Energy problems related to bad weather and your rights

 

 

Left out in the cold by your energy company? All you need to know about your rights

It is inevitable that many people will have had problems with their gas or electricity supply.  So, in exceptional circumstances such as with the weather, what are you rights?

When there are really big storms taking out large areas and homes you have to be aware that these are truly out-of-the-ordinary circumstances. Understand that energy companies are not going to be able to get to customers as quickly as they would normally. They have both the significant increase in call outs, but also it is as difficult for their repair people to get to you as anyone else driving. None of us would want someone to risk their life to fix our boiler, I’m sure.

However, companies should be doing all they can. They should have more staff in place during the Winter months and have emergency plans in place to deal with increased enquiries at times like this. You do still have rights and can claim for lack of gas or electricity supply and lack of service.

 

Vulnerable Customers and your rights

Energy customers who are vulnerable (and usually you need to be on the company’s list as such) will take priority for any loss of supply or repair.

If you are struggling to get in contact with your provider, keep a note of all times you called, tried the website etc., as evidence to use in a complaint at a later date.

Your rights when there is a cut in your electricity supply

In the case of a cut in your gas or electricity supply, it is your distributor, not the supplier, who is responsible. You can find out who your gas transporter is here and electricity supplier here. Complain to them if necessary.

In the event of an unplanned power cut you are entitled to set amounts of compensation. For electricity this varies depending upon the number of homes affected, how long you are without supply and how Ofgem categorises the storm.

From the Ofgem website:
Service Guaranteed Standards payment
Supply restoration: severe weather
The time you are off supply before being able to claim varies according to severity of storm. This is because
the companies will have more work to do to fix faults.

Storm category 1: After 24 hours.
Storm category 2: After 48 hours.
£70 for domestic and non-domestic customers.

A further £70 will be paid for each additional period of 12 hours in which supply is not restored, up to a cap
of £700 in total.

This applies to both storm category 1 and storm category 2.

You must claim within 3 months for an unplanned cut and 1 month for a planned cut where your electricity network operator didn’t give you 2 days’ notice.

 

Your rights when there is a cut in your gas supply

For gas you will be paid £60 plus £60 for each 24-hour period without gas. See 1 little Known Fact You Need to Know When Your Gas is Cut Off!

If you are on the Priority Services Register or a cut was due to bad weather you SHOULD get the payment automatically. Keep an eye out though and claim if you don’t receive it.

You should be paid within 10 days of the end of the power supply cut if automatic and within 10 days from any claim. If not, make sure you get the extra £40 entitlement for that breach of the Standards.

Further information about power cuts

More on  power cuts (e.g. multiple cuts) can be found on Ofgem Know Your Rights Power Cuts page.

Also useful to know… if you have more than 4 power cuts in one year you are entitled to £75. (The year runs from  01 April to 31 March).

Get compensation for a supply issue | Ofgem

 

 

Update December 2022 from Ofgem regarding compensation payments

I asked Ofgem some questions about these amounts. It gave this statement.

“The current compensation amounts were set in 2015, and we have just completed a review to bring them up to date

Last month we published a report reviewing the compensation arrangements and we have started to implement the review’s recommendations: : https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/review-severe-weather-compensation-arrangements-electricity-customers.

What’s changing because of the review

As a result of the review, we will be making changes to the following arrangements:

• impacted customers will be entitled to £80 ( instead of £70) if their power is not restored within 24 hours for a category 1 storm and 48 hours for category 2;
• we will be reducing the time interval customers have to wait before they’re eligible for additional compensation payments from 12 to 6 hours, with the compensation payable halved for each individual payment interval;
• The maximum amount of compensation a customer is entitled to receive for a single power cut will increase from £700 to £2000, this is the same for both domestic and non-domestic customers.

Voluntarily implementation while we update the regulations

We are currently in the process of making the necessary changes to the relevant regulations, which we envisage will come into effect spring 2023.

To manage the risk that consumers may be affected by outages, before the amendments to the regulations can come into effect, we published an open letter alongside the report, instructing the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), to voluntarily implement the report’s recommendations from now until such time as the amended regulations come into effect. This includes the arrangements described above which are designed to ensure customers are adequately compensated.”

Energy companies and customer services

Energy companies are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and so you are entitled to services to be carried out with reasonable skill and care.

Cold weather payment

This is different to the Winter fuel payment. If you receive certain benefits and the temperature was forecast to be or is zero degree celsius or below for seven consecutive days you will receive £25 for each 7 day period between 1 November and 31 March. You can check if you are eligible and whether you will receive the payment (you do not need to claim it will be automatic) on the Government Cold Weather Payments page. Details for how to claim if not received are also on the site.

Boiler and heater breakdowns and cover

You will need to check your policy. But in general if the company has been unable to undertake the repair you should be able to employ another tradesperson to do the work. British Gas for example has said that “some Homecare polices will cover reimbursement for work we are not able to do which is then done by a third party, if the work is covered by the policy. Customers should check their policy if they wish to claim for a reimbursement. They will need a VAT invoice from their tradesman in order to claim.”  When SE leaves your elderly aunt without adequate heating for 11 days…  tells the story of what I did to claim when they did that to my aunt!

Other help with complaining to get refunds

See Ofgem Standards of Conduct and Quality Standards for what you should be able to expect from your supplier. If it fails to meet the level of service required it must make a compensation payment. However, note that they do not need to do this if severe weather makes it impossible to restore the supply. See above for this.

All you need to know to make a complaint about energy provides more information, including how to complain when a provider leaves a vulnerable customer without supply, about bills and how best to prepare a case for the Energy Ombudsman. See Top 20 Tips How to Complain! should you need to start getting your case together!

Left out in the cold by a rail company? Your rights if you have been affected by train delays or cancellations.

Your rights if your water supply has been interrupted.

 

GET THE BOOK! How To Complain: The ESSENTIAL Consumer Guide to Getting REFUNDS, Redress and RESULTS!