Bt Bill

Guardsman

Just had a bill off BT £129.99 for a call out charge to replace a damaged master socket due to lightning strike in the area,
Engineer report said it came down the power line and damaged the socket due to BT home hub being plugged in but Scottish power have confirmed that's not the case plus I have power surge protectors on all sockets.
Now BT are trying to say that I am responsible for the charge even if lightning has come down the BT line, if that is the case then why am I paying line rental if it's not their responsibility to maintain the line up to and including the master socket with everything else from the face plate onwards being my responsibility.

agrinnall

Sounds a bit suspect to me, it's much more likely that the socket damage will have been caused by lightning hitting the phone line. I've lost a socket and a router in separate lightning strike incidents, and both times it's been through the phone line. Strikes on the power line have not caused that sort of issue.

Guardsman

Did they charge you for replacing the master socket?

shaun_from_Africa

Sounds a bit suspect to me, it's much more likely that the socket damage will have been caused by lightning hitting the phone line

I agree.
If lightning had hit and travelled down the power line, you would have had far more than just the master phone socket being damaged.

Is there any possibility that you could get something in writing from Scottish power to state that they think the lightning strike was on the BT line and not on the power line?

shaun_from_Africa

It might be worth posting on here:
https://community.bt.com/t5/Phones/Master-Socket-and-Lightning-who-pays/td-p/1166926

as the person on this board had exactly the same problem and it seems that BT changed their mind once it was made public that they were trying to charge for lightning damage.

Guardsman

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I agree.
If lightning had hit and travelled down the power line, you would have had far more than just the master phone socket being damaged.

Is there any possibility that you could get something in writing from Scottish power to state that they think the lightning strike was on the BT line and not on the power line?

Getting confirmation from Scottish power wouldn't be a problem but then the BT rep said it's the customers responsibility to pay for a damaged master socket if lightning hits the BT line and he said it was in the TC's, When I reported the problem I told the rep that several houses had the same problem but not once was I told that the master socket is my responsibility if line was struck by lighting. They only thing they said was that I may have to pay if the problem was caused by my equipment or I had damaged it..

bod1467

Check out the thread Shaun linked. If you post there you'll likely get the charge refunded.

Guardsman

bod1467 wrote: »

Check out the thread Shaun linked. If you post there you'll likely get the charge refunded.

I have taken his advice and have posted on the link provided..
Thank you all :beer:

Guardsman

The post below was put on the BT forum on the 26-11-2012 https://community.bt.com/t5/Phones/BT-Dispute-Power-surge-caused-damage-to-the-Front-Plate/m-p/1205393#M36573


Does anybody know if they are still responsible for lightning strikes? Bt suggest that it's the customers responsibility.


Openreach is responsible for any lightning damage to its network and overhead or underground cabling. It is not liable for any compensation or the repair/replacement costs for End User owned wiring or apparatus damaged by lightning.
If there is lightning damage to the external network, dropwire, aerial cable routes, poles or exchanges then Openreach will not charge for the replacement of the NTE or Master Socket. The NTE can be damaged as a result of inductive lightning; this is where a strike takes place within proximity of the Openreach Network causing an induced current surge damaging the NTE and / or End User Apparatus, but with no other signs of damage to the Network. There should still be NO charge for the NTE replacement.
Where there is damage to the End User owned wiring and/or apparatus with no damage to the Openreach network i.e. confirmation of a good test result with equipment unplugged, then a visit charge should be raised.
Where there is lightning and power surge damage to the End User owned wiring and Openreach has been authorised to carry out a repair then this work will be chargeable under TRC for time and materials. A visit charge will not be raised if the engineer is required carry out any repair to the Openreach network on the premises due to lightning damage on the same visit.

Guardsman

After a lot of calls the charge was finally dropped but be aware that BT expect you to pay for any damaged caused by lightning strikes coming down their line.

bod1467

They can expect all they like. If I have no control over their equipment then they can go spin if they expect me to pay for them to repair their equipment. I'm already paying for it via line rental.