Family 'helpless' as sewage floods home

Heavy rainfall lead to a manhole overflowing and a family home to be flooded

A family said they feel "helpless" after heavy downpours of rain left their home contaminated by sewage.

Will Capper, from Winchester got a call from his partner Lauren on 1 August saying that "the manhole cover in the garden had started to overspill."

He explained that a sewage pipe that runs through their back garden had overspilled, got into the home and "soaked through under the flooring".

Southern Water said it "understands flooding is incredibly distressing" and it "swiftly arranged a £500 goodwill payment" to help with accommodation.

Lauren Slater was at home with two young children during the heavy rainfall

Lauren Slater was at home with two young children when she first saw the water coming into the family home.

Ms Slater said: "As soon as that first trickle of water came through, I was scooping everything off the floor that I could and obviously moved the kids upstairs.

"At this point I then noticed the front of the house which was two foot, knee deep in water."

Only later when the water had receded could they leave the house.

Will Capper said the family are in "survival mood"

Mr Capper said he made several calls to Southern Water, who sent out a contractor to have a look and offered to pay for accommodation that night.

But the next day, Mr Capper said he was told by the company they were "sorry but it was no longer our problem."

He said: "Our argument is that its Southern Water's responsibility to look after their infrastructure and make sure things like this don't happen."

The families home was flooded by a heavy downpour of rain on Thursday 1 August

A spokesperson for Southern Water, said: “We understand that flooding is incredibly distressing and we’re sorry to hear that Mr Capper and his family have been affected.

"Our customer care team are in close contact with the family, and swiftly arranged a £500 goodwill payment to help with accommodation costs while our teams took action to clean the property.

“We are also investigating our assets in the area to ensure they are working correctly."

Their kitchen was covered in water and sewage

Mr Capper said he has had to pay for several nights in a hotel and deal with his insurance company.

He was told the claim would be taken on as "escape of water not flooding".

But he said after the loss adjuster paid a visit, the family got another call which said they were calling it flooding.

A letter from the loss adjuster confirmed that an endorsement on the policy means "the insurer will not pay for any loss, damage or alternative accommodation caused by flood or flood arising from storm."

It adds: "We would suggest the matter is pursued further with Southern Water."

Mr Capper said: "We are in survival mode, essentially, we have spent all our money.

"We have nowhere to live. What do we do?"

The family said they have nowhere to live and do not know what to do