Ive hit a power cable in my garden digging out a tree root
Discussion
£3000 is a reasonable price to pay
Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
x type said:
£3000 is a reasonable price to pay
Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
Lol, absolutely, particularly loving the bit where the legal expert has now become an expert on the location of every cable laid in the U.K. ever, definitely sue the solicitor, it must be their fault Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
and as for the charges being reasonable because a few people had to do something whilst already being paid to do something, have a 
Grumpy old git said:
Lol, absolutely, particularly loving the bit where the legal expert has now become an expert on the location of every cable laid in the U.K. ever, definitely sue the solicitor, it must be their fault and as for the charges being reasonable because a few people had to do something whilst already being paid to do something, have a
Think you're missing the point that a conveyancing solicitor should have picked up on it and certainly should have flagged it as it would put an end to any hope of extensions or similar that the OP may have planned..... It's not a dark art and the information about cable/agreements for access will have been available to them. and as for the charges being reasonable because a few people had to do something whilst already being paid to do something, have a Black_S3 said:
Think you're missing the point that a conveyancing solicitor should have picked up on it and certainly should have flagged it as it would put an end to any hope of extensions or similar that the OP may have planned..... It's not a dark art and the information about cable/agreements for access will have been available to them.
When the location of the cable was not shown on the searches, where do you think the conveyancer should look? Should they visit the property with a spade and find out? The OP mentions a wayleave with the council who previously owned it. Wayleaves bind the land and I imagine the fact that he knows about the wayleave is evidence that the conveyancer did his or her job. If it didn’t state the exact location of the cable it would have stated what type (HV) which ought to be enough to warn anyone digging.
Jobbo said:
When the location of the cable was not shown on the searches, where do you think the conveyancer should look? Should they visit the property with a spade and find out?
The OP mentions a wayleave with the council who previously owned it. Wayleaves bind the land and I imagine the fact that he knows about the wayleave is evidence that the conveyancer did his or her job. If it didn’t state the exact location of the cable it would have stated what type (HV) which ought to be enough to warn anyone digging.
We didn't know bout wayleave only found all this out afterThe OP mentions a wayleave with the council who previously owned it. Wayleaves bind the land and I imagine the fact that he knows about the wayleave is evidence that the conveyancer did his or her job. If it didn’t state the exact location of the cable it would have stated what type (HV) which ought to be enough to warn anyone digging.
I used to manage utility claims for a sizeable utility contractor that did work for BT, Virgin Media and others.
£3k isn't bad, the highest I saw was £11m but that was for hitting a 17" MP gas main with a trencher and the incident turned the gas off for over 1/4m people - it was settled at much less than that.
Shallow cables don't get you off the hook unless they are very shallow as (1) rules may have been different (or non existent) when the cable was installed, (2) the ground level may have changed since it was installed. There is case law on this.
Ask to see evidence of their costs (supplier invoices) but remember that they will be paying travelling time, not just the time spent on site. They generally don't charge for their control centre as it is there anyway and the cost isn't incurred as part of your claim. The cost of the crew also includes the cost of their transport, tools, training administration etc. and even the man with the spade expects to be taking home well over £100 a day so the cost of a crew will be significantly higher.
Supplying 1700 homes means 11kv or higher - you are lucky no-one was hurt.
£3k isn't bad, the highest I saw was £11m but that was for hitting a 17" MP gas main with a trencher and the incident turned the gas off for over 1/4m people - it was settled at much less than that.
Shallow cables don't get you off the hook unless they are very shallow as (1) rules may have been different (or non existent) when the cable was installed, (2) the ground level may have changed since it was installed. There is case law on this.
Ask to see evidence of their costs (supplier invoices) but remember that they will be paying travelling time, not just the time spent on site. They generally don't charge for their control centre as it is there anyway and the cost isn't incurred as part of your claim. The cost of the crew also includes the cost of their transport, tools, training administration etc. and even the man with the spade expects to be taking home well over £100 a day so the cost of a crew will be significantly higher.
Supplying 1700 homes means 11kv or higher - you are lucky no-one was hurt.
Sorry to hear about the expense OP but at least you're not injured (or dead!). Striking a cable of that size could have been very serious... Although mains are generally in the public highway, there is a legacy of assets now on private land. I run a company that supports safe digging and we urge everyone to follow safe dig practises (set down by the Health and Safety Executive) – obtain the utility plans (this is what we do), do further site investigation using CAT scanning etc and practise safe excavation methods (e.g. start with trial holes using hand dig methods). As you've found out not doing this can be problematic to put it mildly!
I know no one will agree with me however ....
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
MikeStroud said:
I know no one will agree with me however ....
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
I agree with you there that is what we thought. So after buying the house we now have a garden that we can't have how we want it. You would of thought we should of been told this before buying the property I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
Day6480 said:
Yes I do but they won't cover as we didn't have an assessor out at the time of the damage, we weren't aware we would get charges at the time
That sounds like a poor excuse, what is the assessor expecting to see? It's a hole in the ground with a damaged cable, they have statements from yourself and the electric company saying exactly what happened. Personally I'd be getting back onto them and not accepting this "computer says no" nonsense from the 1st line phone staff.MikeStroud said:
I know no one will agree with me however ....
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
I 100% agree with you Mike.I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
MikeStroud said:
I know no one will agree with me however ....
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
Because people don’t want to pay for it with increased bills.Doing this for every land owner with respect to power cables would be almost impossible. The pipeline operators do exactly this though,with a meet and greet to new landowners who have assets crossing their property, landowner packs sent out every year with shiny landfill(pens,rulers,calendars,mugs etc)tat inside a lovely glossy carrier bag. Plus we used to fly the pipeline network by helicopter looking for people like yourselves! Look up ‘Linewatch’. Personally, I wouldn’t dig in a fencepost without first finding out what’s under there. My sense of self preservation and ‘assume nothing’ mentality sees fit to that.I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
Completely disagree !,
Most people have access to a computer and can check safe digging practises ,also I believe he was using a machine, complete neglect ,and disruption for many people as said before lucky no casual casualties.
Most people have access to a computer and can check safe digging practises ,also I believe he was using a machine, complete neglect ,and disruption for many people as said before lucky no casual casualties.
MikeStroud said:
I know no one will agree with me however .
...
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
...
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
Grumpy old git said:
x type said:
£3000 is a reasonable price to pay
Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
Lol, absolutely, particularly loving the bit where the legal expert has now become an expert on the location of every cable laid in the U.K. ever, definitely sue the solicitor, it must be their fault Yes I know that you did not know it was there blame your solicitor for that
I used to work for wpd and can gaurantee the actual cost was more
for example typical hv fault
everything ok at moment
alarm goes off at control centre
circuit breaker tripped at main substation
engineer looks at screen , waits 2 -3 minutes in case someone calls to say hit cable etc.
no calls come in try circuit back in
trips out again calls 3-4 people to help with fault
each one goes to different location to narrow down fault
this must be done as quick as possible because ofgem say so
switch on / off at different locations until narrowed down
eventually find basic location
you ring to say hit cable in garden
they now know where it is but cant 100 percent prove it
man looks at ground can't see cable to confirm
has to test cable
yes thats where it is
ground needs digging out ok you dug garden twice
cable needs to be repaired , it takes time to do this cost of materials etc not cheap
cable has to be tested after to prove it was repaired correct
cable re energised to double prove ok
more checks required after to prove the whole circuit is ok
otherwise known as phasing checks
all the time this is happening there are people in the background checking cable routes ,any wayleaves ? , printing plans , monitoring the electricity system whilst the fault is being repaired and lots more behind the scenes
It all has to be done safely and to the rules
when you add up everyones time spent repairing the fault and that could be 8-10 people if not more you can see where the cost adds up
and as for the charges being reasonable because a few people had to do something whilst already being paid to do something, have a you haven't a clue how the system works have you
so if and when your electricity supply goes off because somebody in the next village or street to you hits a power cable with a digger
would you prefer to be back on supply within 1 hr because 4 men turned up to help get your supply back on quickly ?
Or wait 5 hrs because only 1 man turned up ?
I think I know the answer
and yes I still blame the solicitor for not checking properly
stuarthat said:
Completely disagree !,
Most people have access to a computer and can check safe digging practises ,also I believe he was using a machine, complete neglect ,and disruption for many people as said before lucky no casual casualties.
Do you suggest that every home owner hand digs everything from no on in case some undocumented utility exists within their boundary? The OP had searches done that did not show the HV cable to be there. The OP used a machine but the cable was an unreasonably shallow depth and previous searches gave no reason to suspect anything was there. I am just curious what the OP should have done differently, can you elaborate please? Most people have access to a computer and can check safe digging practises ,also I believe he was using a machine, complete neglect ,and disruption for many people as said before lucky no casual casualties.
MikeStroud said:
I know no one will agree with me however .
...
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
...
I think it is reasonable for the OP to dig holes in his own property without doing further searches over and above what were done when he bought the house. Why should he suspect there may be an HV cable or oil pipeline going though his land? If his solicitor couldn't find it then he is unlikely to.
However my point is I feel that the utilities should every few years send all private land owners a map showing where their assets cross a private landowners land. At least then it will raise awareness and get passed from neighbour to neighbour and such incidents would be reduced in the first place.
If I owned some high value asset running under someone's property the I would be constantly reminding them of the fact to protect it. Instead the utilities would rather wait for an incident, spent a lot of £ sorting it, then try and recover the costs. Why not be proactive in the first place and raise awareness?
Admittedly even the utilities don't know where all their assets are which may be why they never showed up on the searches in the first place, in which case the utilities should only blame themselves.
OP I would fight the claim on the basis the utilities hadn't published the location of their assets and so never showed up in any searches.
PS - I also managed to put a garden fork through my yellow household mains gas supply. I knew where it started (at the top of my back garden) and I knew where it terminated (in my gas box at the back of the house) a distance of about 50Metres, what I didn't know was that (1) it was only buried to a 6" (yes 15cm) depth and (2) it meandered between those two points in a sinusoidal manner rather than simply taking a direct route. In other words I think when it was laid they didn't dig a straight trench they simply threw the pipe on the surface and shovelled some soil on top. Any way I put my garden fork through it where it had meandered 2Metres away from the straight line would have taken it. Gas Board came out and fixed it (the engineer said he would tell his boss it wasn't my fault so I didnt have a bill). I never used the fork where I thought the gas pipe was and only used the spade there; but hadn't expected the pipe to have been laid on the surface and meander all over the place in that way.
I can agree with some of what you are saying
But the main problem utility companies have is when the cable / gas etc were put in the ground they may well have been put in at the correct depth
Who knows what has happened since to the ground level being reduced/ trees being planted etc
Its a catch 22 sometimes yes I agree you wouldn't think about a high voltage or similar cable being in your rear garden
I have a main sewer pipe running thro my garden
and my solicitor highlighted it to us
But I still say a solicitor should ask the question
Dare I say where there a blame there is a claim
But the main problem utility companies have is when the cable / gas etc were put in the ground they may well have been put in at the correct depth
Who knows what has happened since to the ground level being reduced/ trees being planted etc
Its a catch 22 sometimes yes I agree you wouldn't think about a high voltage or similar cable being in your rear garden
I have a main sewer pipe running thro my garden
and my solicitor highlighted it to us
But I still say a solicitor should ask the question
Dare I say where there a blame there is a claim
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