Phone line damage- who pays?

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Apial

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I got a bill today from BT for vandalism damage to my telephone line. The damage took place in April. I knew nothing about this as I was away on holiday, but on investigation it seems a line box was smashed by an object thrown at it from ground level. The box was positioned above the pavement beneath a widow ledge that belongs to a property above mine. The phone cable travels another 20 feet or so and around the building corner before dropping and entering into my property.

Am I obliged to pay the £175 bill?
 
Probably. The damage isn't covered under the BT contract and wasn't caused by them.
Claim on your insurance if accidental damage is included.
 
I got a bill today from BT for vandalism damage to my telephone line. The damage took place in April. I knew nothing about this as I was away on holiday, but on investigation it seems a line box was smashed by an object thrown at it from ground level. The box was positioned above the pavement beneath a widow ledge that belongs to a property above mine. The phone cable travels another 20 feet or so and around the building corner before dropping and entering into my property.

Am I obliged to pay the £175 bill?

tell BT you did not authorise the works, and therefore won't be paying for it
 
Surely the police should be involved, if it was vandalism?
 
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The box was positioned above the pavement beneath a widow ledge that belongs to a property above mine.
So the box is not even attached to your property, I though the normal rule for utilities was the property boundary.
 
tell BT you did not authorise the works, and therefore won't be paying for it


The box & cable belong to BT, they don't need anyones permission to fix it.
In fact, they are even allowed to enter your property to fix it even if you do not agree. If you can find out who damaged it, they should get the bill.

Russ
 
So the box is not even attached to your property, I though the normal rule for utilities was the property boundary.

BT own the line up to the first phone connection inside the house.

Russ
 
The phone cable travels another 20 feet or so and around the building corner before dropping and entering into my property.

Does it enter your house and go straight into your BT master socket? Im pretty sure anything before this socket is up to them to repair.If the line box was on a pole you wouldnt have to pay.

Marty
 
The box & cable belong to BT, they don't need anyones permission to fix it.
In fact, they are even allowed to enter your property to fix it even if you do not agree. If you can find out who damaged it, they should get the bill.

Russ

that is correct as far their right to do the work is concerned, but that does not mean they have the right to make you pay .. depends on what BT's terms and conditions say
 
that is correct as far their right to do the work is concerned, but that does not mean they have the right to make you pay .. depends on what BT's terms and conditions say


They have the right to charge for ANY damage to their apparatus.
Finding & proving who damaged it & who should get the bill is another matter entirely.

Russ
 
Does it enter your house and go straight into your BT master socket? Im pretty sure anything before this socket is up to them to repair.If the line box was on a pole you wouldnt have to pay.

Marty

Yes. The cable is routed along the wall that forms the outer wall of the first floor. I only have the ground floor. The box that was smashed was not a master socket but a black plastic cylindrical object of 1" diameter and 7" length. The cable enters at one end and leaves at the other end of the cylinder before travelling another 20' or so before it drops down and enters the property at ceiling height.

At the time the engineer thought that the damage was BTs responsibility, and no insurance report was made. Now over 6 months later they send a bill. Even if the bill was my responsibilty, my contents insurance excess is £250 and I would imagine that I am time barred from claiming. In fact the damage is really a claim against buildings insurance, and wouldn't that be held by the landlord as it is a leasehold property? I only have contents insurance.
 
In fact the damage is really a claim against buildings insurance, and wouldn't that be held by the landlord as it is a leasehold property? I only have contents insurance.

If you are the line lesee then the bill will come to you and you may be able to claim back from the landlord.
If the landlord is the lesee then the bill should have gone to him.
 
Does it enter your house and go straight into your BT master socket? Im pretty sure anything before this socket is up to them to repair.If the line box was on a pole you wouldnt have to pay.

Marty


I think your confusing a fault on the cable which BT would have to fix at their cost. The bill is for interference damage to BT property.

Russ
 
So at what point is BT responsible? Surely if a vandal burns down the telephone exchange I wouldn't expect to get the repair bill? If someone chops the telegraph pole down for a laugh, would I get the bill?

I asked the BT lady who is not an engineer, and she said she thought it was at the point the cable enters my property, and then said it was not upto her. :rolleyes:

If the damage had been vandalism, had the Police been informed by BT? If not why not?
 
So at what point is BT responsible? Surely if a vandal burns down the telephone exchange I wouldn't expect to get the repair bill? If someone chops the telegraph pole down for a laugh, would I get the bill?

I asked the BT lady who is not an engineer, and she said she thought it was at the point the cable enters my property, and then said it was not upto her. :rolleyes:

If the damage had been vandalism, had the Police been informed by BT? If not why not?


You should really be asking BT these questions.
Their apparatus was damaged by someone, they had to repair it & subsequently have sent you the bill as the cable was going to your phone or in your property.

I've already stated that finding & proving who caused the damage is difficult, especially for BT. The best chance they have of getting their costs back is to send the bill to you. If you dispute this, you have to tell them. If you can find out who damaged it, tell them to send the bill to them. You really need to sit down and write a letter to their head office stating the facts and why you feel you are not responsible. Let us know what their reply is.

Russ
 
So at what point is BT responsible? I asked the BT lady who is not an engineer, and she said she thought it was at the point the cable enters my property,

The point of entry to the property is where the aparatus if fixed to the property.
 
The point of entry to the property is where the aparatus if fixed to the property.

BT own the cable up to the connection box for the first phone, which will normally be inside the house. The householder will be responsible for any internal phone extensions.

Russ
 
Since BT Openreach has become an independent organisation essentially a separate entity from BT Retail, they seem to to be very keen to "generate income" ;) They are responsible for the "last mile" of your telephone line. i.e. from the exchange to your telephone point. My guess is that BT Openreach have billed BT Retail for the repair and they are trying to pass on the cost to you. I would contact OFFCOM to see if you are actually responsible since my interpretation is that your quarterly line rental should cover the line up to your property telephone point ? http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
 
I would contact OFFCOM to see if you are actually responsible since my interpretation is that your quarterly line rental should cover the line up to your property telephone point ? http://www.ofcom.org.uk/


Your quarterly line rental allows you use of the phone line to make and recieve calls.

It has nothing to do with someone causing damage to it, which BT then have to come out and repair at their cost. All utility companies will bill anyone for damage to their apparatus, it is not a revenue generator, simply a recovery of costs incurred in repairing damage to their apparatus. No utility company is a charity and competition between them all is tough.

The easiest way out of this is to find out how it was damaged, who damaged it, and give that info to BT to pursue them. If that information cannot be determined, write and explain it was damaged by unknown persons when you were on holiday and maybe they will show some goodwill. If not, it will be up to BT to decide if a court would decide in their favour or if they should just drop it, depending on how much money is involved.

Russ
 
BT own the cable up to the connection box for the first phone, which will normally be inside the house. The householder will be responsible for any internal phone extensions.

Russ

What I meant is that they view damage to their equipment fixed to your property to be your responsibility, whereas the overhead (or underground) line leading to your property is their responsibility if damaged.

Damage being outside normal wear and tear usage would bring.
 

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