Power company payment for their cable on my house
Discussion
Local power company told me if I'd like to receive a one off payment for letting them keep running a cable across the whole width of the front of the house. This cable does not serve my house and serves another set back from mine, which is out of direct reach of the nearest pole.
They have offered me between 300 to 400 pounds, which is a nice unexpected bonus. Is this a way leave payment?
I gave them an idea for just clipping to the corner of my house, rather than running the whole width, which they agreed with, but may bring the payment down a little. It does look better this way as I've just had the fascia done. I'll probably go for this.
However, is this a reasonable payment, considering it I'll be on the house forever and has been there for donkeys years. Am I entitled to some sort of back payment?
Feels a bit money grabber-ish but I could do with the money with a cam belt change coming up!
They have offered me between 300 to 400 pounds, which is a nice unexpected bonus. Is this a way leave payment?
I gave them an idea for just clipping to the corner of my house, rather than running the whole width, which they agreed with, but may bring the payment down a little. It does look better this way as I've just had the fascia done. I'll probably go for this.
However, is this a reasonable payment, considering it I'll be on the house forever and has been there for donkeys years. Am I entitled to some sort of back payment?
Feels a bit money grabber-ish but I could do with the money with a cam belt change coming up!
iamrcb said:
I've done Some reading and it appears the whole wayleave issue is a can of worms. I'll seek some advice tomorrow from a surveyor.
Do this.DO NOT respond to their offer. Do NOT under any circumstances even say yes without signing anything. And, just supposing, any uninvited cheques turn up in the post, do NOT cash them.
Wayleaves are a MONUMENTAL can of worms, absolutely huge, DO DO DO DO DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO get some LEGAL advice. There are companies out there which specialise in this sort of thing.
In a very small and generalised nutshell, no you're not due and cannot be due any backpayment - wayleaves are with the owner, not the property, and all they are doing is preempting yuo taking any action against them demanding one that you haven't had thus far (legally you should have had the previous wayleave transferred to you the minute you moved in...) and/or they have had trouble with other lines locally and are basically trying to get you to sign a wayleave in perpetuity so they can throw it at you when they drive a truck on to your land, or try and burn your house down for a laugh.
GET.
ADVICE.
NOW.
Edited by RedLeicester on Wednesday 11th May 22:17
The cable in question comes from a pole on the footway outside my house. It does not supply my house.
Say I took the money, this cable will remain on my house where it's been for a long time. It will always supply the house next door and it is unlikely that that house will want to cut off their own electric. There are no building plots near that could or would benefit from this cable or this route.
It sounds like a low risk situation, especially if the cable only touches my house in one location and would never impede any future construction.
If next door did want to re route their electric cable I assume that I would not be liable as I don't own the cable, I just allow the power co. to stick it on my house
I'm definitely not paying anyone to look at this matter. Worst case for me is to tell them to move it, so I lose the cable (good) and the money (less good but it was never mine in the first place). I can ask a favour from a chartered surveyor or two, but I doubt it would be more than a two min chat.
Say I took the money, this cable will remain on my house where it's been for a long time. It will always supply the house next door and it is unlikely that that house will want to cut off their own electric. There are no building plots near that could or would benefit from this cable or this route.
It sounds like a low risk situation, especially if the cable only touches my house in one location and would never impede any future construction.
If next door did want to re route their electric cable I assume that I would not be liable as I don't own the cable, I just allow the power co. to stick it on my house
I'm definitely not paying anyone to look at this matter. Worst case for me is to tell them to move it, so I lose the cable (good) and the money (less good but it was never mine in the first place). I can ask a favour from a chartered surveyor or two, but I doubt it would be more than a two min chat.
Edited by iamrcb on Wednesday 11th May 22:36
you have 3 easy choices
1. take the money and run and change your cambelt ,but don't ever ask for it to be removed
2. ask for more money and name your price within reason
3. tell them no way are you keeping it there if it doesn't feed you ,you don't have to have it
think you will find it will cost them a lot lot more to redirect the cable to next door than it will to pay you more than £3-400
1 difficult choice
Pi.. off you neighbour when they tell them they either have to
1. put a pole up in their garden to re route their cable
2. dig up their drive / garden to re route the cable because next door want it removed from their property
but if you happen to live in an ex council house your stuffed , it was part of the deal when someone buys ex council house any electricty supply cables to neighbours are part of the deal
1. take the money and run and change your cambelt ,but don't ever ask for it to be removed
2. ask for more money and name your price within reason
3. tell them no way are you keeping it there if it doesn't feed you ,you don't have to have it
think you will find it will cost them a lot lot more to redirect the cable to next door than it will to pay you more than £3-400
1 difficult choice
Pi.. off you neighbour when they tell them they either have to
1. put a pole up in their garden to re route their cable
2. dig up their drive / garden to re route the cable because next door want it removed from their property
but if you happen to live in an ex council house your stuffed , it was part of the deal when someone buys ex council house any electricty supply cables to neighbours are part of the deal
x type said:
you have 3 easy choices
1. take the money and run and change your cambelt ,but don't ever ask for it to be removed
2. ask for more money and name your price within reason
3. tell them no way are you keeping it there if it doesn't feed you ,you don't have to have it
think you will find it will cost them a lot lot more to redirect the cable to next door than it will to pay you more than £3-400
1 difficult choice
Pi.. off you neighbour when they tell them they either have to
1. put a pole up in their garden to re route their cable
2. dig up their drive / garden to re route the cable because next door want it removed from their property
but if you happen to live in an ex council house your stuffed , it was part of the deal when someone buys ex council house any electricty supply cables to neighbours are part of the deal
Had some good (and free) advice this morning. Options are:1. take the money and run and change your cambelt ,but don't ever ask for it to be removed
2. ask for more money and name your price within reason
3. tell them no way are you keeping it there if it doesn't feed you ,you don't have to have it
think you will find it will cost them a lot lot more to redirect the cable to next door than it will to pay you more than £3-400
1 difficult choice
Pi.. off you neighbour when they tell them they either have to
1. put a pole up in their garden to re route their cable
2. dig up their drive / garden to re route the cable because next door want it removed from their property
but if you happen to live in an ex council house your stuffed , it was part of the deal when someone buys ex council house any electricty supply cables to neighbours are part of the deal
1) Tell them to move it. I still have my own cable on my house (but not running across the whole width)and I'm not paying for that to be moved. No one lives next door and hasn't for a while. They are not council houses. The diversion below ground is fairly simple and next door's garden is a mess so no real loss.
2) Accept a small annual payment for a terminable wayleave. No risk to me and I can still get it moved.
3) Take the money and grant them a permanent wayleave
Option 3 is interesting because visually I would be happy with the proposed clipping to my house at the corner and not across the entire frontage. There is no way that an extension could be built anywhere near the route of the cable so I would certainly never want to move it. If next door wanted to move their cable then it doesn't affect me at it would still need to come from my house.
There is no point in option 2) as it is such a small annual amount
Option 1 - I'm still left with my own cable and a few BT cables stuck to the house, although these do not bother me visually at all
Option 3 - Get some cash and I do feel that it is a low risk situation
Edited by iamrcb on Thursday 12th May 13:46
Simpo Two said:
The legal advice will probably cost much more than £400!
If they offer £400 they can probably afford £4,000...
All the legal advice we have had thus far on a similar situation has been pro bono until the case is taken up. Given landowners around here have had payments upwards of £80,000 for removing pylons, or smaller but still substantial payments for rerouting cables off their land or buildings.If they offer £400 they can probably afford £4,000...
You'd be mad not to take up RL's advice and get some legal advice, they will be companies out there that will give you a free initial consultation surely?
At the very least I would be writing back and suggesting the offer of payment is infinitely too small. Suggest a figure somewhere within a multiple of 10 times their offer, what's the worst they could say?
I've had recent experience of having externally clipped cables moved from my property to facilitate an extension. The cost advantages to the utility co's for not having to do this are significant.
At the very least I would be writing back and suggesting the offer of payment is infinitely too small. Suggest a figure somewhere within a multiple of 10 times their offer, what's the worst they could say?
I've had recent experience of having externally clipped cables moved from my property to facilitate an extension. The cost advantages to the utility co's for not having to do this are significant.
Advice I was given by a Charterd Surveyor was to ask for it to be moved or agree to an annual, terminable wayleave.
I spoke to the power company today and they stated it was a one off £250 to £300 payment that would allow them to clip the cable to my house. I would still have the right to ask them to remove it with no charge to me. This wayleave does not get passed to the next owner should I wish to sell the house it doesn't "go on the deeds". Their wayleave officer is due to call me next week to discuss this in more detail.
I'd like the cash (preferably more!) providing the wayleave is definitely terminable by me.
I spoke to the power company today and they stated it was a one off £250 to £300 payment that would allow them to clip the cable to my house. I would still have the right to ask them to remove it with no charge to me. This wayleave does not get passed to the next owner should I wish to sell the house it doesn't "go on the deeds". Their wayleave officer is due to call me next week to discuss this in more detail.
I'd like the cash (preferably more!) providing the wayleave is definitely terminable by me.
All wayleaves are on a 12 month rolling contract. And as stated above, the wayleave is with you, not the property, so the day you leave it terminates automatically, it does NOT transfer to the new owner unless he requests it. It's a VERY dodgy old bit of legislation which the utility companies revel in the punters lack of knowledge, and hence why the payouts are so big when they get found to be lacking...
I've drafted a letter, having it checked by a chartered surveyor and asked for 3x the money they were offering considering it will cost them at least £5k to carry out the simplest of the potential diversion routes.
I also have a small BT cable taking the very same route on the house, again it does not serve my property.
I also have a small BT cable taking the very same route on the house, again it does not serve my property.
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