BT junction box and drop wire - broadband issue

[larco]

Hi,

Next week we have an engineer coming to check our line. We reported slow speeds on broadband and after some checks the provider reckons it is a problem at our end.

Now the problem we have got is that the BT junction box on the house is hidden under a garage roof that the previous owner built in 2000. There is no way the engineer can find this or even attempt to access it as i reckon it is between the tiles and felt.

Now my question is as follows. If by a process of elimination the engineer reckons that the issue is with a faulty dropwire / junctionbox and he cannot reach these to fix / replace would I be liable for the whole cost of a new jbox + dropwire installation or would the cost be shared or would BT pay for it as it would be their equipment that is faulty regardless of where it is situated?

I could do with knowing what the policy would be in such a scenario.

many thanks

 

[trowelhead]

Unless you get a REALLY NASTY engineer,i think you will find that if the engineer can prove any fault into the external network they (ie OP/BT) will do what ever they have to at no cost to you.
In this stupid world of health and safety imagine this scenario:-
Telegraph pole outside your house,cable can be seen coming from it and connected to your house.The cable enters your loft.......................then where?
The engineer will probably be 'banned' to go anywhere dangerous,especially a loft to look so will have to conclude the fault is within BT/OR network.
You should be ok,but......

 

[lee2009]

anything before the master socket is bts responsibilty, as long as a fault is not on your side of the wireing, they have to maintain / replace it

 

[bernardgreen]

anything before the master socket is bts responsibilty, as long as a fault is not on your side of the wireing, they have to maintain / replace it

And the customer has to enable access to the external wiring.

Have tea and choccy biscuits ready and make the point that the previous owner was responsible for the obstruction to the junction box. Unless he (or she) is a total jobsworth the cable is likely to re-run simply to make their job easier.