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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Denying access to cable for neighbours

268 replies

EatsShitAndLeaves · 10/05/2017 17:12

So I got a letter in the post from Virgin Media who are in our locality.

They want me to give permission to lay cable down my drive to access the houses behind.

I live in an old farmhouse with a big front/back garden- before we moved in after the "field" at the back was sold and 3 houses built on it.

They have access to their property via my drive - but I own the drive.

I've done a very shitty picture to illustrate...R is road, G is garden and D is Drive. My house is the rectangle.

It's not to scale. The drive is very long and we spent a lot of money block paving it when we moved in.

I'm not at all keen on this being ripped up and botched reinstated.

As we are on the Main Street we would get access to Virgin services regardless. Allowing the work gains us nothing - apart from stress and hassle.

However if I deny the work then my neighbours can't take this service.

AIBU to refuse access?

OP posts:

ToadsforJustice · 10/05/2017 19:13

No. Just no. BT dug up our brick paved drive to out in superfast broadband and totally fucked it up.

happypoobum · 10/05/2017 19:14

eats I have a friend who works for Virgin Media and deals with customer complaints.

Absolutely DO NOT agree to this unless you want the issues around it to dominate your life for the next few months years

She tells me horror stories about the botch jobs. They reckon most people will just get fed up and shut up eventually, so they might sign something saying they will set everything right, but then the onus will be on you to legally prove it isn't as it was, and to take them to court for compensation.

Just not worth it.

Original poster

EatsShitAndLeaves · 10/05/2017 19:18

Wow - struggling to catch up...

JustaBoy - I work in IT. You don't have to justify it to me. I get it and I want it. That's not the issue.
It's a morale dilemma about denying that or not to my neighbours.

I'm pretty appalled by the number of threads about poor remediation work.

I agree it's a risk with a house with an access provision- we knew that. For example we knew maintainance of the drive was out responsibility.

Maybe we have been naive about new services. I need to dig out the deeds.

OP posts:

DarklyDreamingDexter · 10/05/2017 19:18

On the contract they helpfully sent with my Mum's request for access letter, it also said they would need future access to maintain it or make changes (more digging) and she'd have to ask their permission if she ever wanted to make changes which impacted their cable. It also said something about transferring their rights to others in future. In other words carte Blanche to do what they like!

ToadsforJustice · 10/05/2017 19:19

..... and make it quite clear to Virgin that you do NOT give permission. Or they might turn up and do it anyway. I'm looking at you BT

PuppyMonkey · 10/05/2017 19:20

We can't get Virgin TV either as no cables were ever put in round here. I wouldn't dream of being pissed off about not having this God-given right.

Let's face it as well, the future of TV In this country is by no means certain at the moment with all these Kodi fire sticks and wotnot - subscription telly will probably be a thing of the past in ten years and you'll have had all that hassle for nowt.

Somerville · 10/05/2017 19:21

To perhaps set your mind at ease about the remediation work, Eats, when we had rights over our neighbours drive it was us who were responsible for making sure the drive ended up as good as new each time. So if a company, laying a cable for our benefit, had botched it, we'd have had to pay to make it right. Don't know if that universal with underground services clauses - suspect so.

Pixilicious · 10/05/2017 19:21

Nondont allow it. We don't have virgin in the newish estate where I live and we have all coped with only having Sky for the last 12 years. It's hardly a necessity.

Original poster

EatsShitAndLeaves · 10/05/2017 19:23

Regarding the history of access.

My house was a large farmhouse with a 1 acre field.

In the late 90's the owner sold to a developer.

The developer wasn't interested in renovating the farmhouse so sold it off, after having planning permission for the 3 houses and access rights.

I am the 3rd buyer of the farmhouse in its current incarnation . There have been no issues previously.

OP posts:

mothertruck3r · 10/05/2017 19:24

Just tell your neighbours (if they even ask) that you'd love to help but your insurance won't cover it and if they want it then they would have to pay you £10k to ensure drive is re-laid properly.

ChrissieS79 · 10/05/2017 19:25

We live in an estate with monoblocked areas of road and Virgin were in 6 months ago laying cable for the whole area. While it looked ok at the time, the cable track they laid has settled and there's now a visible dip wherever they've been. Not a lot, less than say 5/10mm but obvious against the untouched block surface.

Original poster

EatsShitAndLeaves · 10/05/2017 19:26

Somerville - thank you for that

OP posts:

Somerville · 10/05/2017 19:30

How deeply are your deeds buried in your filing cabinet? I now really want to know what's in them!

Since the developer owned the farmhouse at that point, I don't see why he would have structured the new deeds so that the new houses he was building only had ROW and not underground service rights. And indeed if drainage was laid up your drive then I think it would have to be structured with underground rights. (??)

AngelicaSchuylerChurch · 10/05/2017 19:31

Well, precisely - but the Kodi fire sticks and wotnot all depend on fast broadband services. Netflix already provides a lot of content in 4k ultra HD. I agree that the future of TV probably lies in streaming, and not in cable, but those cables are precisely what gives you superfast fibre optic broadband.

Original poster

EatsShitAndLeaves · 10/05/2017 19:32

Honestly I don't think I've ever physically seen the deeds - as to where they are...

OP posts:

Justaboy · 10/05/2017 19:34

Lweji

Old phrase when addressing postcards to a shared house from years ago. This place surely isnt much different;?.

Mehfruittea · 10/05/2017 19:34

I've previously worked in this industry and your neighbours will be struggling to get decent broadband.

Virgin will pay compensation but you have to ask, then negotiate. There are other more costly options that involve radio masts instead of underground cable but they are not as reliable and ugly.

Your drive should be reinstated to exactly as it was before. You can request demand the work be carried out by your own tradespeople as part of the contract you sign giving them permission to dig.

PuppyMonkey · 10/05/2017 19:34

I've got super fast fibre optic broadband through Sky though, no Virgin required.

Sara107 · 10/05/2017 19:35

Would the cable have to go under the drive? Is there grass along the side of the drive that could be dug up instead? As others have said, maybe you need to check what you have to allow. For the last 2 years we've had letters from the gas people saying they will be replacing the main and they might have to replace the bit from the main on the road to our meter, and advising we shouldn't do any landscaping or lay new paving. So obviously they have the right to dig us up whether we want it or not! But gas is clearly different to Virgin media! ( They've failed to show up both times, though this year they got as far as putting the road closed signs out).

user1493630944 · 10/05/2017 19:35

Is there an easement that allows access to your land for such purposes? Worth checking, and if there is one check the precise terms. If not then personally i would refuse, regardless of neighbourly relations. 'No, we are not prepared to have our drive dug up', repeated as required.

SlapperPJ · 10/05/2017 19:38

If it helps we had to have the VM cable from the road to the house re-laid about a year ago. 100foot drive - they just dug down/cut down with a spade into the lawn, slotted the new cable into the spade-cut-mark (iyswim) and patted down the cut. 2-3 weeks later you could not see where they had done it.

Is there a possibility that they could go along the side of the block paving/across a lawn/flowerbed instead of under the actual driveway?
I would only be able to wave vaguely where our cable is now. memory shot to shit thanks to having DCs

Justaboy · 10/05/2017 19:39

Deeds try the building society or your solicitor even.

Yep, as to the viewing of TV I normally use the PC to watch TV on nowadays rather then the TV set as do the daughters here.

Let alone the flexibility of iplayer

Times they are a changing.

stuntcamel · 10/05/2017 19:47

Tell them you want £40,000 upfront, and £5,000 pa thereafter, in perpetuity if they want to install and maintain cables across your land.

That should scare them off

RandomMess · 10/05/2017 19:48

Is it possible to insist that the neighbours take out indemnity insurance against Virgin failing in the their contract to make good????

Iamdobby63 · 10/05/2017 19:59

I don't have too much to add but your deeds are probably with your solicitor.

If it were me I would first speak to your neighbours and see if they are actually interested in Virgin.

If you do go ahead then do take photos of your drive so you have a reference should there be any problems.

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