power cut damages TV - compensation ?

mkcheznous

Eon cut the power to our street at 12:55 today and reconnected my home at 17:40 aprox. The power then went off after 10 seconds and then a couple of minutes later came back on.

A few minutes later we put the TV on - it appeared fine - so I turned on a PC in the same room - different socket and immediately the TV picture was badly affected - strange shape - interference lines. I turned off the PC but it made no difference - so I turned off the TV.

We put another TV on upstairs which was fine. I then put the original TV back on and there was a flash at the back and the TV would not come on.
Changed the fuse at the plug - no difference.

I know EON were still working on the cabling when the TV went down because a neighbour (on a differeent phase) was not connected until about the time the TV went down or shortly after.

Where do I stand in claiming compensation from EON. I know it was one of their engineers who cut the cable in the first place because he told me!

stewie_griffin

The short answer is you won't get any compensation from your distributor (E.ON Central Networks). I'm affraid it's a home insurance job.

Vestra

That's why they sell surge protectors.

ALIBOBSY

I think it is probably worth a letter to the supplier. If they did cause a large surge and a number of household were effected they may offer compensation.
I did hear of a case near us where the whole street had a large surge caused by them doing simular work to what you mentioned and all rec compensation. They had a visit from a rep of the company after the initial complaints and each had to list and show them all the effected items, they made a list and wrote back later with an offer.

Your problem may be if you are the only one effected it is hard to prove its their fault. If a few people had problems at the exact same time, or if the workmen admit there was a mistake made, you stand a much better chance.
Defo invest in surge protection for the future (oh is obsessive about this as he is in IT lol we have em all over the house).

As other posters said if no joy look to your insurance.

good luck

ali x

mkcheznous

Thanks for the advice - will call EON tomorrow to see what they say.

Would you believe that the TV is 5 days outside its 5 year warranty from John Lewis as well (just checked)! Can't remember running any black cats over recently.

Only have std home contents insurance so not sure if this is covered.

filmnoir

If it was a planned outage you should have been informed by letter under gauranateed standards of service and are entititled compensation if you didn't. If you were notified, it was your responsibility to ensure all apliances are off to avoid this.

If it was a fault, its possible the fault was caused by a third party i.e contractors digging a road and therefore Central Networks would not be liable. (EON's Distribution arm) Central Networks should be able to provide the third party and you could try to claim against them.

If it was a fault on their end, unfortunatley your still not covered due to your connection agreement with them which basicly states they cannot guarantee a surge free 100% up connection at all times. (The Electricity Supply Act 1989)

The compensation as per Alibobsy is called Gauranateed standards of service.When calling them state that under GS5 you are reporting a voltage complaint. (Surge) Cases like this are in troublehotspots where it happens multiple tomes where bulk compensation is offered and handled on a case basis. And It doesn't happen alot, as I've worked on powerloss for Central Networks.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/QualofServ/GuarStandds/Pages/GuarStandds.aspx

mkcheznous

As predicted EON do not want to know.

They said that if there was a problem during reconnection I would have lost all the appliances in the house.

When I said that the TV initially appeared to be fine and it was only when I turned the PC on that the TV went they said that then it must be a problem with the internal electrics.

When I said if this was so (and I have never had a problem in the 18 years I have lived there) it must have been caused by the Power cut they said that it couldn't be this as it would have blown the whole fuse system.

They said they would not send an electrician to check the system - said they had nobody qualified !

They did say I could get somebody at my expense to check it.

filmnoir

mkcheznous wrote: »

As predicted EON do not want to know.
They said that if there was a problem during reconnection I would have lost all the appliances in the house..

Not necessarily in a surge there are items that are more at risk during power surges. TV's, PC's, Fridges. Anything with high level cicuit boards are at risk, or motors as low or high voltages can burn out motors.

mkcheznous wrote: »

When I said that the TV initially appeared to be fine and it was only when I turned the PC on that the TV went they said that then it must be a problem with the internal electrics.

Not necessarily the surge could have happened just after restoration and bad timing that your switched your PC on, also if it was intenal wiring fault your trips would have gone.

mkcheznous wrote: »

When I said if this was so (and I have never had a problem in the 18 years I have lived there) it must have been caused by the Power cut they said that it couldn't be this as it would have blown the whole fuse system.

Not necessarily. Power surges can be large to small, power fluctations can be seen in lights growing lighter or dimmer or flickering.

mkcheznous wrote: »

They said they would not send an electrician to check the system - said they had nobody qualified !

Not correct at all, as I suggested quote Guaranteed standards of service five at them, they have to either send an engineer or give you a response to the surge. You may need to quote it directly.

Also did they inform you who was responsible for the initial powerloss?

The responses are classic Powerloss deflections.

mkcheznous

Thanks for this.

When I spoke to them we just went round and round in circles. As I was not satisfied I spoke to a supervisor who gave me more of the same. It is just not worth it to ring them again. I was so angry when I came off the phone that I have written to my MP to see if he will intervene on my behalf.

I have also checked with my Home Insurance people who having initially said they would not cover as 'Electrical Breakdown' is excluded then said they will cover it if I get an electrician / TV engineer report to confirm the damage is caused by a power surge. They did say they would cover the cost of the report but I am reluctant to make a claim as it will effect my premium next time.

I have also written to John Lewis to see if they can help even though it is 5 days out of its 5 year warranty.

filmnoir

Taken from Consumer Focus,

Consumer_Focus wrote:

Home electrical equipment is made to withstand most surges and the use of surge protectors is recommended for sensitive equipment. Distributors will not normally pay compensation for damage due to surges. The advice to consumers is to check their home insurance policy to see if they are covered.
Often claims are made because appliances have been damaged as a result of the power going off or because of poor quality of supply. Generally for the distributor to be at fault they would expect to see more than one appliance damaged. When supply is interrupted it is usually the same as just switching it off at the plug - all appliances built to the correct standard should be able to withstand being switched on and off therefore they should not sustain damage when power is interrupted - there are some exceptions but generally this is the rule.
It must be noted 'power surges' are extremely rare, and only occur during specific sets of circumstances and would affect all appliances, not just individual items. As already stated, it is more likely or be a problem with the appliance than the voltage.
The European Directive BS-EN50082-1 specifies standards for design of all electrical appliances/ equipment that should allow for voltage fluctuations; if only 1 or 2 appliances are affected the customer should contact the manufacturer. Also, if appliances are damaged it can be during the restoration of the supply as well as the interruption itself.

Again it is vague and leaves it entirely to the discretion of the Distributor. However one avenue is get an qualified electrician to confirm it was due to a power surge and submit a formal complaint to Central Networks. Also quote that under guaranteed standard of Service level 5 they failed to investigate or confirm the surge you reported.

Did they tell you why the original powerloss occurred?

mkcheznous

The EON engineer on site said that he cut the cable as it was dangerous as it was exposed to standing water. I was told this affected 200 houses and thus we could not be all warned which is fair enough. The only thing not clear is how they became aware of the problem - I do know that some neighbouring houses were cut off a few days ago - so it is probably related to that.

I do have surge protectors fitted to my main PC which I use for business but to be honest did not consider a TV to be "sensitive" equipment. The TV is a 32 inch Sony CRT which has never had a problem in five years of daily use.