Advice
Blocked drain: whose problem is it?
Get this right before paying anyone, because the answer is sometimes "not yours, and it's free".
The rule in one breath
Since the 2011 transfer of private sewers, the split works like this. Pipes inside your boundary that serve only your house: yours. Pipes shared with a neighbour, even inside your garden: the water company's. Everything past your boundary: also the water company's. Around Warwick, Leamington and the rest of south Warwickshire, that company is Severn Trent, and they clear blockages in their pipes free.
Free. Which is why this guide exists. People pay drainage firms every week for blockages that were legally Severn Trent's to fix.
The two-minute test
Knock on next door. If their toilet is gurgling or their gully's backing up at the same time as yours, the blockage is downstream of where your drains join, which makes it shared, which makes it Severn Trent's. Call them (0800 783 4444) before calling anyone who charges.
Only your house affected? Then it's probably in your private section. Terraced and semi-detached houses complicate this slightly, because drains often run along the backs of several properties before heading for the sewer, and those shared runs belong to Severn Trent even where they cross your garden. When in doubt, the age and layout of the street matters, and a local plumber who knows the housing stock can usually tell you in one phone call. We do that for free: describe the symptoms and we'll tell you honestly which side of the line you're on, even when the answer earns us nothing.
If it is yours
Then it wants clearing properly, not just poking until water moves. A blockage that comes back every few weeks isn't bad luck, it's a cause: wipes, fat, a dropped joint, roots. Our blocked drains service covers clearance, and drainage covers finding and fixing the recurring ones.
Insurance note: buildings cover often includes accidental damage to underground drains but not routine unblocking, while home emergency add-ons frequently do cover clearance. Two minutes with your policy documents before you spend money is rarely wasted.
Preventing the next one
Unglamorous but true: most domestic blockages are self-inflicted. Fat and grease down the kitchen sink set like candle wax in the pipe. Wipes labelled "flushable" leave the bowl, then stop. A gully grid full of autumn leaves floods the yard the first wet week of November. Bin the fat, bin the wipes, clear the grids each autumn, and you may never need this page again.