Question: We have just hit a telephone cable that was not marked and now the owner of the property is outside saying he has no internet connection and wants compensation. What are you going to do about it?
Answer:
Was the telephone cable marked at a different spot going into the house, or was it just not marked at all?
If it was marked, then was it dug down and proven to be correct?
If it was dug down and the cable was proven to be where we marked it, and the cable was hit at a completely different spot, then it would be like we are to blame. Apologize to the home owner for the inconvenience this has caused them and explain to them that you have had a cable locator out to site so that this would not have happened.
Don’t discuss compensations with them as we will need to put this through our insurance company and they will be the ones that will have to negotiate the compensation direct with them.
First thing first, is call Telstra and tell them what has happened and see if they can send someone out to fix the cable.
Secondly try and leave the site as it is and just barricade and create a No Go Zone. We will be out ASAP to do an incident report. If the works are in the middle of a road and you can’t leave as it is, then I will need you to document it all for us before we get there.
Take photos of the whole site, the marks that we did put down, take photos of where we said the cables were and where they ended up being. Even take video. The more stuff you can photograph the better. Also take a note of who hit the cable, what type of machine it was, the time it was done, names and phone numbers of anyone who was in the area when it happened and witnessed it happen. Again the more you can document the better.