Claiming compensation for power cuts

roydog2

My elderly mum and dad (80's) live in a remote part of Sutherland. They have suffered 2 powercuts in the space of a week with these storms. The first lasted 20 hours and the second time it went off on Thursday at 2am and they are still without power today Sat 2.30pm. They have lost 2 full freezers of food (always prepared and all that) and are using the wood fire in the living room for heat and cooking on.
The last power cut damaged the sky box and a lightening strike also melted the phone onto the table (they have a special phone for use with hearing aids). The satellite broadband they have is also not working since the first cut.
Where do I start to get them some compensation as obviously all the suppliers are different.
Being older and used to bad weather they are just putting up with it but the costs are really mounting up now... Dad just bought a small generator to get some light as the candles were finished and to get some electric rings running to cook on. They had to drive 60 miles to get some petrol to run it as the local pumps couldn't run without power.
As usual mum doesn't want to bother anyone so I need to try and do it for her.
Anyone any ideas?

ChumpusRex

In general, compensation for power cuts is only paid if the power cut is for longer than 18 hours in normal weather, or more than 24 hours in storm weather.

However, the compensation is not very much: for exmaple, £54 for a 48 hour power cut due to storms.

To claim, you need to contact your local electricity distribution network operator (DNO). A list of DNOs and their contact details can be found here.

Compensation does not usually cover damage to appliances and loss of food. This normally needs to be claimed for on home insurance.

firefox1956

Don't know about compensation but in cases like this I would have thought that the power company would supply a generator & possibly the fuel for it.
Ring them NOW quote elderly parents / hardship etc etc you might be surprised how helpful they will be.
HTH

Eliza_2

This has happened a good few times since I've lived here (remote cottage etc) and each time I've had a letter from the elec company offering around £50, asking how you would like it paying. I didn't have to ring them or anything but possibly different distributors (I think this is Western Power or similar name) work differently.

I wouldn't have thought food from the freezer would be lost if the door had been shut and the freezer full, in that relatively short space of time. Are you sure about that? After all, without heating, the house would've been cold so the freezer would have remained so. However if so, then it's a contents claim.

Might be worth checking other sources of power, for example, a calor gas heater etc for when it happens again. There's a good thread on 'preparing for winter' somewhere here with some great ideas for emergency heat/light/food etc. Baked beans on toast cooked on open fire is always good while wrapped in duvet (you, not the beans!)

It's a real pain, and worse when you're elderly, however it happens - so it's best to plan in advance.

Good luck and I hope your parents are ok.

Liz -