Neighbours Drain Flooded My Kitchen - England
I really need some advice team, I'm stuck for what to do and at large financial/mental loss/plus now at odds with my neighbours.
For Context (my legal question at the bottom) back in January we discovered a pool of grey water under my kitchen floor (It's a suspended timber floor - 1930's house) After much testing and ruling my our own drains, pipes, guttering etc... We discovered it was 110% my neighbours drain escaping water into my house (potentially for years given the extent of the damage caused). My kitchen has an extension that was built some 50+ years ago and my neighbours added a drain right in the corner between my original house wall and my extension wall but on their land against the boundary line.
We called the neighbours and asked them to run their kitchen sink (which drains into the drain against our wall, as well as their bathroom sink and shower). After agreeing, a few moments later a stream of water started pouring out from under the original back wall of my house (maybe a foot under ground level). The surface of their drain was severely damaged and cracked and allowing water to escape into the surrounding earth and evidently my kitchen subfloor. We did a few hose pipe tests (with their permission) and every time water flowed directly into our kitchen from the same spot.
I asked the neighbours to have a proper survey and repair carried out to make sure no further damage or channels of water were flowing to my house, however they ignored me and instead poured a load of concrete around their drain which did not stop the water flowing into my kitchen. At this point our insurance said they wouldn't help at all until we had solid proof the neighbours drain was the cause, so we had a professional builder come in and he confirmed it immediately and then we paid for a full drain survey of their drain which confirmed it was also severely damaged below ground and given the fact our houses are on a hill, gravity was clearly leading the escaping water directly to our house.
To try and keep a long story short, the neighbours turned nasty and denied any fault and started accusing us and my old extension wall of being the cause of the water escape (it does have some cracks and holes in its render but it was confirmed by all builders we had visit not to be the cause, as the water was entering our property from below ground) My insurance finally got involved but I had to pay a £700 excess and lost my 15 years no claims causing my premiums to rise a fair bit. Of course I've only had half a kitchen now for nearly 8 months as it's still not repaired (insurance companies really suck) I've been living with my partner as she has a little one and the state my house has been in since, has made it unsuitable for a small child.
To end, my insurance has confirmed and accepted the neighbours are 100% to blame but they do not believe they can prove negligence so have not sought any form of recovery from them. However, by its very definition they have been negligent by allowing their drain to get into such a state of disrepair. Not only that, but when they finally did have their drain repaired properly (so they say) a few of months ago, they have refused to provide any proof or paperwork to confirm the below ground damage was repaired and our insurance company are happy to take their word for it. The only proof I have I suppose is that the water has stopped flowing into my house now, but it is proving to be a very dry summer, so who knows.
I want to know, could I seek the £700 we lost back in small claims court? They are also now refusing us entry to their land to carry out maintenance on our extension wall which is only now accessible from their garden as they put up a garden fence some years ago. The court fees to gain access are around £309 I believe, so I would also like to seek that expense back in small claims court if possible. They have put up a decorative wall directly against my extension wall blocking me from re-rendering a small section of it. Ideally I need this removed so I can sort that section of my wall and prevent water ingress into my brickwork. How would that work in court?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, if anything is unclear or you need more information please let me know. I'm at my wits end and my neighbours have been truly horrid since all of this broke out. Screaming at me in the streat and banging on the wall of my extension with broom sticks at random points through the days. It's all getting a bit much.
