Should I use company to claim for wayleave on electrical wires

AdrianC

Unless there's substantial infrastructure, £350 is "Thanks, and don't come back ever."

We get a small fraction of that annually - and we've got a transformer, a couple of poles, and a section of underground cabling serving others.

NeverTooLate

AdrianC said:

Unless there's substantial infrastructure, £350 is "Thanks, and don't come back ever."

We get a small fraction of that annually - and we've got a transformer, a couple of poles, and a section of underground cabling serving others.

We have a pole, a stay wire and a couple of lines that go to neighbours.

This is the wording from the contract (we haven't actually signed it yet as we're waiting to have the stay wire moved slightly).

“the Wayleave Payment” means the initial compensation sum of three hundred and fifty pounds and two pence, £350.02, in respect of the period of 15 years from the date hereof and thereafter the annual compensation sum payable on each anniversary of the Term being such annual compensation sum as shall be published by the Company from time to time

NeverTooLate

..interesting though that the initial offer was £275. I didn't respond to that but asked about moving the stay wire, and they came back with a quote for moving the stay wire and upped the offer to £350.

Ditzy_Mitzy

NeverTooLate said:

AdrianC said:

Unless there's substantial infrastructure, £350 is "Thanks, and don't come back ever."

We get a small fraction of that annually - and we've got a transformer, a couple of poles, and a section of underground cabling serving others.

We have a pole, a stay wire and a couple of lines that go to neighbours.

This is the wording from the contract (we haven't actually signed it yet as we're waiting to have the stay wire moved slightly).

“the Wayleave Payment” means the initial compensation sum of three hundred and fifty pounds and two pence, £350.02, in respect of the period of 15 years from the date hereof and thereafter the annual compensation sum payable on each anniversary of the Term being such annual compensation sum as shall be published by the Company from time to time

I read that as £350.02 now, nothing at all for the next fifteen years and payments to possibly restart in 2035/36 according to company's discretion. The future compensation amount might be nothing and isn't fixed. 

Davesnave

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

NeverTooLate said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

There's no negotiation to do - all you have to do is identify yourself as the landowner to the owner of the electricity pylon(s) and they will commence sending you payments. It's entirely up to you as to whether you feel it's worth it. I know it's 'free money' but the payments tend to be tiny. 

I have just been offered a one off payment for an electricity pole of £350 by SSE - that's not tiny in my book

Ooh that's interesting. Does it also include a 'buyout' of future obligations in respect of wayleave payments? Generally the offers I've seen are in the £10-£100 per year range, with the electricity company retaining an indefinite obligation to keep paying the landowner. 

It would be administratively advantageous to make a one off payment, rather than sending a cheque every year, which is what usually happens with electricity poles. With Openreach, there's a one-off payment, which was £150 when I claimed it in 2012, so £350 seems quite good.

OTOH, it's always a nice little surprise when Western Power's cheque for around £45 lands in the letterbox each year.

AdrianC

NeverTooLate said:

AdrianC said:

Unless there's substantial infrastructure, £350 is "Thanks, and don't come back ever."

We get a small fraction of that annually - and we've got a transformer, a couple of poles, and a section of underground cabling serving others.

We have a pole, a stay wire and a couple of lines that go to neighbours.

This is the wording from the contract (we haven't actually signed it yet as we're waiting to have the stay wire moved slightly).

“the Wayleave Payment” means the initial compensation sum of three hundred and fifty pounds and two pence, £350.02, in respect of the period of 15 years from the date hereof and thereafter the annual compensation sum payable on each anniversary of the Term being such annual compensation sum as shall be published by the Company from time to time

So that's the equivalent of £23.33/year for the next fifteen years.

Freecall

You definitely don't need a company to do it for you.  I have done it three times (15 years apart) and got a cheque by return.

We have one wooden pole in a corner of our plot.  This was installed in 1951 and a Wayleave Agreement was set up which was to pay 6d per year (that's about 2 1/2 p in decimal).

When we bought the house we thought that it was a bit of a curiosity, although we never had any contact from the electricity board.  One day we planned to back claim all that money we were owed!!

In 1987 I finally got around to contacting them as a bit of fun to see what they would say.  After all, we were owed nearly a £1 by then. 

Alas no back pay but they offered £160 for a new Wayleave Agreement for a fresh 15 year period (paid up front) which seemed pretty good to me.

In 2002 I did the same again and got £280 for a further 15 years. 

And again in 2017 I got £350 for another 15 years.

If I'm still alive in 2032 I'll be back again.

Happy days!

NeverTooLate

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

NeverTooLate said:

AdrianC said:

Unless there's substantial infrastructure, £350 is "Thanks, and don't come back ever."

We get a small fraction of that annually - and we've got a transformer, a couple of poles, and a section of underground cabling serving others.

We have a pole, a stay wire and a couple of lines that go to neighbours.

This is the wording from the contract (we haven't actually signed it yet as we're waiting to have the stay wire moved slightly).

“the Wayleave Payment” means the initial compensation sum of three hundred and fifty pounds and two pence, £350.02, in respect of the period of 15 years from the date hereof and thereafter the annual compensation sum payable on each anniversary of the Term being such annual compensation sum as shall be published by the Company from time to time

I read that as £350.02 now, nothing at all for the next fifteen years and payments to possibly restart in 2035/36 according to company's discretion. The future compensation amount might be nothing and isn't fixed. 

Agreed.

That 2p makes all the difference!