Cable damage
 

My father-in-law has virgin media, something that I am looking at getting myself. I noticed that his main incoming black signal cable that runs down along the site of his property at floor level has been damaged. The TV is still working fine but I suspect it's going to start causing issues when the whether gets worse. I have temporarily put installation tape over it. Does anyone know what the rules are will cable faults with virgin. Is it something that can be repaired DIY style? We could wait till it stops working but if we are going to fix it would rather do it whiles the weather is good.

Re: Cable damage
 

My neighbour accidentally sliced through his cable last summer. He reported it to Virgin and they were out the next day.

Re: Cable damage
 

Did they charge him?

Re: Cable damage
 

I don't think they did, but I'll ask him next time I see him.

Re: Cable damage
 

Apparently, if they did, you can claim it back on your buildings insurance.

Re: Cable damage
 

After a possible excess and the fact you've made a claim - in the long run you may be worse off than just payiing up.

Re: Cable damage
 

Contact Virgin, they own the equipment, it is down to them to maintain it.

Re: Cable damage
 

Good point, it's not always worth claiming. Over the weekend I was searching for a better deal and they asked if I had made any claims in the past 5 years, so I wonder if you can escape this by changing companies or if the declaration of a claim (I have one and did declare it) pushes up the quote from the other insurance companies??

Re: Cable damage
 

I think they all 'speak' to each other in this digital age.

I remember ringing around for car insurance ages ago, 3 of the companies I spoke to could pull my (then) current details up with minimum information from me.

Re: Cable damage
 

I'm sure they can find out yes. By 'escape' I meant not be penalised for claiming because you hadn't actually claimed from the new company.

Re: Cable damage
 

If you change insurance companies, you will be asked if you have made a claim within the last 3-5 years. Failure to disclose this is likely to mean your insurance will be nullified when they find out.

Re: Cable damage
 

I think Richard means that if you had a damaged cable, you could change to Sky, BT or Talk Talk to avoid making a claim in the first place.

Re: Cable damage
 

I don't think so OB.

Re: Cable damage
 

Let's be fair here, if you damage a cable, albeit by accident, you should pay for it to be repaired.

Re: Cable damage
 

True i guess.

Luckily when i cut through my cable VM came out and fixed it for free.

Re: Cable damage
 

I don't recall the original post mentioning how the cable was damaged.

But I totally agree, if I damaged the cable I wouldn't expect Virgin to repair foc (although nice if they did)

Re: Cable damage
 

we had a fence put up in our front garden after our neighbour died (there wasnt a front garden fence between our two properties as my mum would nip over the lawn to get her supplies etc) as the fence was being put up i warned the two men about the virgin media cable under the soil. They told me not a problem.

Within 10 minutes the tv and internet went off and i saw the older bloke looking annoyed and the young intern fencer open mouthed. they'd cut through the wire.

We got virgin media out and the guy who fixed the wire said it had been done wrong anyway. apparently there is a wire installed and then a protective outside put over it. the protective part hadnt been put on. no idea if that led to us not being charged but long story short we werent charged.

Re: Cable damage
 

We had a protective tube put under our garden and the cable pushed through it - but it looks as if our neighbour only had the cable laid under the soil.

Re: Cable damage
 

He wants to stick with virgin so no option of switching suppliers, the cable was damaged by builders that stacked flag stones along it. There is some slack on the cable and wondered if it could just be spliced and rejoined. We have left it to long to contact the builders and don't want to claim on the insurance. It still works but looks like it might not for long.. Will contact virgin as it sounds like virgin might sort it for free...

Re: Cable damage
 

If they try to charge, tell them that he will change to another supplier. If they have any sense, they will realise that it will be more profitable to waive the charge.

Re: Cable damage
 

Or they may say "goodbye then!"

If the cable had no protection then it was VMs fault. If the builders were poor then it is the neighbour's issue.

Re: Cable damage
 

They may, but they will lose revenue as a result. If this is then picked up by retentions, they will probably be more accommodating as they will realise this.