Good fences make for good neighbours, but a creeping oil leak does not respect any fences or boundaries. What can you do if you suffer an oil leak from a neighbouring property?
Should you notice any of the early signs of an oil leak near your home, it is wise to act quickly. A strong smell of oil or a tell-tale dark stain on the grass or soil needs to be investigated sooner rather than later. A kerosene leak can cause thousands of euros worth of damage to your garden and home and even the very structure of your house as it seeps into the foundations. It is vital to call an oil leak expert to halt the damage and assess the situation going forward. If that oil leak is originating in your neighbour’s property, this will bring its own difficulties, but the priority for both of you has to be the immediate cessation of the leak.
If you suspect that a leak is occurring, at Enviroleak, we have a 24 hour help line to assist in the first steps in clean up and remediation. Advice is given over the phone initially and then the team is mobilised, once a technician has arrived on site, the exact location of the leak can be established. Some homeowners have suffered the effects of oil leaks that began over three hundred yards from their homes, so this sourcing is essential, and part of the initial and urgent action taken for all of those impacted.
Cleaning up the mess is our expertise. Ignore ‘helpful’ folk with washing up liquid and other homestyle cures for a serious leak. We have years of experience in restricting the damage Our team will not only limit the leak and its impact but will liaise with your insurance assessor and issue reports on the leak. Whether you own or live in a property with a domestic oil tank, you should check you have adequate home insurance to cover assessment and clean-up of a leak, and any effects of the leak on the land or ground. Hopefully, your neighbour also has adequate insurance cover. But this may not always be the case, and even if they do have insurance, it is not a given that the other insurance company will pay for your damage too.
In March, this yeara homeowner reported that his neighbour’s insurance company were refusing liability in a case where seven hundred litres of oil spilled from an oil tank, destroying both theirs and the neighbour’s home. This is very disappointing and in this particular case, the homeowner was advised to seek retribution from their own insurance. Each insurance claim is treated on its own merits and its own unique circumstances we cannot presume that the actions of this particular insurance company is the norm. In the case of a leak from another property, it is advisable to employ your own clean up service and your own insurance assessor and limit the damage as quickly as possible. Following on from the original accident, the leak source will need to be identified and the extent of the damage assessed and recorded. Issues like negligence, trespass or nuisance may come into the equation. Sometimes your own insurance company will cover you for a third-party spill and at other times it might be in your interest to claim form the source of the spill. Each case is indeed different.
The first steps in any oil spill are clear, regardless of where the spill originates. Call the experts and address the immediate issues of containment, clean up and reporting. Once the dust, or in this case the fumes, have settled, contact a good insurance assessor to negotiate on your behalf going forward. At Enviroleak we are available to advise, assist and provide expert practical assistance when disaster happens.
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