No gas for over a week

brokendreamz

Hi all
I'll try and keep this as brief as possible.
- living in rented accommodation.
- last Friday national grid turned off the gas to lay new pipes in the street. It was due to be reconnected by 8pm.
- they couldn't reconnect the gas as they were unable to gain access to the downstairs flat (the lady is elderly and will not answer the door)
- fast forward a week... they still can't access her property and I still have no gas.
- the property downstairs is not owned by my landlord.

Do National Grid have the responsibility to be doing anything other than what they are (knocking at her door once a day)?
Does my landlord have a responsibility to do anything?

Thanks in advance 😊

Guest101

No your landlord cannot do anything about this.

MyOnlyPost

Your best bet may be to write a letter and pop it through her letter box explaining the situation.

Failing that you could attempt to find who owns the flat (assuming she doesn't) and try to contact them

Red-Squirrel_2

Are you sure that the elderly lady is well and is just choosing not to answer the door?

If you use the gas supply for heating and cooking your landlord should be providing an alternative until this is sorted. Electric heaters and a microwave would be adequate in the short term. If you use it for hot water though, I'm not so sure what sort of alternative they could offer.

gingercordial

Do you know her? Would she answer the door to you? Does she ever go out and if so could you watch out for her and go out to talk to her next time she does?

I'd be a bit worried that she also has no gas/heating/hot water because of this and may be in a worse state than you. If she is old and frail perhaps a call to social services is in order, or the police to ask for a welfare check. Or perhaps Age UK - there's a contact number here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/contact-us/information-and-advice/

G_M

Do you know if the lady is IN the flat (and just not answering the door), or
is she away (holiday, care home, family), or
might she have died and not been discovered?

If you fear the last option, contact the local police.

Do you have any other contact details for her like her family?

As for your LL, it's cleary not his fault. I'm not totally convinced red squirrel is right about alternative heating etc as the LL has complied with his obligations to keep the heating system in good working order, but it does no harm to ask.

This would affect an owner occupier (and presumably is doing so eg next door?) in exactly the same way.

You might have a claim against National Grid, though I suspect there are regulations governing when compensation kicks in eg after x days/weeks. Use google or look on NG website.

davidmcn

G_M wrote: »

Do you know if the lady is IN the flat (and just not answering the door), or
is she away (holiday, care home, family), or
might she have died and not been discovered?

If you fear the last option, contact the local police.

Seems even more likely if she's also had no heating for the last week...

brokendreamz

Thanks for the responses.
She is ok fortunately. That was my first concern. It seems she is just too immobile to get to the door with ease so chooses not to answer it. She has daily carers. We have tried getting national grid to come when the carers are here but as the time varies slightly each day, they've thus far been unable to catch them.
Apparently the downstairs property doesn't have gas (which I thought was a little strange - but the landlord is adamant) so I suspect she has electric heating and is just fine... but national grid won't turn it on until they've checked it's been capped off properly in her flat.
It seems it's just a waiting game then!
Thanks again for the quick responses.

kinger101

brokendreamz wrote: »

Thanks for the responses.
She is ok fortunately. That was my first concern. It seems she is just too immobile to get to the door with ease so chooses not to answer it. She has daily carers. We have tried getting national grid to come when the carers are here but as the time varies slightly each day, they've thus far been unable to catch them.
Apparently the downstairs property doesn't have gas (which I thought was a little strange - but the landlord is adamant) so I suspect she has electric heating and is just fine... but national grid won't turn it on until they've checked it's been capped off properly in her flat.
It seems it's just a waiting game then!
Thanks again for the quick responses.

Glad she's okay. I think you need to make the national grid aware of her age and lack of mobility, and get them to make a better effort to co-ordinate visits with her carers. If she's as infirm as you suggest, she perhaps shouldn't be answering the door to people who are effectively strangers.

Fosterdog

How well do you know her? Would it be worth you going to see her when her carer is there and explaining to her what is going on and maybe see if you could have a spare key for a day to let NG in. If she's only got a carers visiting and nobody else it would be handy for you or another trusted neighbour to keep hold of a spare key in case something happens to her.

moneyistooshorttomention

Fosterdog wrote: »

How well do you know her? Would it be worth you going to see her when her carer is there and explaining to her what is going on and maybe see if you could have a spare key for a day to let NG in. If she's only got a carers visiting and nobody else it would be handy for you or another trusted neighbour to keep hold of a spare key in case something happens to her.

I'd go with this idea first - ie explaining to the carers and getting them to explain to her that access is necessary for these people and you can't use your facilities until they get it.

Though I think OP might be worried about/wondering how to proceed if the neighbour is deliberately being awkward - so a back-up strategy is necessary in case this is what is happening. Some elderly people can start getting a bit that way (ie they don't care - as long as they personally are alright) - and I know I can think of a couple who might act that way.

But go with the "ask carers" first strategy to gain access - if only to be able to say you have done that.