Powercut, who is liable for damage?

[papercut2008uk]

we had a power cut recently, but nothing was damaged, but i'm just wondering, as i have read that you can claim for damage if anything is damaged in a power cut.

 

so if any of your electronics, say computer or monitor, are damaged due to a power cut, who is liable for the damage? who do you contact? what's the process?? 

 

[The Evil Overlord]

I believe in the uk that applies to food kept in fridges/freezers and the power's out for more than 24 hours, and only covers the food

I could be wrong

[leesmithg]

I beleive a HDD I had become damaged because of various outages where I live.

Proving it is the thing.

I had it for around 6 months, so I just returned it back to amazon.co.uk and got a new one.

Food, around 1992 this happened on boxing day to use.

it was the land lord that was liable as it was a problem with the wiring.

That was a real pain getting money back.

I suggest taking out freezer insurance and keeping fingers crossed.

Trying to get money out of landlords is dam had and takes time.

[GrayW]

Now it's these sorts of questions that really make me loose my faith in humanity. And before I go anywhere with this, it is not a personal attack against you papercut2008uk, just my view on the whole "who can give me money" attitude of people.

 

You ask the question who is liable? Why on earth should someone else be liable, why don't you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself from power outages? There are options and alternative methods of power such as UPS or Generators to provide back up power. How about using Surge Protection sockets that will lessen the risk of damage to your electronics?

Why is it always someone else's fault, why do people take no responsibility?

 

Warning, ###### awful analogy incoming:

The "Einstein" of today would probably sue his own family for letting the apple drop on his head rather than it prompting him to spend time and effort researching something and coming up with a constructive solution.

 

If you are scared of loosing food during an outage then how about hooking a refrigerator up to sockets that are powered by Solar Panels?

 

I live in Wales which doesn't have the most reliable of services (trees hang over power lines, phone lines etc.). Over a short period of time at my Dad's we put in a hefty UPS with a crap tonne of batteries in the cellar which can keep most things in the house running for a couple of days when the power go's out... Problem solved, no food lost, no damaged electronics and everything returns to normal once the power comes back on.

 

/rant 

 

Like I said, not a personal attack at all and was not aimed at you papercut, just a general rant :)

[spikey_richie]

I agree to some extent Greyski, but if your energy provider is giving you such a bad service that you have to buy generators or UPS's, then you have a bigger problem... Power cuts are a fact of modern life, but why should home consumers implement such extreme measures to protect their supply? Yes, if I was running a data centre from my garage I'd get a big UPS and jenny, but I wouldn't do the same to protect my fridge freezer etc...

[game_over]

We had a power cut last week, it knocked out 55,000 homes and businesses.

 

When we got power back (about 10 mins later) one of our switches was dead leaving one part of the building without internet r network access.. The overall cost for replacement is going to be around ?1000, i don't think we can claim it.

[GrayW]

I agree to some extent Greyski,

 

I admit that certainly some solutions are a bit overkill such as the one I mentioned.

 

Glad at least 1 person understood where I was trying to go with that anyway :D

[Vykranth]

Now it's these sorts of questions that really make me loose my faith in humanity. And before I go anywhere with this, it is not a personal attack against you papercut2008uk, just my view on the whole "who can give me money" attitude of people.

 

You ask the question who is liable? Why on earth should someone else be liable, why don't you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself from power outages? There are options and alternative methods of power such as UPS or Generators to provide back up power. How about using Surge Protection sockets that will lessen the risk of damage to your electronics?

Why is it always someone else's fault, why do people take no responsibility?

 

The answer is simple: not everything is the responsibility of the person.

 

There is a problem of contract and engagement to provide services. I do not know about the U.K. system works but, at least in France, the energy providers are required by law and contracts to provide currents which voltage is 220 more or less 10%.

But this is a requirement that stops at the electrical power meter.

After that, it is the responsibility of the owner to ensure that the house electrical installation is properly built, respects the norms, ...

 

Regarding the power cuts, it depends on where the problems occurs.

- if this happens because of the house electrical installation, then this is the responsibility of the house owner, oneself or the landlord. Again, I do not know how the U.K. system works but if you rent a house, you cannot do certain works in the house without the owner agreement. Some other are required to be done by the person living in the house regardless of the ownership of the house.

- if this happens because of an obsolete electrical system bringing electricity, the company is responsible for this.

I remember when I was in London in 1995, a severe water shortage was occurring during the summer and a lot of people were angry at the private companies managing that because they did not do any work regarding leakage.

And apparently, it continued for quite some time: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/shortage-of-london-water-in-10-years-7182626.html. That was in 2005, I hope that they

 

 

we had a power cut recently, but nothing was damaged, but i'm just wondering, as i have read that you can claim for damage if anything is damaged in a power cut.

 

so if any of your electronics, say computer or monitor, are damaged due to a power cut, who is liable for the damage? who do you contact? what's the process?? 

 

My first reflex would be to check if you have an insurance contract and see what damage are covered.

[Dick Montage]

Home contents insurance (if you have a good policy) covers food in these situations.  However, expect to see premiums rise if you claim.

[Brian M. Veteran]

This is why you have insurance.

 

You will find, in your contract, that your energy supplier is under no obligation to actually provide a service. There are get out clauses for this exact thing. If you have home/business insurance, you can usually always claim on that. We did a couple of years ago - not for a power cut but for a faulty appliance - our freezer decided to pack in whilst we were on holiday. It defrosted, ruining about ?250 worth of food that was in there, and leaked rotting the skirting boards, staining carpet in the next room, and generally causing crap.

 

Home insurance sent someone around, had the manufacturer verify the fault, then paid for the food, and the bits of work that needed to be done. Our policy also didn't go up - although that may be because we've been with the same company for years, so they tend to be a bit more lenient when it comes to renewals (we've had a couple of minor claims (iron falling on carpet, tv falling off stand) and never had a price increase).

[Dick Montage]

Home insurance sent someone around, had the manufacturer verify the fault, then paid for the food, and the bits of work that needed to be done. Our policy also didn't go up - although that may be because we've been with the same company for years, so they tend to be a bit more lenient when it comes to renewals (we've had a couple of minor claims (iron falling on carpet, tv falling off stand) and never had a price increase.

 

Is it just me, but you have opened 2 parenthesis, and only closed one.  OCD - but that ###### will bug me until it's closed :(

[Brian M. Veteran]

Is it just me, but you have opened 2 parenthesis, and only closed one.  OCD - but that **** will bug me until it's closed :(

I see nothing :P

[+Zlip792 MVC]

LOL!! I am pretty amused at your response.

In Pakistan, we daily have 12+ hours loadshedding and we have our own backup solutions like UPS and Generators and our electric supply company can't be liable for anything or any damage due to power loss.

[Haggis Veteran]

I have a Belkin Surge Protecter

 

If a device gets damaged by a surge etc which would effectively happen in a power cut you can claim back up to a certain limit

 

its a good product though and have never had to use the claim form

 

this is the one i have i bought it about 10 years ago though and it was around ?40 then it covers devices up to ?175k

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Surge-Master%C2%AE-8-Way-Protection/dp/B00009RIP8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373625821&sr=8-2&keywords=belkin+surge+protector

[HawkMan]

I don't think you can get anything for a powercut, even un-anounced ones. 

 

however, if there's other faults on the line like power surges or such, you can get it reclaimed from the power company. generally you're supposed to use insurance though. but sometimes the value of the broken stuff is to low for insurance to be worth it, then you can claim directly from the power company. When you use insurance they will claim back from the power company instead. 

[Hum]

What about the emotional damage I may suffer when I can't get on Neowin ... :/

[The Evil Overlord]

What about the emotional damage I may suffer when I can't get on Neowin ... :/

You mean the return to normality, right?

[roguekiller23231]

I have a Belkin Surge Protecter

 

If a device gets damaged by a surge etc which would effectively happen in a power cut you can claim back up to a certain limit

 

its a good product though and have never had to use the claim form

 

this is the one i have i bought it about 10 years ago though and it was around ?40 then it covers devices up to ?175k

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Surge-Master%C2%AE-8-Way-Protection/dp/B00009RIP8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373625821&sr=8-2&keywords=belkin+surge+protector

 

i believe your are no longer covered if you have had it for 10 years, if you check manufacturer websites (which i haven't), surge protectors usually only cover damage costs for a few years after purchase.

[Edrick Smith]

i believe your are no longer covered if you have had it for 10 years, if you check manufacturer websites (which i haven't), surge protectors usually only cover damage costs for a few years after purchase.

They come with a "lifetime" guarantee usually, although some I feel I've seen 10 year. The one he posted is lifetime however 

[jerzdawg]

Warning, **** awful analogy incoming:

The "Einstein" of today would probably sue his own family for letting the apple drop on his head rather than it prompting him to spend time and effort researching something and coming up with a constructive solution.

Did you mean to say Newton instead of Einstein?

[roguekiller23231]

lifetime guarantee on the product, not the coverage should equipment get damaged. 

 

i remember when i registered mine, which most require you to do, registration of the product within a 2 weeks of purchase, and they tell you how long you are covered for, you also have to keep the original proof of purchase to make a claim. 

 

Most equipment will not get damaged anyway unless it's a cheap product. in the event of a power cut, most electronics will not get damaged from the power cut, but sometimes from the surge when it is turned back on. i usually turn off from the socket if there is a power cut.

[HawkMan]

They come with a "lifetime" guarantee usually, although some I feel I've seen 10 year. The one he posted is lifetime however

Lifetime rarely if ever means "your" lifetime and is usually a fancy word for more than regulated minimum.

[Arachno 1D]

You should check your power suppliers small print but they may deny liability when informed of any faulty equipment damaged by the supply.Ergo the small claims court may be your last port of call if your house insurance doesnt cover it.

[leesmithg]

I believe in the uk that applies to food kept in fridges/freezers and the power's out for more than 24 hours, and only covers the food

I could be wrong

In the U.K. utility companies don't give a hoot.

They charge far too much to appease their share holders (the rich and wealthy).

When their function goes ######'s up they insist it is your fault and you should have insurance.

My hybrid drive went from 100% to 70% after a power cut where I live for a few hours.

Luckily it was still under warranty and I sent it back for a replacement from amazon.co.uk

Where I live also, they don't give you notice by someone knocking on doors or a circualar giving prior warning lets say:

''on Friday November 1st 2013 at 14:00-15:30 the power will be closed down in your area for a needed repair''

sent a week before.

They just flick the switch.

[cooky560 Veteran]

While in theory you can complain to the power companies about poor QoS, as leesmithg says, in practice they don't care and its quickly apparent that any contracts you have apply to you but not to them.