Water meter damaged by virgin media

First of all, you must act otherwise Thames Water will go in and repair, then bill you at an unfriendly rate. You must get from the council all the information they have such as permit number and whether a reinstatement inspection was done. Also get from Thames Water a written statement saying that the leak is on the customer side and that the meter or pipe was damaged by external works (makes it hard for VM to wriggle out of responsibility). S, how do you get a repair done? The options are:

1. Get your insurance company to do the repair (assuming you even have cover for third-party utility damage). This sounds good as the job will get done soon but you must pay the excess (often £100-£500), premiums may rise for several years, the claim is recorded on the CUE database, and the insurer may refuse to pursue Virgin Media. Many homeowners end up out of pocket and still fighting the utility company, which is why insurers often discourage these types of claims.
2. Hire a competent and insured plumber to repair and then bill VM. This sounds good as you're in control but you have to pay upfront, have to find a properly qualified plumber and there's no guarantee of getting a full or even a partial refund from VM.
3. Get VM to do the repair. This sounds good as Thames Water will 

   suspend the 14‑day requirement once informed and you'll have no upfront cost but the job will take weeks or months and VM may even deny it was at fault.

This is a rotten position to be put in, but in view of VM's dreadful record of dealing with damage complaints you really will have to deal with the damage yourself now, and bill VM when it's bean repaired.  You will of course be adding a suitable sum for distress and inconvenience, and for the increased water bill. 

Was the digging for your own VM connection? 

Hello mbrealey1 

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community. 

Very sorry to hear of this. I'll send you a Private Message now to discuss further.

Best wishes.

Based on similar past 'property damage' topics on here, you are likely to find that (once you have made contact) VM keeps you engaged in endless communications back and forward but without any fixing actually taking place. If Thames Water has imposed a time limit on you to fix the leak, you might want to think about getting the leak repaired first of all then deal with VM afterwards by way of a claim for the damage.