No heating for over two weeks

playlister82

I previously posted a thread on my mum's behalf as she recently moved into a council home and was without heating. After a lot of head scratching about the cause of the issue, it turned out that she needed a new thermostat.

Unfortunately, after being in the property for nearly three weeks there is still no heating. The council's repairs contractor, GEM, has said they are waiting for a new Danfoss thermostat to be delivered. We've chased multiple times and are given the same answer every time, with no advice on how long it could take.

I've checked and these thermostats can be purchased from many sources including Amazon! Sure, it takes a few days but this is going well beyond that now.

My question is, what is a pensioner meant to do in this situation? My mum pays for communal heating in her rent, so currently is paying for heating that she cannot use. As well as the expensive electric heater that she has to use in the meantime.

Can a council legally put someone in this position? Is there alternative support they are meant to give someone whose heating cannot be fixed straight away? It just seems really odd to me that there is no sense of urgency here, or anyone who can say "it will likely take this long".

Albermarle

She could speak to her local councillor ?

ThisIsWeird

Hi Playlister.

Pleased the actual cause has been determined, but frustrating at how long such a seemingly simple task should take.

I fear this is down to the current UK situation - everything stretched to their very limits, and that very much includes your mum's LA.

What to do? I guess try and work out how much her replacement electric heater is costing her to keep her warm, and bill them for the cost of running this?

Belenus

Are you able to buy and fit an inexpensive basic thermostat for her on a temporary basis?

You should not have to do this but it might work out cheaper than the cost of electrically heating her home.

Eldi_Dos

Phone 01628 200215, which I think is the number for who provides legal services for that company.They may be a bit bemused that you called them but insist that someone takes note of the situation and call back every morning till matter is resolved.

There is not a project manager who would ignore a call from head office/ legal advisors and they will speed up the repair to save getting anymore calls.

ThisIsWeird

Belenus said:

Are you able to buy and fit an inexpensive basic thermostat for her on a temporary basis?

You should not have to do this but it might work out cheaper than the cost of electrically heating her home.

Ach, take the bludy thing off the wall, and just join them two bludy wires together - free heat. Open the windows if it becomes stuffy...

(Oops - should have made clear I was jesting :-( )

playlister82

Thanks for all the replies, at this stage I think the easiest step to take would be to contact the local councillor. I am not an electrician and don't really want to play with the thermostat and wires that are currently attached to the wall.

I was wondering whether anyone knew what avenues a council has to support residents in this situation, as the problem is technically with an external contractor and so partially out of the council's control.

Even better, I wondered whether anyone has had experience with GEM and their practices, if this is unusual for them or (hopefully not) common.

Albermarle

playlister82 said:

Thanks for all the replies, at this stage I think the easiest step to take would be to contact the local councillor. I am not an electrician and don't really want to play with the thermostat and wires that are currently attached to the wall.

I was wondering whether anyone knew what avenues a council has to support residents in this situation, as the problem is technically with an external contractor and so partially out of the council's control.

Even better, I wondered whether anyone has had experience with GEM and their practices, if this is unusual for them or (hopefully not) common.

The council is paying the bill to the contractors.
If the local councillor could put some pressure in the right area, the results could be a surprising urgency into the situation.

Bigphil1474

Ask the council to cover the extra electricity costs or at least offset what she pays for communal heating until it is fixed. If they say no, speak to your councillor or try and find out the councillor responsible for that Department of the council.