we received a letter from them stating they were not responsible for the blockage as it was caused by tree roots invading the sewerage system.
The letter reads:
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We wish to advise that our investigations into this matter are now complete. Unfortunately, we do not believe that there is any evidence to suggest that the sewer blockage was, in any way, the result of Urban Utilities’ negligence by act or omission.
Based on our records, the Property experienced a sewer issue which was not immediately reported to Urban Utilities but to a private plumber who progressed independently with investigating the cause of the blockage and attempting to clear. Urban Utilities crews were then engaged and removed tree roots from the sewer infrastructure servicing the Property.
Whilst there is no contention that a blockage was discovered within our sewer network, we wish to respectfully state that the blockage was not caused directly by us as it is not within our ability to control or prevent innumerable root invasions caused by trees within private property or on council land as these belong to the relevant landowner.
In future, we encourage you to call Urban Utilities in the first instance on 13 23 64 as a crew can attend and clear the line free of charge (this service is available in Brisbane and Ipswich only). If the blockage is discovered in your line, you will be charged a nominal fee. More information is available on Urban Utilities’ website.
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I am not sure how it would be ideal to call Urban Utilities first in scenarios like these where we do not know where a blockage is in the first place and any sensible person would engage a private plumber first to investigate their own property because Urban Utilities charges a kidney and liver for their time if the blockage was found to be in private land.
Just wanted to know what your thoughts are and whether I may have a case here against Urban Utilities considering I may have saved them thousands of dollars by letting them know before sewerage started spewing onto the street and up people's pipes.
TLDR:
Blockage at our property with water going down slowly/gurgling
Our local plumber put a camera down our pipes and was underwater to the boundary
Urban Utilities called and found sewerage pipes were blocked 3 manholes down from our property with all manholes almost leaking onto the street
Claim lodged for private plumber costs trying to clear our property pipes and determining blockage was outside our property
Urban Utilities does not accept the claim for reimbursement citing they are not responsible for tree roots in their system
I can only tell you how to get around this if it were in SA.
First, escalate the complaint internally. There should be a higher customer care team that manages Ombudsman level complaints. Be professional, outline again, provide receipts, ask for reimbursement. Give 10 business days.
After that, straight to state body that manages water. This is generally NOT the xCAT but in SA is the State Ombudsman. I suggest you would have similar.
They will argue the legislation. However, your argument is
A - the fault would not have been known to have been theirs without calling a plumber
B - the fault would have escalated, causing more costs to the utility had it not been detected by you
C - you are asking for a goodwill gesture
See how you go. After this, Minister. After that, threaten Current Affairs. Usually it works by Ombudsman because it costs the utility a packet.
Edit - https://urbanutilities.com.au/contact-us/complaints/ombudsma…