huge bill on electricity of vulnerable severely disabled man- carers left heating on constantly

powerspowers

Have you had some advice regarding the energy bill? One step would be to talk to the supplier but CAB or local council may be able to help as he’s a vulnerable person 

MWT

tim_p said:

Enduring power of attorney haven’t been a thing since before 2009 at least. They are now called ‘lasting power of attorney’ (LPA)

True, but the point of the question still remains...

Aylesbury_Duck

cansu1 said:

He is not very active at the moment and the carers did say that he needed the heat on. However, he does not have the funds for this and neither do I. They also do not want me to manage what is going on there. He is completely non verbal and unable to say that he does or doesn't want it on. It really isn't a case of he can afford to do this if necessary. I am going to look into the hive option and I will have to program it to be on a set number of hours a day. I can't see how else to stop him getting further into debt. 

It sounds like they're doing a good job, caring for their client.  If your son and the family can't afford to heat his residence to a temperature it sounds like he requires, is there a bigger decision to consider, I.e. is his current home affordable?

Ms_Chocaholic

Aylesbury_Duck said:

cansu1 said:

He is not very active at the moment and the carers did say that he needed the heat on. However, he does not have the funds for this and neither do I. They also do not want me to manage what is going on there. He is completely non verbal and unable to say that he does or doesn't want it on. It really isn't a case of he can afford to do this if necessary. I am going to look into the hive option and I will have to program it to be on a set number of hours a day. I can't see how else to stop him getting further into debt. 

It sounds like they're doing a good job, caring for their client.  If your son and the family can't afford to heat his residence to a temperature it sounds like he requires, is there a bigger decision to consider, I.e. is his current home affordable?

I was thinking the same, who decided that the current property met his needs and should they shoulder some of the responsibility for this; does your son have capacity to make these decisions and does that impact legally in terms of agreeing to contract terms.

macman

What sort of underfloor heating install is it that has neither a programmer, timer or thermostat? I think we need more info.

Alter_ego

tim_p said:

Enduring power of attorney haven’t been a thing since before 2009 at least. They are now called ‘lasting power of attorney’ (LPA)

They may not be a "thing" but they are still valid if taken out before LPA's were introduced.

QrizB

Getting back to the original topic:

cansu1 said:

My adult son moved into a property with a team of carers looking after him.

I assume this is a recent change? Where was he living beforehand?

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It sounds like they're doing a good job, caring for their client.  If your son and the family can't afford to heat his residence to a temperature it sounds like he requires, is there a bigger decision to consider, I.e. is his current home affordable?

and

Ms_Chocaholic said:

I was thinking the same, who decided that the current property met his needs and should they shoulder some of the responsibility for this; does your son have capacity to make these decisions and does that impact legally in terms of agreeing to contract terms.

Yes, someone decided that the change in accommodation was in the OP's son's best interests. Whoever made that decision should have taken energy bills into account as a relevant factor.

Who was it? Can you challenge them?

FaceHead

To produce a heating bill like this it would need to a big heating system, a 3kW, which is never off: neither timer nor thermostat controlled. If that much heat is going in, unless it's a massive property it must be a furnace in there. 

Yes replace the thermostat. It could be a very simple process if the manafacturer of the current control panel has a wifi connected version, or otherwise a quite simple process to work with something else.

As the OP's son isn't very active, it sounds like he spends pretty much all his time in one room. In the short term it would make sense to turn off the power hungry UFH and get a plug in freestanding heater that has a timer and thermostat inbuilt, and put use it to heat just the room he spends most of his time in. 

theoretica

FaceHead said:

To produce a heating bill like this it would need to a big heating system, a 3kW, which is never off: neither timer nor thermostat controlled. If that much heat is going in, unless it's a massive property it must be a furnace in there.

Indeed - what are the specifics of the property heating system, were both start and 4 monthly meter readings correct? How big is the property and can if have different heating programs in different areas?