Compensation for cables beneath your home

diystarter7

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

DullGreyGuy

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

There are lots of them... just google brings up some of the companies doing it and even the Electricity Company linked to states that people are receiving mail shots. 

Its not different to any other compo scheme... someone comes up with an idea of where some people may have lost out in one way or another and a host of small companies spin up to help claimants taking a fairly chunky slice of whatevers awarded but also charging big fees for those that want to exit the process early (no win, no fee only counts if you see it through)

diystarter7

DullGreyGuy said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

There are lots of them... just google brings up some of the companies doing it and even the Electricity Company linked to states that people are receiving mail shots. 

Its not different to any other compo scheme... someone comes up with an idea of where some people may have lost out in one way or another and a host of small companies spin up to help claimants taking a fairly chunky slice of whatevers awarded but also charging big fees for those that want to exit the process early (no win, no fee only counts if you see it through)

Hi
Thanks for the detailed post.
I read a lot of forums watch loads of tv, listen to laods of radio phone in/news/chat shows but until today, never heard of this.
Thanks

Section62

martindow said:

I would also have nothing to do with this company. but there was a long thread some while ago where new houses had been built across a large water main which seems a similar situation.  The OP in that thread was trying to get some recompense for this although I'm not sure if there was ever a resolution.

If it is the thread I'm thinking of then it wasn't a water main - it was just a supply pipe to buildings on adjacent land which was owned by the former owner of the land the houses were built on. It appeared the developer may have been unaware of the pipe until they started building, and then hoped the property buyers wouldn't be aware either (IIRC the pipe was found by chance when the owner did some gardening).

There would be no compensation from the water company as the pipe was private.  The OP (of that thread) was looking into taking legal action against the developer.  I'd expect it to be some time before that process concludes and the OP is free to post the outcome.

The process for dealing with public electricity cables crossing private land is set out in law.  The property owner is entitled to a payment based on the type of equipment, which can be paid annually, or converted to a lump-sum payment to cover a period of years.

Section62

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

It would be better if the company involved wasn't named, given some of the comments already made about them.

It could also lead to the OP's neighbour being identified by the company (and/or others).

Keep_pedalling

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

It would be better if the company involved wasn't named, given some of the comments already made about them.

It could also lead to the OP's neighbour being identified by the company (and/or others).

No comments have been made about this company as we don’t know who it is, and quite how they would be able to identify the OP or their neighbour from what little info has been given is beyond me.

mi-key

user1977 said:

mi-key said:

Why would anyone be compensated for having an electrical cable under their house?

Because it occupies their property and comes with conditions which restrict what you can do with their property (e.g. building over it, planting trees near it, etc). Often wayleave agreements provide for periodic payments, so perhaps what the surveyors are offering is to negotiate converting those into a one-off lump sum.

I am guessing though that the cables would have been there before the house was? In which case why be compensated for something that was there when you bought it? 

Jaybee_16

Although different to the OP question, I have a wayleave agreement with the local power supply company but several times each year I receive a letter from some company suggesting they can significantly increase the wayleave payments as a 'one-off' rather than annual. Addressed to the occupier and pure speculation. 

user1977

mi-key said:

user1977 said:

mi-key said:

Why would anyone be compensated for having an electrical cable under their house?

Because it occupies their property and comes with conditions which restrict what you can do with their property (e.g. building over it, planting trees near it, etc). Often wayleave agreements provide for periodic payments, so perhaps what the surveyors are offering is to negotiate converting those into a one-off lump sum.

I am guessing though that the cables would have been there before the house was? In which case why be compensated for something that was there when you bought it? 

Like I said, what's in place at the time you buy might be an agreement that the owner gets a few quid a year. You might want to change that into a one-off lump sum.

Section62

Keep_pedalling said:

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Who is the company that is offering this deal?
Thanks

It would be better if the company involved wasn't named, given some of the comments already made about them.

It could also lead to the OP's neighbour being identified by the company (and/or others).

No comments have been made about this company as we don’t know who it is, and quite how they would be able to identify the OP or their neighbour from what little info has been given is beyond me.

Comments have been made.  If the company is now named then the comments will be about the named company.

The ease of identifying the OP/neighbour would depend on how many letters the company has sent out. It could be quite easy.  None of us know, hence the need for the OP to be cautious about using names.