On 21 September, Yorkshire Water returned to their house to refill the hole around the pipe – but Steve said it was “too late”.
“If they’d have actually done what they were supposed to do in the first place, when it originally started, and sent out the drying team like I requested, sent out tankers to mitigate the overflowing water butt and a disinfectant team to desanitise the cellar floor, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
“We just want it repairing. It’s made our house basically worthless.”
Tracy added: “At the moment, every time it rains, even though the repairs have been done, it’s so wet under the floor that what worries me is rising damp, months, years down the line.
“Why should we pay for this – it wasn’t our fault.”
The couple have put in a claim for £39,000 from Yorkshire Water. £22,000 would cover remedial work to the cellar, with the rest covering the cost of pumps and loss of income.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise to the customer for what will undoubtedly have been a distressing experience. We returned to the property on several occasions and reworked the previous repair. As this is going through the court claims process, it would not be right for us to comment further at this stage.”
