power cut season

[logman]

Iive in a fairly remote area on the outskirts of a largish town,(uk) which seems to be prone to power cuts to the electricity supply. Yesterday, i had one which lasted 12 hours! A'm i entitled to compensation for my losses and suffering ? and should the local council have provided help and support, ie food, warmth/shelter ? I was frozen stiff

[Topsie]

No, its 24 hours that they give you compensation in my area but possibly yours may be different.

They will not compensate either for your freezer contents because that is covered by home insurance.

Its not a huge amount either about �30.00

[lady_p_gold]

You would have to check maybe with OffWatt or whatever it is called to see if there are any rules and regulations as there are for airlines i.e. after so many hours you are entitled to a reduction in your bill etc. or it might be worth just calling your electricity company and asking if you can have a reduction. As far as the Council providing food etc. I do not think that would go down well with the taxpayer having to foot the bill .. not for twelve hours !!!!!!

[WendyS]

On a practical point, if you live in an all-electric property, it's really worth buying one of these little one-ring gas cookers which come in their own carrying case. They use small gas cannisters. You can buy them for about �15 from shops like Milletts and camping shops. In the event of a power cut you can use them to boil a kettle, heat up a saucepan of baked beans and fill a hot water bottle to keep you warm. Every all-electric home should have one, especially as the coming winter is forecast to be harsh and power cuts are predicted.

[stevie21]

A reduction in your bill? You've just had one!! You had 12 hours of being environmentally friendly and not using any electricity and not running up any bill.

Face it, they're doing you a favour. ;-)

[qapmoc]

Hi, you know I feel like starting a rant about how people in the developed world expect everything to be done for them and how they think everything that happens is ''somebodies fault so claim something'' but I suppose it will upset somebody so maybe I'll just keep quite.

[logman]

Okay gang you win ! So now you want me to feel guilty about living in the west and the soggy mess in my freezer is all my own fault, shame on me. If i was looking for sympathy, guess i came to the wrong place. Next time i'l just freez in silence

[stevie21]

logman, I'd have been full of support and sympathy if it wasn't for your ambulance chasing cry of
"Am I entitled to compensation for my losses and suffering".

Even if you'd have just phrased it as "the service is unacceptable, I've been left out of pocket due to their errors. Can I claim these expenses back as it's not my fault?" I'd have been filled with joy.
I was taking my frustrations about the compensation culture we have out on you. Good luck if you do pursue this.

[qapmoc]

Hi Logman, don't take it personally, its just that it worries me when I see the way people in the ''west'' are getting into a way of thinking where they expect everything to be perfect and nobody should die and nothing should go wrong.

It worries me because that attitude assumes why take precautions for myself when somebody else should be doing it, but you know the world is changing, global warming and climate change, running out of oil (sooner than you think), approaching pandemics, terrorism, culture change, etc... etc... and you guys in the west will not be able to adapt fast enough due to reliance on somebody else to solve your problems.

And if the West collapses under something it can't adapt to what will the rest of the world be like??