MSE News: UK storms

A question about : MSE News: UK storms

Storms across the UK are damaging homes and causing Christmas travel chaos, with thousands without electricity and many left facing long waits for trains and planes...

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UK storms - Your home insurance and travel delay rights

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• MSE says "My power's been cut, am I entitled to any compensation?
  If severe weather means you're without electricity for 24 hours continuously (48 hours in some cases), you're entitled to Ј27 compensation plus a further Ј27 for each additional 12-hour continuous outage.
  You need to claim from your electricity distributor, which is different from the firm you pay your bills to. To find yours, see the Energy Networks Association website. "
  On the BBC news 24 earlier today it said Ј25 for the first 12 hours and Ј25 each 12 hours afterwards up to Ј200. ( I think - it was a quick flash of a page )
  We were off 3 days -Xmas eve from the night before, Xmas day and boxing day. It was a grim cold Christmas spent watching the freezer food defrost!
  Apparently the supplier for Kent gave free Xmas dinners in hotels or restaurants up to Ј70 a head for the chosen few hundred, but not us. We ate ritz biscuits, crisps and bananas.
  Happy New Year!!
• Just read this on BBC site
  "
  UK Power Networks (UKPN), which owns electricity lines and cables in London, the South East and East of England, said it will almost triple its compensation for those affected by long-term power cuts.
  It said power was initially interrupted to more than 300,000 customers when high winds struck on Tuesday night.
  On Saturday morning it said 663 properties in Kent, 97 in Surrey and 326 in Sussex were still without power.
  The company said that as a "gesture of goodwill" it would raise the industry-standard payment from Ј27 to Ј75 for people without power for 48-60 hours including Christmas Day.
  It said additional payments will be made to customers who have been without electricity for longer than that time - up to a maximum of Ј432."
• My train lines were disrupted and suffered with cancellations on the Monday 23rd December. I booked my ticket with this website a few days before totalling Ј19 odd. I am disabled and did not wish to get stranded and Greater Anglia said they were giving full refunds due to the severe disruption and cancellations. Redspottedhanky said they would refund me minus Ј10 admin charge (over half the fare). When I checked their Ts and Cs they said I was entitled to a full refund when there were delays and cancellations (I took a screen shot) if I provided a letter from the train operator (which I did). There was no mention of a Ј10 fee. When I called them back they said they didn't know anything about this. I told them I had taken a screen shot to prove they had said FULL refund with no mention of this Ј10 deduction. I mentioned that Greater Anglia were offering full refunds due to the circumstances. They agreed and I provided them with a confirmation letter from greater Anglia. Yesterday I had to phone them again as I still had not received my refund. Today they emailed to say they had refunded me minus Ј10!!! Does anyone know what I should do because they look like they have changed the info on their website today although I still have original screen shot. Greater Anglia say they are constantly receiving complaints about this company and they are always trying to avoid paying refunds.
• good luck, maybe watchdog or some such are reading this.
• Hi. On Christmas Eve, we had 6 tickets for a show in London booked via Ticketmaster. All trains to London were suspended due to storm damage. I have a refund being processed by Southern for the rail tickets, but as the show was not cancelled do not appear eligible for a refund on the theatre tickets via Ticketmaster or Visa. I am resigned to the fact that I have probably lost my money but is there anything I can do? Thank you very much.
• We had no electricity from 2 a.m. 24/12/13 to 10 p.m. 28/12/13 and then only got a temporary repair until 6th Jan.
  We claimed the compensation advertised and UK power networks sent a cheque which was Ј21 less than they had said they would pay - please check if you are due compensation. They tried to say that the Ј75 for the first 48 hours was only if you were off for ONLY Christmas day, which is rubbish. They said their letters of intent did not make it clear what they meant - too right they didn`t!! We threatened to take them to court and they said they would send the Ј21 they already owe us.
  We are asking for more compensation because of the dreadful way they dealt with us. We are pensioners, had no light, no heat, no sanitation (we have a private sanitation unit which runs on electricity). They denied us a portaloo, a generator, or any means of getting what we needed. We had a live cable on our land for two weeks, and were featured on ITV meridian because of our plight. They have sent us just over Ј300 for the whole episode which is ridiculous. But even if that did not happen to you, be aware they are trying to cheat you out of what you are entitled to.
• I haven't had a payment from them yet but the email they sent me said
  ....."In recognition of the impact this will have had over the festive season, we have decided to increase the statutory payments applicable in severe weather events to all customers who were without a continuous electricity supply for 48 hours or more. The normal payment is Ј27 but we double that payment to Ј54. If you were without power on Christmas day we will increase this payment to Ј75. If you were without power for longer you will be entitled to a further payment for each 12 hour period thereafter."
  As our compulsory excess on freezer spoilage is Ј75 whatever they send will be a farce. We are rural and saw no sight of any engineer whatsoever until ten minutes before the power went back on. And an hour before that someone phoned to say we were back on - but we weren't - my husband told them to check the trip switch on the pole near us.
  Constant references to other families getting assistance and free meals really winds me up because we could have been dead for all they cared. No one in this area has gas, so needed electricity for heat, oil boilers etc, yet they announced they would deal with areas of largest population first, not villages like ours with 250 people who were ignored. Grr.
  My husband says "nationalisation without compensation" lol
• "Floods across parts of England have left many counting the cost of damage and needing to claim on their insurance..."
  Read the full story:
  Been affected by flooding? Tips for claiming on insurance
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