Are We Liable For Damages To Telstra Cable Located 1.5m Inside Our Boundary With No Warning Signs?
We did digging with an excavator and cut through a cable which cut off phone service to the entire street for approximately a week the guy who fixed it said we shouldn’t pay because the cable is 1.5m inside the boundary of our property and there are no warning signs posted to say there are Telstra cables anywhere in the vicinity. Do we pay or should we fight this?
Tags: 1.5m, Boundary, Cable, Damages, Inside, Liable, Located, Telstra, Warning, With
December 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am
If it was on your property then I’d say no. Is it listed in your property deeds? If you had no reason to know then Telstra is at fault. Mains cables for a whole street should really be in the street. Telstra cannot be digging up your garden if there is a problem with the phone line that has nothing to do with you. Fight it!
December 14th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
If you are in the United States, it depends upon whether or not they have an easement to place and operate a cable across your land. If they have an easement, then you are responsible for protecting it. Few cable operators would be foolish enough to install a cable without having an easement giving them the right to have it in that location, so you need to check on that. Ask them to show you the easement document that gives them the right to use a part of your property. If they cannot produce the document, you may be off the hook. If they can, then you will be liable for the damage. The fact there was no sign is probably not going to make any difference, unless there is a law in your area that there must be warning signs for cables, which is not likely.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
You should have checked with the city to make sure no cables were buried below…