Wayleave Agreement-Complaint

CountDrakma

Hello all, not sure if I’m posting on the correct section but if not I’m sure admin will correct me:
Almost a year ago I received a third party letter advising me (quote) “ “YOU HAVE AN UNDERGROUND ELECTRICITY CABLE CROSSING YOUR PROPERTY”.
I have double checked my house purchase contract, associated documents and notes and there is no mention of any such equipment or wayleave.
This sparked interest and a bit of alarm in me as next year 2026 I plan to have home extension works so need to clarify if I do indeed have any third party cables traversing my land.
After a bit of research I pinned down the company responsible for the equipment - ESP Utilities Group. 

I have emailed them several times over the last few months. The best reply I’ve ever had is that they have passed my enquiry to their Legal Team but that’s the last I’ve heard - no acknowledgement, statement of intent- zilch.
Just over a month ago I emailed them again to say that if I didn’t receive an update on my enquiry within 28 days I will be submitting a formal complaint to them.
That time has come.
My query on this MSE forum is to ask what other bodies or organisations I can copy my complaint into. Would OFGEM be relevant here? 

**Just to be clear - I gather that Wayleave agreements can require some sort of payment to the landowner so I wonder if this explains ESP’s reticence but my motivation here isn’t any money, it is the need for information that may seriously affect my home extension plans.**
Thanks in advance.

Alderbank

Who is that third party who sent you that letter? What motive did they have to do so?

I don't think ESP's reticence is fear of having to pay you money. At my previous house I was paid £5 annually for a wayleave.
But you don't have to wait for ESP to work their way down through their pile of pending and overdue requests. There are a number of initiatives under way to integrate all the utility companies' service plans, such as LinesearchbeforeUdig (LSBUD) which is a service that can be used to check planned works against over 100 asset owners’ utility assets. This includes over a million kilometres of underground and overhead pipes and cables in the electricity, gas, high pressure fuel, water and fibre optic networks. 

As a domestic customer these plans are free to you (commercial firms pay upwards of £50).
https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/safety-equipment/advice/request-plans-showing-where-electricity-cables-are 

But not all underground electricity cables belong to public utilities. Many are privately owned.

Did that third party say who the alleged underground cable belongs to?

flaneurs_lobster

CountDrakma said:

 “YOU HAVE AN UNDERGROUND ELECTRICITY CABLE CROSSING YOUR PROPERTY”.

This sparked interest 

              

Robin9

Also MOD , Local Authority.

Don't forget the services to your property,= elec, gas, water, phone, broadband

CountDrakma

Thanks Alderbank, that’s interesting and useful so I’ll check it out.
The original letter was from a company called PCC who describe themselves as “ a firm of Chartered Surveyors regulated by the RICS” who have allegedly acted in similar cases for over 20years. They say they do not charge property owners as they get a “small admin fee” from the electricity company completing the agreement. I suppose they are motivated by their “small admin fee” but I’m motivated by knowing the whereabouts and extent of any electricity cable rather than a one-off payment of £250 which PCC say they can pay to me (how do I even know this £250 is my fair entitlement anyway?).
PCC themselves don’t say who the cable belongs to but I found out by contacting Northern Powergrid who in turn said it was owned by ESP. ESP have never denied this hence me trying to pursue them for information.

A_Geordie

Not wanting to be the black sheep of this thread but seems to me you're making a mountain out of a molehill and kicking up a fuss that doesn't require one.

You've received a letter from a third party, so what? Ignore it if you're not interested. 

You don't necessarily need ESP to confirm the underground cable that is allegedly on your property:

- Contact the third party provider and ask them to provide evidence of an underground cable. Sounds like a fishing expedition but if valid, they should have no issue giving you the evidence to prove this and the location, presumably on the basis that ESP have instructed them with information/evidence of your property and where the cable lies.

- Hire a CAT and genny and run round your land to check for underground cables. 

- Better still, your builder should do this as part of a survey of the land to verify what is underground before going gung-ho snd hacking away at the land to build an extension. If doing it DIY, refer to the above.

I'm not sure OFGEM would take a look at your case here, unless you can point to something that obligates ESP as part of the licence conditions that requires them to respond to you in relation to a query about a pipe on your property. Equally, I think the Energy Ombudsman is unlikely to help here since you're not a customer of theirs and there's no emergency or loss of supply of electric.

In my opinion, it's a civil matter and should be handled as such. You could make an application to the court to hand that information over but if the court agreed, it's probably going to be at your expense, much more expensive than any of the above suggestions. 

CountDrakma

Thanks also Robin9👍

CountDrakma

Cheers A Geordie. No offence taken at your comments as all opinions welcome.
I’ll certainly mention the possibility of an issue to my builder.
What is vexing though is ESPs lack of meaningful contact after almost a year of me trying elicit basic information: not even a helpful “ we are looking into your query and will respond as soon as possible” type of thing.

A_Geordie

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't contact OFGEM or the Ombudsman, but you shouldn't get your hopes up about a resolution.

You've already taken reasonable steps by looking at your property documents and deeds. Normally, in your registry title documents there is an easement and/or restrictive covenant that says the utility provider has the right of access to your property to make repairs and make good any damage together with the restriction not to build on or near the pipeline within a certain distance without prior written consent. There would also be a plan attached that would outline where the pipe line is situated on the land.

Wayleave agreements are just a contractual arrangement that is time-limited and not indefinite although they can be but can also be terminated. Most importantly, they only bind the individual(s) contracting with the utility provider and not successors of the property because it is a personal licence between those two parties. The exception to this is if the wayleave was granted by the Secretary of State under the Electricity Act 1989 which binds any person including successors without needing to be registered with the land registry - in circumstances where the landowner refuses to agree a wayleave and the wayleave is necessary.

Ultimately, up to ESP to show there is a valid wayleave agreement or some other statutory right that allows them keep the equipment/apparatus installed on your land or restrict you from doing works, if indeed there is something installed.

Based on what you've said, I'd be inclined to suggest third third party is not officially acting on behalf of ESP and is looking to make a quick buck/commission. When you purchased the property your conveyancer/solicitor would have carried out searches for utility lines on the land as well as water and other things. If nothing showed up on the reports, there's a good chance nothing is there or if something is there, is dead and old. That said it is perfectly possible that records might be out of date as some utility providers have poor record management if the pipe was installed quite some time ago.

user1977

A_Geordie said:

- Hire a CAT and genny and run round your land to check for underground cables. 

- Better still, your builder should do this as part of a survey of the land to verify what is underground before going gung-ho snd hacking away at the land to build an extension. If doing it DIY, refer to the above.

I agree with this, assuming the OP's prority is actually finding out what's underground. The utility companies' records are useful as a starting point but not to be relied upon when you're controlling a digger.

35har1old

user1977 said:

A_Geordie said:

- Hire a CAT and genny and run round your land to check for underground cables. 

- Better still, your builder should do this as part of a survey of the land to verify what is underground before going gung-ho snd hacking away at the land to build an extension. If doing it DIY, refer to the above.

I agree with this, assuming the OP's prority is actually finding out what's underground. The utility companies' records are useful as a starting point but not to be relied upon when you're controlling a digger.

The CAt
 & genny may only find the service  cable and water to your property. 
As the  genny requires placement at cut out to induce a signsl and you have to start tracing at roughly 10m distance from genny as signal travels through air.
As to tracing the third party cable it may not be a LV cable so you could only use the CAT and if the cable isn't under load you are not likely to find it.
Builders usually request electric companies to provide cable route drawings and might request a site viisit