Wayleave agreement - risk?

rajanm

Hi everyone,

I know this topic has been covered a few times but I had a couple of questions around wayleave agreements.

I discovered that an electrical cable is buried under our driveway.  UK Power Networks have offered £150 for a 15 year agreement.  We're in the process of having a new resin driveway laid.  When I asked them what might happen to our driveway if they needed to access the cable, they referred me to their contract which states:

'Make good to the reasonable satisfaction of the Grantor any damage caused by or arising out of the execution of the Works. If for any reason any such damage cannot be made good the Company shall compensate the Grantor in an amount which has previously been approved by the Company'.

This all seems pretty vague to me.  Would it be a risk for me to sign this?  What they might consider 'reasonable satisfaction' might not be what I deem it to be.  The last thing I want is my resin driveway to be patched up after they've accessed the cable!

Woolsery

The cable is already in place and presumably not placed there by stealth, so the first question is, how did it get there? Was it at the new build stage? Why is the wayleave only being claimed now?

If you don't sign the agreement the chances of getting the cable re-routed may not be high. In a similar kind of situation I found Openreach not disposed to remove a line from our land. I settled for the wayleave and the ability to say where the re-sited pole should go - a fair trade-off - rather than refusal and the danger of Openreach invoking their considerable legal powers.

One other thought occurs to me; it may be possible the cable's in a conduit and any disturbance of the driveway would only be as a last resort. Have you checked this?