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Power cut - planned maintenance but power company admit they didn't contact prior.

Hi all,

We've just had a 6 hour power cut which was 'planned maintenance' however the power company didn't even bother to contact the people effected. They have offered £30 compensation. It can't be right that they can turn your power off for 6 hours without even a fault or telling you.

They have agreed it was their fault but £30 is less than the costs incurred.

What should I do? This can't be legal/right.



«1

Comments

  • lohr500
    lohr500 Posts: 1,549 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    What costs did you incur?
  • Lunch, wife driving to friends house to 'work from home', me doing the same, the "f'in" hour+ of crap I had to deal with to try to get to the bottom of this.

    We live in the middle of nowhere.
  • comeandgo
    comeandgo Posts: 5,930 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    So about £30 worth?
  • If you value people's time at being less than min wage, then yes!


  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,983 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 27 January 2022 at 4:51PM
    £30 is the required compensation for a failure to notify a domestic customer, you are not going to get more than that.
    This is part of the Guaranteed Standards for a DNO.


  • Xbigman
    Xbigman Posts: 3,931 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    You might have been working from home but you are still a domestic customer and entitled to very little compensation. £30 in fact. If you had a business supply you would get a lot more compensation in the circumstances (no notice) but you'd be paying a lot more for your usage. Take the £30 and move on.


    Darren
    Xbigman's guide to a happy life.

    Eat properly
    Sleep properly
    Save some money
  • Astria
    Astria Posts: 1,448 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Have you agreed a service level agreement (SLA) with your energy provider ? Typically these kind of deals are far more expensive than typical residential contracts so since I WFH a lot I have battery backup for all essential equipment which can last about 3 hours. Power cuts have so far not exceeded that amount of time.
  • So just to confirm, they can switch your electricity off whenever they like and just pay you £30 for the priviledge?




  • lemonizer said:
    So just to confirm, they can switch your electricity off whenever they like and just pay you £30 for the priviledge?




    No, had they pre warned you of it you wouldnt get a penny
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,983 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper
    You can get an extra £30 if they fail to pay within the allowed 10 days, but that is it.
    Business customers get £60 for failure to notify, so not exactly a major improvement either...
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