Overhead power line compensation.

Hi, I work at a law firm who handle these transactions for the distribution network for two 'regions' in the UK. In my time I have seen 1,200 of these transactions completed by my firm (a fair proportion by own fair hands), for the last 2.5 years my firm has handled them exclusively for two the regions.

I should point out, my firm act for the electricity company - a different firm acts for the homeowner (you). What I am about to say is not legal advice, just my personal observations

We have dealt with claims that were initiated by PCC and claims initiated by Thomson Broadbent as well as claims initiated by homeowners without an agent. The database of comparables that I have access to is bigger than any of the agent's as I have details of every claim in my regions, whereas they only have their own past claims to go by.

£4k is a very 'normal' settlement, I have seen many many claims at much less than that. The compensation scale has been tested at land tribunals in the past and deemed reasonable so (although I don't know your specific case) its very possible that £4k is what your claim is actually 'worth' and I would add that even if you refuse it, the electricity companies have lots of legislation behind them which makes it very hard to get the lines removed, if at all, and the process can take years upon years to go through.

PCC and the like are agents who 'negotiate on your behalf' and charge you a percentage of your compensation for their troubles. They also act as your surveyor and charge the electric company for that element of the work (basically visiting your property, taking some pictures and valuing it). Then a solicitor does the legal work of reviewing the easement that my firm sends to them and advising you on the legal aspects. The electricity company pay for this too.

Thomson Broadbent do have a 'connected' law firm, Batt Broadbent - set up to capitalise on the fact that my client pays all legal & surveyors fees, on top of the compensation. I find them slow and awkward to deal with personally. PCC like to refer their claims to a handful of firms who do not seem connected. I have worked closely with all of these firms (as you can imagine handling 200 claims at any time means you deal with these firms over and over) and I must say that 3 or so of the PCC preferred firms work very quickly without fuss and aside from making my job easier, it means the homeowner gets their money quicker and I get one more file off my desk! I have noticed that when a homeowner uses their own firm, the solicitors have no experience with the documentation and sorts of issues it presents and the claim can take over a year just on the legal side. The PCC favourite firms can do them in 3 months, even less in some cases.

On the whole 'liability for health problems' issue, although I cannot give you any specific advice on that (thats what you pay a solicitor for ), I would say that if it were me (and I know the easement document like the back of my hand) I would not be concerned that by signing it I am in someway waiving any right to compensation if health issues developed in the future connected to the lines.

We've had a new agent start sending jobs through called knightsbridge-consulting.com. Seem the cheapest so far at 10% of commission.

Rich67 wrote: »

Right......... I am finally going to apoint a solicitor tomorrow after months of debating I have decided I should take the money as the lines are in place and it is very unlikly I will get them removed as the electric company has the majority of the rights when it comes to removal.

The only thing I have doubt over is it may cause issues when I come to sell my property as it has a deed of easment on the land registery documents.

I have contacted estate agents who say they have sold properties with deeds of easments before with no real issues but I guess I will ony find out when and if the time comes.

So here it goes I will keep you updated with how it goes.

Rich, I think you should take the money. Your will not be the only house affected by an easement of one type or another - I used to do resi conveyancing and now do commercial property in addition to the electricity company work I do - what buyers of all types don't like is when there are easements/covenants on titles in respect of things they do NOT expect. If they have seen the power lines (how could they miss them) and they have decided to buy anyway then finding out from their solicitor that there is an easement for those lines probably won't put them off.

The biggest battle is getting people to buy a house with power lines over them in the first place!

I would say to look out for the covenants that will be in the deed - our standard deed has covenants which restrict building/extending the house within 5.6m of the lines - this is because anything to close to the line is at risk of fire. There are others too but your solicitor (if they do their job properly) will inform you of them.

But again, as you say, you'd be fighting an uphill battle trying to get the lines removed with the statutory powers they have. So why not take the money?

redbluetwo wrote: »

How do you go about finding out which power company owns the line. I have 3 large cables which they have entwined going right across my front garden.

What city do you live in? It will either be National Grid (400,000 volt lines) or the local distribution network (132,000 volts or less).

If you live close to the pylon its connected to, you can read it off the sign on the pylon, which ought to be readable from the ground if you can get to the base of it. If not, ring National Grid first, and they will either confirm ownership or tell you the local distributor's name.

If you haven't made any moves yet, you can appoint an agent to act on your behalf who will do all the work for you and doesn't charge a commission - best of both worlds I think as you get their expertise but keep 100% compo. They charge their services to the leccy companies - I'm seeing alot of these come through my place now and to their credit, they're moving them through the system damn quickly.