Way Leave

fishfingerbandit

My father is trying to get a Electric Link box moved from the side of his house in order to start work on an extension.

He has contacted United Utilities and been told that there is no Way Leave in place for the link box, and that he'll have to pay £1500 to have it moved.

This seems unfair given that there has been no rental charges paid to him for the box,

Surely he has the right to request that it is moved without incurring the costs specified?

nathanbarley69

Is it a linkbox in the floor or is it at a high level, attached to a cable going up the wall?

If the cable is solely feeding his property then you'll be liable for all charges. If it also feeds other properties you should be able to get it done for free with a little negotiating.

fishfingerbandit

The Linkbox is at a high level and it feeds other properties, how is he best approaching this with United Utilities ?

nathanbarley69

The apparatus you are talking about is a a wallbox, it will most probably contain some fuses providing protection for electrical services run along wooden fascia boards.

I suggest writing back to UU/ENW and state that you think it is unfair to have to pay to replace a cable that also supplies other customers, but you would be willing to have the cable replaced on the exterior wall of the new extension if this would help them keep supplies to the other customers. Also ask for someone to contact you with more information/ next steps.

JC_Derby

Yes, make sure you do it all in writing.
Its a wall box as said. Id ask the question, is the wallbox allowed to be on your property without a wayleave agreement? In the area that i live we have wayleave agreements for wallboxes. id suggest writing to UU's property and wayleave department. Id also ask for a plan of the network on your property and surrounds.
its important to find out what the legal position is before you do anything else, so find out whether UU wil pay a wayleave (yes pay) agreement with your father. UU might even think they have an agreement with someone else ie a former owner.
If they do pay an agreement then this puts your father in a position of strength.
he would then be able to ask them to move it at no cost to himself.
remember if he does ask for it to be removed permanantly UU might turrn round and say that he would have to have a new service and that would also cost money.