Neighbors commercial truck broke our water line

melid2

New Member
Jurisdiction
Washington
We live on a private road shared by 8 homes. There is a gravel walkway on our side of this road which is often used as parking. We have a neighbor who lives on the opposite side of the road who often parks his commercial truck on the walkway.

We have a road easement and 1/4 interest in the 30 feet of our driveway/walkway which is shared with 4 homes on our side, but there is no mention of it for the homes on the other side of the road. This is written into our property description, but not theirs.

In October of last year, we were notified by our water utility that there may be a leak. We determined it is not in the house, but in the line from the meter to the house, which is approximately 650 feet long. There were no obvious signs anywhere to help locate the leak. It was a small leak at first, so we decided to wait and see if it would show itself. It did not, and with the leak becoming larger, we hired a leak detection company in April. He said he found the leak, but it was not where he said it was. In early May, we were able to find and repair the leak, which was under the gravel walkway where the neighbor has been parking his truck.

We asked him to pay for the estimated costs of $2000 to which he verbally agreed. But half an hour later the owner came to our home demanding we leave his tenants alone. There were some choice words and we have mutually demanded that each of us stay off the others property.

Do we have a legal case to ask this neighbor to pay for the costs incurred in this situation?
 
Do we have a legal case to ask this neighbor to pay for the costs incurred in this situation?

To ask? Yes, you can always ask. And the other person is free to say no.

In early May, we were able to find and repair the leak, which was under the gravel walkway where the neighbor has been parking his truck.

Where is your evidence that the truck caused the leak? Just because the truck parked there doesn't mean much.

What kind of pipe? Copper? Galvanized? Something else? How did the leak manifest itself? Was the pipe broken? Was a joint loose? Was there a hole in the pipe? What did you have to do to repair the pipe?

You have a lot of questions to answer before you have any kind of case against the truck owner.
 
I think you will have trouble proving the truck caused the damage.
It could have been a tree root, a faulty pipe, or who knows what else.
Have you checked if you have any coverage through your insurance?
 
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