Boiler damaged by meter installers error!

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I have been to inspect a newish boiler which has had the PCB damaged by a mains surge. This blew apart the surge supressor on the board.

The block had been converted into three flats and the electricity supplier was fitting three seperate meters for the three flats.

Somehow they managed to connect two phases across the supply to the flats and applying 315 vac to a surge supressor rated at 275 VAC immediately caused it to go s/c. A computer in another flat was also damaged.

I would have expected the correct procedure would have been to disconnect each flat, do the wiring and test before applying power to each flat. Obviously they did not follow that procedure correctly.

What procedure should the flat owner/occupiers follow to claim compensation for the damage caused ?

Tony
 
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Write a polite but stern letter to the DNO asking for re-imbursement for any property damaged, and explaining it was their fault? Seems the first course of action i think.
 
Crafty is absolutely correct, but I'd add the following. The owner occupiers are the ones who should write as they are the ons who sufferred the loss, the letter should include a report from someone qualified (presumably your goodself) to show why it is the supplier who are at fault.

Reimbursement should be sought for

a) the value of any equipment damaged by their mistake (e.g. the boiler and PC)
b) the cost of rectifying the mistake and it's effects (or putting it right themselves)
c) any consequential loss (having to take time off work etc)
d) (a little bit) on top for time and trouble etc

in monetary terms this doesn't sound a huge claim so I'd be surprised if they fight it very much as long as no-one try to take the P and claim for a new 50" plasma tv !

p.s. after learning so much on here it's nice to able to post a reply about something I'M actually legally qualified to answer ! :D

So any more Q's, I'm happy to help.
 
The only thing that concerns me is that this should never have occured if the correct work practices had been followed.

The natural reaction would be to say their employees/contractors are whiter than white and never make mistakes.

Since the mis connection has been corrected I can only show the damage that it has done to the boiler.

The cost is going to be less than £300 for the boiler. I dont know about the PC that was only something I found out about when chatting to the other tennant.

Tony
 
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I take your point, and with hindsight (a wonderful thing), a photo would have helped, but as a qualified electrician of good standing why would you lie. The whole claims industry is based upon expert reports, you very rarely get to see what actually caused the damage as it's more often than not damaged beyond recognition itself.

You have the damaged PCB to back up your statement, and you can hardly have been expected to leave things the way they were if (as it sounds) there was a potential safety hazard.

If as you say the bill will be in the 100's or even low 1,000's it would cost them more to argue the point, I doubt they will try too hard.

They may even try to do it as a sort of 'goodwill' payment where they pay up without admitting liability, but as long as everything gets put right and no-one loses out financially, does anyone care ?
 
hopefully with the PC just the PSU will have been fried which should make it pretty cheap to fix. OTOH if it was a ****ty PSU and the voltage spike somehow made it over to the low voltage side it could be a matter of a complete replacement.
 
plugwash said:
OTOH if it was a s PSU and the voltage spike somehow made it over to the low voltage side it could be a matter of a complete replacement.

No so simple.

If the neutral was replaced by a phase then it is possible that on a PME supply the DNO "earth" was to moved to a phase as well.

This could mean equipment with ciruits connected to remote equipment with a still grounded earth may suffer damage on those circuits. Damage may not be fatal at the time but weakened components may fail later in normal use.
 
true but i belive modems (whether dialup or dsl) are supposed to have pretty high levels of isolation as well so its fairly unlikely that anything non isolated from the PC would connect to the outside world.
 
LondonRay said:
I take your point, and with hindsight (a wonderful thing), a photo would have helped, but as a qualified electrician of good standing why would you lie. The whole claims industry is based upon expert reports, you very rarely get to see what actually caused the damage as it's more often than not damaged beyond recognition itself.

You have the damaged PCB to back up your statement, and you can hardly have been expected to leave things the way they were if (as it sounds) there was a potential safety hazard.

A photo of what did you mean?

It could have been left as it was as the two fuses were both blown but then the tenany would have had no hot water. I actually disconnected the failed surge arrester and left it working for the tenant. With the benefit of hindsight that would have got us a payment quicker but I was being too helpful to the tenant!

Its a bit more complicated because I have still got to persuade the Landlord to pay us and to pay for the PCB to be replaced.

Tony
 
£300 to replace a surge arrester seems rather steep.......
 
OK sorry I misunderstood a bit, the damage was caused by something they did in the process of fitting new meters not something they left in place you had to correct. (this is why I don't touch electrics !)

It still comes down to the same thing... an expert opinion, you seem quite sure that is was the supplier's staff at fault so write your reasoning in the 'report' and if there's no other 'more likely' explanation I still think the tenants have a good case that should go through. These things are based on civil law and go by what is most likely, not what is beyond all reasonable doubt.
 
Sorry of course its 415vac, mistype/think.

The surge arrester is soldered on the boiler PCB and on a warrantee boiler I can only replace the whole PCB which is about £170 at the trade price.

Our diagnostic fee is £84 and we would charge an extra £35 for a presentable report for third party use coming to a total of £289 if we dont charge for the two 20 mm fuses we replaced.

Tony
 
Well, the firm that caused the damage has already sorted out the PC and are falling over themselves to pay for the boiler repair!

Perhaps they are dead scared of losing their sub-contractor work for the REC? Or perhaps they fully accept their mistake?

Suffice to say they did not want anything in writing and are very keen to make the payment, at first suggesting they drive across London with cash the next day!!!

I am impressed!

Tony
 
sounds very much like they want to keep this off the record ;)

I bet dnos really don't like screwups like this, can you imagine if it had been a whole street or if someone had got a shock between a live PME "earth" and real earth? I suspect if news of this were to reach people with a clue in the DNO it could do real damage to thier buisness.
 

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