What’s reasonable Compensation?

PonyTeaPot

So last week we had to evacuate our house call the fire service who then had to call UKPN as our meter was arcing and smoking - it was all very scary, late at night in the pouring rain. Kids bundled into the car sat at the end of the road while fire service made house safe - you can imagine all very stressful and frightening. 

UKPN changed the main ‘cut out’ and identified the issue was due to the wires from our smart meter has not been tightened into the main supply fuse when the smart meter was fitted.

They gave me a written report and I have complained to the energy company who installed the smart meter.
To their credit they have been very prompt in responding and will be carrying out an investigation and have asked what am i thinking in terms of compensation. 

This has thrown me somewhat as I have no idea! Luckily no one was hurt as I’d noticed there was a funny smell before it caught fire and the fire service were here in less than 10mins so there is no material damage. 

However, one of my family is now terrified to sleep upstairs, I am fortunate to be able to swap rooms around so they can move downstairs but this does come at a cost …. I reckon about  £500 (basically I need to get them some furniture as the one upstairs is all fitted).

Do I request £500? It is a direct result of the rather scary encounter with two fire engines and a night with engineers in our house all saying how lucky we were (and my goodness we were lucky!!) but equally I feel like that’s a lot of money when no physical things were actually damaged.

Can anyone share any experiences of how compensation works? I’ve never asked for any before so I’m totally clueless!!

Thank you 

MyRealNameToo

Who is the one in your family? Kid, partner, spouse?

A mistake was made but no material damage was caused, the cause has been identified and rectified so won't repeat. 

I'd be expecting a relatively token payment given compensation is based on what did happen rather than what could have happened. I doubt it will be deemed reasonable to pay for a whole new bedroom outfit because one person is no longer willing to sleep upstairs. 

It is probably a good time to consider your household evacuation plans inc how people get out from the upper floors. That said, a small side room on the ground floor that doesnt have fully opening windows can be more dangerous than a 1st floor room with opening windows. 

Mark_d

Ultimately you were inconvenienced for a couple of hours late that night.  Sometimes people get traumatised by certain events but before you know it, they realise that their fears aren't entirely rational.  It's not like the family member required professional counselling that you needed to pay for.  Your employment/earnings were not disrupted.  I think £100 for a meal out at a restaurant would be a reasonable compensation request.

FrugaiMacDugal

It seems unusual to be asked what you want, usually you get an offer, if not happy refuse, see what comes next.

squirrelpie

I'd explain your story about your family now being scared to sleep upstairs and detail the cost of changes you will have to make. Also offer the possibility of your supplier funding counselling instead. And see what they say. When you say "the energy company who installed the smart meter" do you mean your supplier or a subcontractor?

born_again

FrugaiMacDugal said:

It seems unusual to be asked what you want, usually you get an offer, if not happy refuse, see what comes next.

Not as unusual as you think, as it puts person on the spot. So they either go low & get paid or far to high & get told no. Then company will come up with a figure later on.

That is why when complain about something, always have a figure in your mind what you would be happy with as a settlement 👍

brianposter

Not much more than £50.

WiserMiser

Make sure you have a heat alarm in the kitchen, several smoke alarms elsewhere and that they're all linked wirelessly.

They may also help to reassure the person who is nervous about sleeping upstairs. 

PonyTeaPot

Thanks everyone for your input - I definitely felt it was ‘put on the spot’ question so I side stepped it and said that it was hard to put a figure on at this stage - interesting to hear it’s not uncommon,  it’s a good tactic - Definitely caught me off guard!!  

 

The smart meter had been fitted by a sub contractor company and my main reason for raising the complaint was for education/ training purposes. I dont really blame the engineer who installed it - having done a bit of reading up i understand they are under enormous pressure and I feel this type of incident is more likely down to over ambitious targets.
We do have smoke alarms, evacuation plan and fire extinguishers at home and everything went just as it should - but what bothers me is someone else could easily be less fortunate. Thank you for the suggestion of heat alarms - I’ll look into that as well.

In terms of the seriousness/ inconvenience - i absolutely get the “cant compensate for what might of happened” thats a valid point & tbh It’s not really about the money. Ive no problem changing our rooms about so everyone feels safe - it was just the only tangible thing I could put a figure on that relates to the event.

For me, this is about trust - mains electric isn’t something you can fumble, things as important/ dangerous as this need to be more than numbers and targets - and sadly I think that often comes down to financial implications for companies ….. but having never asked for compensation before ive no idea what’s a general “we’re really sorry and we’re mighty relieved we’re not paying out for fire damage” amount!!

thanks everyone - much appreciated 

ButterCheese

It is easy to put a price on material losses, but not on emotional trauma.  As said above, I think a meal out or some sort of treat is the maximum you can reasonable ask for, so £100.  It might work in your favour if you explain what this cost is for, why it's important i.e. justify the cost instead of it looking like you've picked a number out of the air.

Boohoo

PonyTeaPot said:

Thanks everyone for your input - I definitely felt it was ‘put on the spot’ question so I side stepped it and said that it was hard to put a figure on at this stage - interesting to hear it’s not uncommon,  it’s a good tactic - Definitely caught me off guard!!  

 

The smart meter had been fitted by a sub contractor company and my main reason for raising the complaint was for education/ training purposes. I dont really blame the engineer who installed it - having done a bit of reading up i understand they are under enormous pressure and I feel this type of incident is more likely down to over ambitious targets.
We do have smoke alarms, evacuation plan and fire extinguishers at home and everything went just as it should - but what bothers me is someone else could easily be less fortunate. Thank you for the suggestion of heat alarms - I’ll look into that as well.

In terms of the seriousness/ inconvenience - i absolutely get the “cant compensate for what might of happened” thats a valid point & tbh It’s not really about the money. Ive no problem changing our rooms about so everyone feels safe - it was just the only tangible thing I could put a figure on that relates to the event.

For me, this is about trust - mains electric isn’t something you can fumble, things as important/ dangerous as this need to be more than numbers and targets - and sadly I think that often comes down to financial implications for companies ….. but having never asked for compensation before ive no idea what’s a general “we’re really sorry and we’re mighty relieved we’re not paying out for fire damage” amount!!

thanks everyone - much appreciated 

Is this incident something you have to declare to your insurance company now or when you get a renewal or take out new insurance?

Not sure but something to bear in mind going forward.