Situation with VM Cable across my land..

[Langley]

Hi,

I am new here, but this seems like a good place to get some solid advice.

Anyway, my situation....... In the summer my neighbor had VM installed, for him to acheive this easily it ment that i had to sign for permission for VM to lay a cable around the edge of my garden..... this i happily did to help my neighbor out. Anyway in a few weeks i am due to have my front garden block paved, and out of concern for potential damage to the cable and loss of service, i informed my neighbor so he could arrange for the cable to be re-routed. He has since come back to me saying that VM want 100 GBP to move the cable, and that he is not willing to pay it.......and if i want it moving i will have to pay, and if i leave it and gets damaged i will be liable........ the problem is the way it is routed there will not be enough slack on it to put below the paving........and the added thing of if it becomes faulty at a later date my paving will have to be dug up at great expense.

Long & Short......where do i stand on this, a favour has turned into a nightmare!!

Regards

Langley

[cablecrazy]

seeing as you did a good turn for you Neighbour, you would think he would do the same.

[zing_deleted]

you agreeing to the laying of the cable does not make you responsible if there is a fault. I personally would write VM a letter informing them that you remove permission for the cable before you have the work done. Then if the cable is damaged your neighbour will either have to pay or not have the service.

[Horizon]

Langley, this is one of those situations where you need proper legal advice, at the very least you should speak to your local citizens advice bureaux.

Basically, your neighbour's cable should not have been laid on your land but as you have agreed to it, you could indeed be liable if it's damaged.

Never, ever, again agree to anything like this in the future.

Some years ago the guttering of a neighbours porch was built and it came over my conservatory by several inches. I knew about it then and let it go, I didn't think it would be a problem. I was wrong and I wish I hadn't allowed it to happen.....

[Langley]

Is that possible to "Remove Permission"? I wish i had a copy of the form i signed to see the small print.


Langley

[Horizon]

....there's always the possibility that VM don't have the form either now. Not that I'm suggesting anything...

[TheNorm]

... turned into a nightmare!!...

Have you considered incorporating a drain/gutter into the block paving, putting the VM cable in this? It would also sort out the access problem.

Just an idea.

By the way, welcome to the forum!

:welcome::welcome:

[Jonnymeg]

Hi,

I am new here, but this seems like a good place to get some solid advice.

Anyway, my situation....... In the summer my neighbor had VM installed, for him to acheive this easily it ment that i had to sign for permission for VM to lay a cable around the edge of my garden..... this i happily did to help my neighbor out. Anyway in a few weeks i am due to have my front garden block paved, and out of concern for potential damage to the cable and loss of service, i informed my neighbor so he could arrange for the cable to be re-routed. He has since come back to me saying that VM want 100 GBP to move the cable, and that he is not willing to pay it.......and if i want it moving i will have to pay, and if i leave it and gets damaged i will be liable........ the problem is the way it is routed there will not be enough slack on it to put below the paving........and the added thing of if it becomes faulty at a later date my paving will have to be dug up at great expense.

Long & Short......where do i stand on this, a favour has turned into a nightmare!!

Regards

Langley

I think that using legal terms is a bit beyond the point we are at.

I sure that if the cable were damaged no one would have the right to dig up your new drive without your say so.

What i would do is this.

Disconnect the main cable from his property and pull it out of the ground.
Route it what ever way you need to in order to have the paving laid. I am assuming that it will still be long enough to exit your property and remain loose upon your neighbours garden.
The neighbour can then have the cable spliced at his cost to reach his house once again.

Also - is the cable laid at a suitable depth and suitably protected? If not you cannot be held responsible if it is damaged...:-) And of course VM will not rip up your drive to relay that cable thats for sure. Its hard enough to get them to lift block pavers when you give permission!

If it were me i would explain this to the neighbour and say once the drive is down it is down for good and you will not give permission for it to be lifted.

[AndyCambs]

Disconnect the main cable from his property and pull it out of the ground.

Personally I don't think that's a good idea - you might well end up being charged with criminal damage and being made to pay for the repairs. After all - you signed and gave permission for them to lay the cable.

If you want to rescind that permission then you need to do it lawfully and speak with your solicitors or Citizens Advice Bureau about your concerns.

[Langley]

Thanks for all the advice, i think i will try and get a copy of the form i signed, and then maybe seek further legal advice.

Langley

[Pierre]

VMs standard wayleave terms and conditions allow for you withdraw permission.

Not sure what the notice requirements are, but you are not stuck with it, if you don't want it.

[jungleguy]

If there's enough slack on the cable you could do the block pave drive and have the cable re-buried without interrupting your neighbors connection.

Putting some ducting in so they can pull another cable is a good idea. Put some in for yourself, in case at some point in the future you want services or need another cable pulling.

[thamesvalley]

The Virgin media Standard wayleave agreement has been around for a while now, so if the installtion was done in the summer, chances are it looks like attached doc.

Paying close attention to clause 4 under section B, it states that "If you want to carry out works to refurbish, demolish or substantially reconstruct all or part of the property and you require the equipment to be removed, relocated or altered you agree to give to Virgin Media as much notice of your proposed works as is reasonably practicable (and in any event not less than six calendar months prior notce) in writing...."

Under section F (Notices) it states that "Vigin Media's address for service of notices is 160 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5QA. Any notice serviced on Virgin Media should be addressed to the company secretary..."

DONT dig up, cut or disconnect the cable without having a chat with someone at VM first, it's not going help matters if someone has the expense of them sending a tech out to restore services before you've even consulted with them about possible charges for relocation etc etc.

1 thing that is important is that you obtain a copy of the wayleave agreement - its binding for both you and Virgin media and your succesors (i.e. anyone that takes over them or buys your house) and it should form part of your deeds.

Without seeing the exact route, it's dificult to know if your driveway work is going to cause problems, but if the cable currently goes around the edge of something like a lawn or exisitng drive, the chances are that you could create enough slack to get it under the new drive if you take it straight accross from the connection point (tee) to external termination (omni) box. If you have a contractor coming in to lay the drive, they should be familiar with this type of situation.
If it already goes straight across your land and isnt very deep, as a last resort there may be slack on the cable coming out of the underground ducting in the street that could be pulled up and fed through the tee (best get Virgin to check that bit if you really need to).

The reason Virgin have stated its £100 charge to relocate cabling is becuase there will be an expense involved in getting someone out to relocate the cable or renew it and its part of the standard t&cs but that isnt alowing for the (Big) favour you've done them by providing them a route to gain a new customer. I cant see any clauses in the wayleave agreement that states you are liable for the charges of relocating the equipment (assuming you give the correct notice)

Your neighbour, however, is bound by the sales agreement/contract he has with Virgin and is liable for any service charges levied in relation to his services/account - perhaps you should remind him of this and the fact that he would not have ever got his super-fast broadband without your assistance - i bet it's worth more than £100 to him if he's facing the prospect of not having it any more cos you've given VM 6 months notice to remove the equipment!!

how you play it from here is up to you but hopefully this has given you plenty of info to make an informed decision.

BTW, that suggestion about laying a duct for you and you neighbour under your new drive is definately top advice - it neednt be massive, 50mm would be ideal.

hope this helps!

[Tezcatlipoca]

:welcome:

A very good first post :)

[Langley]

Many Many thxs for the extensive info.

Regards

Langley

[MovieMad]

To be honest m8 if that was me , i would just cut it . Play the good old one the cable was not very deep , i never knew it was there etc etc then when a repull crew comes to repull it . dont give the access to your garden .

[PS1]

:welcome:

A very good first post :)


i agree, nice 1 !
:D