Gas leak advice!

Beaut.bebe · 2 December 2017 at 12:36PM

Hey guys, sorry if I’ve picked the wrong thread! This seemed to fit best. So basically we found out yesterday that a gas engineer our estate agents sent round (we rent privately, me myself and my newborn twins) had left us with a gas leak when he fixed our hob last week. We thought we smelt gas on and off but when my parents came and mentioned it without us even saying anything about gas we knew we weren’t imagining it so called the EA to get someone out. Firstly they wanted use to wait four more days until the following Tuesday even though we said we could actually smell gas and had newborns in the property as well as ourselves. They then said they’d come the same day if they had time!! After much pushing by my husband, they agreed to come out that day and found a gas leak in the hob. They had to turn off the hob as they had no idea which part was leaking apparently. Unfortunately it was the same company so we are reticent whether they actually did the second job correctly or not!

We took the twins to A&E where we spent 8 hours having my seven week old twins with cannulas in their arms and bloods being taken for carbon monoxide tests. Their second test results came back more acceptable and they were sent home thankfully. Myself and my husband then spent a further 6.5 hours getting ourselves checked, racking up huge car park charges in the process! We also were sent home with barely acceptable levels in our bloods.

Bearing in mind we were sent home without any major issues, is it worth trying to bring a case against this company? For the fact that that man should be struck off the gas safety register alone but also for the emotional stress that my twins (although they won’t remember!) and myself went through. Seeing my seven week olds going through it all was quite distressing!? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! (Also, depending on the leak volume, our gas bill will surely be affected which I do not want to pay for!!).

Red-Squirrel_2 · 2 December 2017 at 12:43PM

In future, if you smell gas you should call 0800 111 999 straightaway.

Follow the advice on this website and don't fanny about with estate agents or anybody else.

https://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/safety-and-emergencies/gas-emergencies-and-safety-advice

Pixie5740 · 2 December 2017 at 12:44PM

Beaut.bebe wrote: »

Hey guys, sorry if I’ve picked the wrong thread! This seemed to fit best. So basically we found out yesterday that a gas engineer our estate agents sent round (we rent privately, me myself and my newborn twins) had left us with a gas leak when he fixed our hob last week. We thought we smelt gas on and off but when my parents came and mentioned it without us even saying anything about gas we knew we weren’t imagining it so called the EA to get someone out. Firstly they wanted use to wait four more days until the following Tuesday even though we said we could actually smell gas and had newborns in the property as well as ourselves. They then said they’d come the same day if they had time!! After much pushing by my husband, they agreed to come out that day and found a gas leak in the hob. They had to turn off the hob as they had no idea which part was leaking apparently. Unfortunately it was the same company so we are reticent whether they actually did the second job correctly or not!

We took the twins to A&E where we spent 8 hours having my seven week old twins with cannulas in their arms and bloods being taken for carbon monoxide tests. Their second test results came back more acceptable and they were sent home thankfully. Myself and my husband then spent a further 6.5 hours getting ourselves checked, racking up huge car park charges in the process! We also were sent home with barely acceptable levels in our bloods.

Bearing in mind we were sent home without any major issues, is it worth trying to bring a case against this company? For the fact that that man should be struck off the gas safety register alone but also for the emotional stress that my twins (although they won’t remember!) and myself went through. Seeing my seven week olds going through it all was quite distressing!? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! (Also, depending on the leak volume, our gas bill will surely be affected which I do not want to pay for!!).

If you could smell gas why did you fanny about waiting for the letting agency to send out a gas safety engineer? Why didn't you contact the gas emergency number (0800 111 999 ) immediately?

I take it you went to A&E because your CO alarm was going off indicating that there was CO present. Although I don't see how that would be related to the gas leak because CO is only produced due to incomplete combustion of carbon and the leaking gas wasn't being combusted so if your CO alarm was going off then there must be another reason for it.

If you want to make a complaint about the engineer then you can do so through the Gas Safety Register.

https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/complaints-report-an-illegal/

davidmcn · 2 December 2017 at 12:45PM

The gas coming through the pipe is methane. Where did your carbon monoxide come from?

G_M · 2 December 2017 at 12:49PM

Firstly, did you check that the engineer was gasSafe registered?

Second, do you have a valid (within the last 12 months) Gas Safety report?

Third, if you have convcerns about the competance of the engineer, you can report it to GasSafe.

Fourth, you could write to your landlord (politely!) explaining your concern, and listing your costs and stress, and ask
* that they use a different company in future, and/or
* get a second company to check the 1st company's work, and/or
* compensate you for your costs

All the above though are discretionary - the LL has in fact done nothing wrong. He arranged a repair, and then when you advised him of concern about the leak, he again arranged a repair.

HampshireH · 2 December 2017 at 2:29PM

If I were your 'LL I would be asking why you didn't call the emergency gas number as soon as you smelt gas rather than waiting for someone else to comment on it later (you don't say if this was a same day or several days later).

JoJo1978 · 2 December 2017 at 2:40PM

I'm really surprised the EA or landlord didn't give you the emergency number to call that other posters have quoted.

Stick it up in your kitchen for future reference.

Carrot007 · 2 December 2017 at 2:43PM

Beaut.bebe wrote: »

We took the twins to A&E where we spent 8 hours having my seven week old twins with cannulas in their arms and bloods being taken for carbon monoxide tests. Their second test results came back more acceptable and they were sent home thankfully. Myself and my husband then spent a further 6.5 hours getting ourselves checked, racking up huge car park charges in the process! We also were sent home with barely acceptable levels in our bloods.

Why? This is nothing to do with a gas leak. If the levels were high fixing the gas leak will do nothing. You need your appliances checked.

pinklady21 · 2 December 2017 at 2:51PM

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide (CO2) monitor in your house? If not, get one today. They cost very little and will give you peace of mind. In the event of another problem with gas appliances the alarm should be triggered. At that point, as others have said, call the emergency gas number. Hope all is well now and that you and your family have recovered from this emergency.

EDIT sorry for my typo, adn thank you to the eagle eyed MSExperts who spooted it....

00ec25 · 2 December 2017 at 2:56PM

pinklady21 wrote: »

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide (CO2) monitor in your house? If not, get one today. They cost very little and will give you peace of mind. In the event of another problem with gas appliances the alarm should be triggered. At that point, as others have said, call the emergency gas number. Hope all is well now and that you and your family have recovered from this emergency.

LOL. Carbon MONoxide has one atom of oxygen so is CO and is "dangerous" in confined spaces.

Carbon DIoxide has 2 atoms so is CO2 and is (mostly) harmless

Beaut.bebe · 2 December 2017 at 3:08PM

- Nobody at any point gave us a number for a gas leak hotline. I wasn’t aware of one, I’ve never had a gas problem before and have never been told about it. Ignorance of something can’t really be classed as ‘fannying about’. We did what we thought was right at the time. I will keep the number handy for the future.
- Our gas alarm never went off, the tester button works fine.
-I don’t know why they tested us all for Carbon Monoxide, I’m not medically trained. We told the hospital what had happened and they did what they felt appropriate.
-I don’t want to do anything with regards to the landlord, it’s not her fault. I want to complain about the gas engineer who left a leak in my house and told me the job was completed correctly when it clearly wasn’t.
-My main issue is the fact that we were left by a ‘professional’ with a gas leak that could have affected my family. We have now just been told by our EA that an electrician has to come and move our sockets as they are in a ‘heat zone’ and are dangerous so this isn’t the only issue we have in the house. But according to this thread I’m sure I should have already known that and have been fannying about using the sockets. I’m not sure I’m going to get any advice that isn’t people just telling me I did the incorrect thing so won’t I check back again to this thread. If this is the pool of people available for friendly, non judgemental advice I’m not sure I’ll be using this site’s forums anymore either.

Thanks everyone that genuinely did help - pinklady im looking at you my lovely!

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