Property flooded catastrophically due to pump being turned off, who is responsible?

[redrose281]

We live in an area which has been greatly affected by Coal Mining Subsidence. As a result of Coal Mining Subsidence, I had all of my land under drained and a huge chamber and pump put in to take the excess water off my land into the ditches and away to the river, where it is meant to go.

Next door to me is a Cricket Club which also suffered from Coal Mining Subsidence and they too had a huge chamber and pump installed to take excess water away, into the dykes and then to the river. The responsibility for the Cricket Club pump is that of the Coal Authority . The Coal Authority have tried to get others to take on the responsibility ( e.g The local drainage board), but the although the CA offered 150k for the drainage board to take on responsibility, the drainage board didn't consider it to be enough money.

My problem is this, at the end of 2019, our Village flooded catastrophically, (it made all of the National News), on the night the flooding started, someone turned the pump off at the Cricket Club, my pump couldn't cope with the additional water that the Cricket Club pump wasn't now taking away and as a result, my land flooded catastrophically too and was under water for weeks meaning I had to bring my animals off the land, house them elsewhere and feed additional feed....I have tried to make a claim against the Coal Authority as the pump is their responsibility, but they have denied responsibility, saying it was the Environment Agency who turned the pump off. Please can anyone advise what I should do and who would legally be responsible for the costs incurred by myself because of flooding caused by the Cricket Club pump being turned off?

Many thanks in advance.

[tesla6518]

You really need to consult a lawyer regarding this matter, the main problem you have is proving who switched the pump off, also I would have thought anyone who is involved would claim " Force Majeure"

[redrose281]

Thank you for your reply tesla6518 , we know that it was definitely the Environment Agency who turned the pump off, then as the place flooded (due to the Cricket Club pump having been turned off), the Cricket Club building itself ended up 4 feet under water and the pump was not turned back on for a further three months ! All this time without the Cricket Club pump working, meant our land was absolutely ruined and noone wanted to know!

The CA are saying that although the Cricket Club pump is their responsibility, the fact we flooded because the Cricket Club pump was turned off is not their responsibility as they didn't turn the pump off, the Environment Agency did.

Please could you tell me what "Force Majeure" means?

Many thanks.

[atticus]

Force Majeure: https://www.google.com/search?q=forc...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Are we to assume that you are uninsured in respect of the flood damage?

[efpom]

If Rylands v Fletcher is in play, it would be the Cricket Club that the OP sues.

[redrose281]

atticus thank you for your reply my, my insurers wouldn't pay out for my land flooding as it flooded because the Cricket Club pump was deliberately turned off by the Environment Agency, causing my land to flood.

[redrose281]

efpom thank you for your reply. I am unsure whether Roland's v Fletcher is in play as I'm not sure what it is so will have a look on Google and come back to you

[redrose281]

Sorry, Ryland's v Fletcher...my phone changed it to Roland's

[atticus]

Do I understand correctly that the problem was that the cricket club pump being turned off, water on your land had nowhere else to go? If so, it was not a case of the flood water comong on to your land from that other land, but of water that was on your land not draining away. That suggests that you have no claim in negligence or nuisance (the rule in Rylands v Fletcher being a subset of the latter).

I don't understand the reasoning for your insurers refusal to pay. You did not disable the pump.