Damage to tarmac driveway caused by septic tank lorry

BBMSteve · 20-06-2022 10:52pm #1

Hi all,

I was hoping somebody might have had a similar experience to me and could let me know whether this is worth pursuing.

I moved into my house in September last year, and in December my septic tank started to back up, so I called in a company to get it emptied and the drains jetted. On the phone, I specifically requested that the work be done from the road that runs along the boundary of my property as I know how big those lorries are and I was worried about it causing damage to my house as it turned the tight corner onto the rear drive. I was told that this would be possible, provided that the septic tank was within 40 metres of the road, which it is, and that the lorry could park safely, which it could.

However, when the lorry arrived, the driver made no attempt to perform the work from the road, driving straight on to my driveway, tearing up the tarmac as it turned the tight corner. Now I have a 3-metre arc torn across my drive.

Both the driver and myself documented the incident with photos, and I immediately got in contact with the company to request that the damage be repaired. In February this year, I finally had a site visit from the owner of the company, who inspected the damage and, although assuring me that this had never happened to them before, promised he would send out a tarmac contractor to repair the driveway.

Two weeks later, I received an email from the company saying that they had been in touch with a tarmac contractor who had said that the underlying cause of damage was most likely a substandard job installing the tarmac, and so they are no longer willing to fix it. While the tarmac might indeed not be the best of jobs (we've had reports that the woman who owned the property before us had a history of cutting corners), in my view, the lorry shouldn't have been on my driveway to cause the damage in the first place and so the quality of the tarmac is immaterial.

My subsequent attempts to make contact with the company to get the damage fixed have gone ignored, and I'm getting sick of the sight of the mess. Has anyone had a similar experience or know whether I am likely to win if I take this to to my solicitor or small claims court?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Steve

elperello · 20-06-2022 11:11pm

Did the tarmac contractor actually see the damage?

Have you had the damage assessed by a competent person or got an estimate as to cost.

BBMSteve · 20-06-2022 11:46pm

Hi elperello!

The answer to both of your questions is no. The contractor has only seen the photos. A cost estimate will definitely be the first thing I'll do if I do decide to take further action though.

Cheers!

3DataModem · 21-06-2022 6:31am

Question: did you make it clear to the company that if they couldn't do it from the driveway, you didn't want the job done at all?

The reality here is that the narrative from the lorry's point of view will be

the safe way to do the work was to be on driveway. 'safety' is a judgement call, I'm sure he'll be able to cite reasons other than the 40m distance that driveway was safer than road.
it is going to be difficult for you to force them to either (a) repair a bad job, which creates future liability for them or (b) bring the job up to standard, for obvious reasons.

893bet · 21-06-2022 6:41am

small claims court? Assuming you can get a quote that it costs less than 2k to fix?

You asked them not to pull in, open and shut. This is why they have insurance. I never allow trucks in my yard for the same reason.

Dempo1 · 21-06-2022 7:21am

Kind of a Tricky one OP.

It may not have been practical to do do the works from the side of the road, but if so, that really should have been discussed with you by Driver before them driving on to Drive way. If you have proof of your initial instructions, that may help in your case.

But and its But, if it can be proven your driveway was poorly constructed and unable to take heavy loads, we're now getting into engineering reports and further expenses. It could be argued in defence, how could Driver know your drive couldn't take heavy loads for example. I'm not saying who's, right, who's right here but there is always the possibility in any court action, both parties can be found to have shared liability for the cost of repair, you could win but have amount awarded reduced in essence.

At a minimum I'd be getting my own assessment of the driveways construction before going any further, yes it might cost you for a report, based on that report, then decide if a compromise can be reached, if not proceed with legal action.

cap.in.hand. · 21-06-2022 8:30am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251104/damage-to-tarmac-driveway-caused-by-septic-tank-lorry

Contact a tarmac contractor and get a quotation for repair and send it on to company ...but be prepared to having to fund it yourself from a safety point of view

SteM · 21-06-2022 8:31am

If you made it clear when booking the appointment that you didn't want the lorry on your property then that should have been relayed to the driver. The driver then should have parked outside and discussed the job with you. if he wasn't happy doing the job from the roadside for whatever reason then he could have told you at the time before tearing up the driveway. Obviously either the driver wasn't told or he ignored the instructions, either way the company are at fault imo.

If it was confirmed by phone then the problem would be proving you told them you you didn't want the lorry on the property.

BBMSteve · 21-06-2022 4:01pm

Thanks everyone for the replies!

@SteM Yeah, the order was placed over the phone so there's no evidence that I requested the work to be done from the road. It has been stated in several emails since the incident, however, and not disputed by the company at any point, but I don't know if that helps my case at all.

@Dempo1 I completely get where you're coming from – I wouldn't have expected that to happen either!

@893bet The thing is, we're not asking them to fix the whole driveway, just the damaged area, so €2,000 should easily cover it. Actually, we're thinking of building a patio area on the lawn just behind it anyway, so we'd even be happy to extend that out across the damaged tarmac, so there'd be no need to repair any more than what is damaged.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229305#Comment_119229305

@3DataModem Not having the job done at all wasn't much of an option, given the amount of literal crap flowing all over the place! ;)

Damage to tarmac driveway caused by septic tank lorry

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