Standing Charges

Eldi_Dos

 I have a friend who's flat was flooded from above and is being redone by insurance company.
 They have been in rented accommodation since early June and unlikely to be back in their own      flat before Christmas. This means they are paying four standing charges, is there any advice on
re-claiming one set of charges.
They are of a certain vintage and do not use computers hence my asking for them,

la531983

Nope, not unless they disconnect from the network and then pay to reconnect, which wont be cost effective in the slightest given the length of time they are likely to be out of the house.

Have they discussed this with the insurers?

Brie

I suggest they check their bills as whomever is doing the repairs is likely to be using the gas and electric too.  Electric would be obvious for any power tools, dehumidifiers but also gas for some heating or just to have hot water available on occasion.  I would hope the insurance company would be paying for all of this as part of the claim as essentially it's needed for repairs.

la531983

Brie said:

I suggest they check their bills as whomever is doing the repairs is likely to be using the gas and electric too.  Electric would be obvious for any power towels, dehumidifiers but also gas for some heating or just to have hot water available on occasion.  I would hope the insurance company would be paying for all of this as part of the claim as essentially it's needed for repairs.

We claimed on insurance for a water damaged bathroom last year, had dehumidifiers on the go and the insurers only paid for the units used, which was fine. Assume thats what will happen here, be surprised if they also pay for standing charges unless the customer specifically makes the enquiry, and then may be told no.

Gerry1

Simplest way would be for the couple to pay the rented accommodation's energy bills themselves (including the standing charges) on the basis that they'd have had to pay much the same if they had been staying at home.

The insurer can then pay all the home's energy bills (including the standing charges) for the relevant period on the basis that it reflects the actual usage (which may be higher than usual because of the need to dry everything out).

This will be seen to be fair and keeps everything as simple as possible by relating only to 'real' bills.

DullGreyGuy

Insurers will typically cover the increased costs due to being in alternative accommodation and so speak to them about reclaiming the additional standing charge. Its most commonly used when they put you in a hotel or B&B where your cost of food and laundry are significantly higher (they only pay the increase not the full cost) but the same principle applies to this. 

Eldi_Dos

Thanks for all the replies, much as they thought would be best course of action to take. They were switched on enough to take the readings in their own flat when decanting and hand a set of keys over to the insurance, so should be alright there.