Power Failure - Freezer Contents Lost Etc???

elvina

Hi

I hope that someone can help please. My in laws, FIL is terminally ill, are having their boiler replaced and somehow the company fitting it managed to damage the meter resulting in them having no gas or electric. They have now been without gas or electric for 24 hours. Both the gas board and the electric board have been out but so far its not fixed.

They have obviously lost the contents of their fridge and freezer let alone have had the stress and discomfort of having no power since yesterday morning. They havent been told when it will all be put right yet either.

Can anyone shed any light on who they can claim from for their lost fridge and freezer contents and whether they would be able to claim anything extra for the delay in getting the problem solved?

Many thanks

wealdroam

elvina wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on who they can claim from for their lost fridge and freezer contents and whether they would be able to claim anything extra for the delay in getting the problem solved?

Really, can you not work it out?

Who caused the problem? Claim off them.

If that's too much hassle, get your inlaws to claim from their household insurers.

JJ_Egan

24 hours and freezer contents lost . That is very very unusual in such a short space of time .

Your claim or the insurers claim is against the contractor that damaged the meter .

elvina

Thanks both of you for the quick replies. I thought it was probably the contractor but just wanted to put it out there to see what everyone else thought. The contractor made the original mistake but the gas and electricity board have taken so long to sort it out I wasnt sure where their liability stood.

Thanks again

BlueEyedGirl

Claim on the House Insurance, that is what it is for, it would probably be less hassle for someone under so much stress with the FIL health.

sheramber

Food in a freezer will stay frozen for a while if the freezer is not opened. Any empty space should be packed with newspaper or towels etc to retain the cold.


check if their gas and electricity suppliers have a vulnerable consumer strategy.

We are registered with our electricty supply company ( not who we pay our bills to, but who supplies the electricity ) as we are senior citizens. That means someone stays in touch with us when the supply fails to check if we are okay and if we need help.

If they ( management, not the on site workers) are aware of their position they may give them more importance to get things fixed.

We had a power cut of three days last winter after gales caused the power to fail over thousands of homes. We had regular calls to check on our welfare. We were okay as we had gas for cooking, a wood stove for heat and had a battery lantern.

the food in our fridge and freezer was okay for that time.