Can they really charge me??

chunky79

Today as some of you know i have started digging in the garden to put in fence posts. Well 7 posts later and a burst gas pipe. Well the cap anyway. Now the guy is here saying they could charge me.

How can they charge me for something i had no idea was there and not on my plans for the house?

Cardew

Whilst what you did is perfectly understandable, who do you think is at fault and liable?

Do you think the gas supply company should have anticipated that you were going to put in fence posts and warned you?

Water pipes, sewers, electricity cables, telephone wires, gas mains etc can legally run underground in our gardens and few of us have any idea where they run. If they are legal, it is our responsibility to avoid damaging them.

I would have thought that your insurance company might cover you as, although your fault, it was an accident.

Cumbrian_Male

They should also have a plastic warning tape on top of the back fill, depending on how long ago they were installed.

I would expect services to be 1m deep unless specifically noted on the plans.

withabix

Standard depths in the highway are all less tham 1 metre, except for drains, which obviously have to be laid to falls or they wouldn't work.

All utilities (telecoms, gas, electric, water, CATV etc) are all normally at 900mm depth or less in the highway, with verge and footpath depths being shallower and as little as 450mm for everything except CATV, which can be as shallow as 250mm.

Service connections (ie those from the highway boundary to your property) will generally be a lot shallower, as follows:

BT: 350mm
CATV: 250mm
Gas: 375mm
Electric: 450mm
Water: 600mm

There is no requirement for marker tape on service connections.

You weren't by any chance digging roughly in a perpendicular line between where your gas meter is and the highway were you???

chunky79

Long time since i posted i lost this thread and i have just fgured out how to find them.
well i did get a bill for £309.93 and here is the letter i wrote to them disputing it. The good news is, i recieved a credit note and a letter saying i will not be charged anything.

[Disputing labour charges]
Dear Sir
I received a bill this morning for £309.93. I am writing to dispute this. Labour charges 307.12 and material charges£2.81

Whilst digging in the garden we caught a gas pipe splitting the black cap. We contacted the emergency service who promptly sent an engineer out. He confirmed there was a leak but he did not have the part. He then sent for another engineer and sat in his van to wait. It took 5 minutes to confirm the leak and he then spent an hour in his van watching snooker and eating. The charge incurred £101.04. Not bad for 5 minutes work. When the second engineer arrived he also did not have the part so wrapped it up and left until the next morning. Why did the first engineer not check with the second engineer whether or not he had the part? That was a waste of man hours and a waste of his time. His lack of initiative has incurred me extra costs

The next morning an engineer arrived at approximately 8:20am, he said it was a 2 man job so was waiting for the next engineer to arrive, no work carried out he sat in the van and waited. The second engineer arrived 20 minutes later. He changed the cap which took less than 10 minutes. They then spent 25 minutes talking outside my gate.

Surely if this is classed as 2 man job this should have been reported in. So I have also incurred costs for the fact that the job was not documented very well and again I am being charged to pay an engineer for no work. My father and I both commented about it being a 2 man job. How come one was watching whilst the other changed the cap? The engineer just smiled. It was also the second engineer that morning that brought the part. My interpretation of this was that the first 3 visits the engineers did not have the part, the 4th engineer did. Why should I pay for such ineptitude?

So for no more than 15 minutes work and the engineers not having the part needed on arrival I am being penalised with extortionate costs.

My father was also informed that it would be unlikely that we would be charged as it was only the cap and no major work was needed. So as I am sure you can understand this as come as a very big surprise to us. I hope this matter can be resolved as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

ampersand

Just wanted to say 'Well done, chunky 79'.
If only more people would realise it IS worth writing - and sending your letter Recorded Delivery.
This way, receipt cannot be denied.