We employed a builder to replace our driveway and in digging up the old concrete he has fractured the telephone cable to our home. He says that as the homeowners we are responsible for the bill BT are charging for the repair. Surely this cannot be right?
No, that it isn’t right. Your builder should be insured for such mishaps as fracturing a telephone cable, or worse, such as cutting a power cable, or fracturing a gas main, during the course of his work.
Whether or not the builder is insured is, of course, another matter altogether. If he is not then, as your Agent, he has caused the damage to the property belonging to BT, and ultimately you will be faced with the cost of any repair works. A reputable builder will, of course, be insured against such mishaps.