Has anyone else had to deal with claims where the road department cuts a phone line which was improperly buried? The collection agencies keep referring to an "excavator's manual" which they claim puts all of the responsibility on the digger regardless of how off the mark the line was buried. I'm sticking by the claim denials, but has anyone been met with the "manual" defense in court yet?

We've never actually gotten to litigation. A sternly worded response letter, reminding them of a number of defensive matters, including the fact that they'll have to come to our county to litigate, tends to back them off. Indeed, most of the notices of claim we get are from a lawyer in Kansas who's not even licensed in Texas. I'll be glad to send you some of our letters dealing with these types of claims, for whatever help they may be.

Worth reading in your situation.

Scott, is this some arachaic Panhandle curse? I lived in LBB for 5 years and never heard
Lbb-ites say that!

It's actually the tail end of an epithet (the front end of which I dare not post on this forum) that I picked up from our first assistant, who is one of those rarest of breeds ... a real, live native of Austin.

I agree with Scott on the stern letter in this issue. We have had it arise several times; may as well get a form ready. One time they went so far as to bill us and send it to collections. A short visit with the collections attorney made it all go away with a chuckle.......

Here in Lubbock, we get one or two letters a month. They come in so fast, that I usually save them up for a while before I even attempt a reply. Many times, the letter references a line cut at the intersection of two parallel county roads...or in the middle of a farmer's field...or on a state highway. (In other words...not our problem.) The bill always comes 3-4 months after the repair has been made...making it well-nigh impossible for them to prove who actually cut the line. (We are not the only ones using earthmoving equipment in the rights-of-way. We have farmers plowing fields next to the roads and citizens who take topsoil from the ditches.) As has been stated above, once I get to an atty for the utility (usually located in St. Louis), the matter goes away...especially when I point out the various defenses, including our county reg requiring any utility that desires to bury lines in our right of way to register the installation with the county and maintain the line at least 24 inches below grade. I do not believe anyone has ever registered. Further, most of the utility companies hire third-party contractors to install their lines and these companies invariably leave the lines exposed on the surface. I have considered billing the utility for the assistance our road crews have provided when they gather up all of this line and place it out of harms' way...in a pile on the back-slope.

Seriously, given the increased pace with which these letters have started coming in, we might all want to keep an eye open for any legislation which the phone lobby might sneak in making this our problem instead of their's.