is electric company not liable for damage?

sf

first of all, apologies if this isn't the appropriate forum, but looked to be nearest to the subject at hand.situation is that last week we lost power to the house, and - to cut a long story short - this was eventually diagnosed as being due to water getting into a joint in our supply in the pavement outside the property (from when overhead cabling was replaced by underground). we were told that the live connection had shorted across both neutral and earth, and we were lucky not to have had a nasty shock had we touched taps, etc. at the time.in fairness to the electric company (Scottish Power), they soon sent engineers out, and before the day was out, the pavement outside our property had been dug up and the problem joint repaired.unfortunately, before the trip kicked in, the shorted power had already caused quite a bit of damage to electrical equipment within the house (I naturally had unplugged everything after the power went off, but of course that was too late given the live coming in over neutral and earth).
I rang Scottish Power next day to explain about the damaged items, and was told to make an inventory and estimate of cost, and was given a specific number to call once I'd done so. on ringing this number, I found I was back at main switchboard, but eventually got to speak to someone who took my basic details and said that the complaints department would call back in the next couple of days.this they did, though as I didn't make it to the phone quick enough (my usual cordless phone being one of the items that had bitten the dust!), they left a voice message, saying they would have to look into it and would get back to me.
immediately this kind of rang warning bells, as it seemed to contradict the initial "make inventory and give us a call" which had suggested there was already a procedure for such circumstances.
this afternoon I returned the call, wanting to know how far things had moved along.I was told point blank that as the shorting of the cable could not have been predicted, then they were not liable for any damage it had caused. they would issue me with a letter to help claim on the house insurance, but that was the extent of it. I queried the fact that I'd initially been asked to make an inventory with costs to contact them with, as that obviously had implied they had a procedure for such claims, only to be told that the person who told me that would need further training before being allowed to talk to the public!
thanks for bearing with this long post; really I just want to know if the electric company can be considered liable or not? after all, there must have been a weakness in the jointing of the mains supply, or else it wouldn't have shorted, hence I would have thought they were liable. what if we -had- have touched the taps when they were live? could they just pass the buck so simply had there been injury?obviously we can claim on the house insurance, but given we first have to cover the excess and that any claim will mean an increase in the premium next renewal, it would grieve me a lot to have to do so!thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

Pixie28

Hi SF....I am not 100% sure on this one. Did you contact Scottish Power or Powersystems? I don't think that your electricity supplier would be liable to pay comepensation, however it may be worth your while to get in touch with Powersystems. They are a divison of Scottish Power, but are the network operators and have set guaranteed standards for compensation for loss of supply etc.

http://www.sppowersystems.co.uk
complaints@sppowersystems.com

You could also contact Energywatch for advise. Sorry I can't advise you further....perhaps someone else on the board may have the answer for you!

Cardew

I would have thought that the circuit breaker in your house should have tripped.

sf

Pixie28: my initial contact was with Scottish Power, but the number they gave me when asking me to compile an inventory of damaged good, they told me was for Powersystems. however, on calling the number, they gave another name (which I've unfortunately forgotten) and when I asked if they were Powersystems, they said not. until your post, I didn't understand who Powersystems were in the scheme of things, so thanks very much for that and the contact info.
Cardew: yes, it tripped but apparently not quite soon enough to protect everything. the initial engineer that came out said that until he'd physically disconnected the cabling, the live was still going to earth, so thought us lucky that we'd not received a shock.thanks both!

Cardew

The more common situation is when 'power surges' - which are often caused by lightning - damages equipment.

The standard line taken by all electricity companies is that it is an unforseen occurance and they are not liable.

If you Google 'Power Surge compensation' you will no doubt find masses of cases.

It might be worth contacting 'energywatch' for their advice.

Good Luck

Terrylw1

Hi SF,

Regardless of your trip, your cutout fuses should have blown, if not them the meter fuses in the event of a power surge that causes a surge greater than the amp of the fuse. Fuses in cutouts & meters are typically 80-100 thesedays. Older setups can be less. Engineer would know though I guess.

Your electricity Supplier (SP) are not in anyway liable for this as they are puerly a billing company. They have an olbigation over their agents in Ofgem's eyes however the distribution network is not classed under that.

This link will show you the compensation covered under Ofgem's Guaranteed Standards Of Service:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571937

Honestly, I have seen similiar affairs e.g. power loss to a commercial property where stock in fridge freezers has had to be disposed of. In those cases, the customers got the same barriers but they did win out and get compensation. So, it is worth a try.

It's a bit tricky to get answers on these issues though. For a start, people like Energywatch seldom deal with technical network complaints. So, it may be best to go direct to Ofgem for advice as the regulator. The distributor is also responsible to the DTI so it may be worth contacting them to get an opinion.

Beyond that however, you would be talking small claims court or solicitors. I think you would need to get an opinion on whether they have a clause in their operating licence whereby you cannot claim. However, I know they have paid out in the case of loss of power on many occassions. It's just less clear in your case because you are talking about a safety/fault issue.

I can tell you that distributors are very cautious over safety issues as they have been stung in court & in the press before.

P.S. You can get a copy of their operating licence on Google, most of that stuff is easily found.

sf

thanks Terrylw1. I was expecting a letter from Scottish Power today that they'd promised to send for me to use with my own insurers, so have been waiting to see exactly what's said on that before going any further... just shame they've not actually sent it yet! will see what they have to say anyway, and maybe take it up with the energy ombudsman (who I found via your link) if need be.

thanks again all!

Cagey

Standard procedure from them to advice you to claim against your house insurance. Don`t think you will get very far in trying to apportion blame on the power company although your insurer may take it up with them if they are unwilling to meet your claim. Best of luck,hope you are not out of pocket at the end of it all.

simongregson

If you check your household insurance policy you may find that they offer you free legal cover to help recover your losses in events such as this. If this is the case, they will be able to advise you as to your best course of action.

Terrylw1

Hi SF,

Good luck with this.

The point I was trying to make is that because you state it has occurred due to a change in supply from overhead to underground, there could be a case for negligence or a failure in duty of care.

Ofgem/DTI will be able to advice on the legislation side for you to decide.

Your insurance should hopefully cover the costs but that does not mean that you could not recover the costs from them over your premium rise, excess plus some form of compensation for the hassle etc.

Beyond that, negligence is one for the solicitors for some form of NWNF payout.

I’m not saying you may have a case because it’s impossible to determine without knowing the safety regs thoroughly and knowing whether the fault it due to negligence. However, there have been customers hurt in accidents and they have had a case. Of course, they sustained an injury which gets those solicitors charging to your door.

Good luck