Thousands of households entitled to £150 due to power cuts - how to claim
THOUSANDS of households are entitled to an additional £150 compensation for being left in darkness for more than 48 hours following Storm Arwen.
BBC Breakfast: Lights cut during interview due to Storm Arwen
This boost with be given right Christmas to help affected families. Throughout the UK thousands were left without power for days and they are set to receive hundreds more in compensation as the storm brutally affected the Scottish Power (SP) network over the weekend.
Houses and businesses across the UK were plunged into darkness and left without electricity for long periods. Scottish Power chiefs, SP Energy Networks, have announced they are giving an additional £150 per household, to those off for more than 48 hours, as an apology for the disruption caused.
The £150 payment will be in addition to the statutory compensation and paid ‘proactively’ to around 8,000 customers before Christmas.
SP Energy Networks said the ‘goodwill sum' will be added to the standard compensation which homes effected by blackouts already receive.
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Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services warned that the southwest of England may be "the main reciever of this by way of southwesterly winds and southeasterly winds."
He said: "The high winds will start to be felt in Ireland first.
"It becomes cyclonic between Cornwall and the South East of Ireland and Northern Cornwall. From there, it's probably going to France and start to decay. It could, however, go through Northern Ireland and into wales, which could be more damaging. At the moment, it seems as though it will affect Southern Ireland, south-west Wales, south-west England certainly and probably the Brest Peninsula in France."
Residents have three months to claim compensation. Citizens Advice have said that if people are on their supplier's priority services register, compensation will be paid automatically for a power cut.
“We apologise again to everyone affected by the damage to the power network caused by the storm. The devastation right across the communities we serve from Fife, Lothian & Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Cheshire, North & Mid Wales from north easterly wind speeds of up to 97mph, was far greater than we have seen for at least 25 years.
“Our full resources were deployed to make repairs, with a team with a team of 1,000 staff involved in emergency action and direct field response, also supported by our customer service teams managing calls and customers in our service centres."
Mr Mitchell said engineers had worked daily "from first light until the small hours" to make repairs as quickly and as safely as they could.
He continued: “While our early storm response was hampered by road access due to fallen trees and significant storm debris. We’ve had boots on the ground across our operating area endeavouring to get customers back on supply as quickly and as safely as possible.
“I hope our customers can accept this additional gesture of goodwill, which will be made available before Christmas. I’d personally like to thank everyone again for bearing with us at what has been a very challenging time.”
Storm Arwen has caused some of the worst damage the energy infrastructure company’s network has experienced in over 25 years.
Many properties in the region were left without power following the storm and their teams have been working tirelessly to restore power to 200,000 households in the UK impacted, connecting 88 percent of people in the first 24 hours following the storm and 96 percent within 48 hours.
As a Category 2 storm, SP Energy Network customers are entitled to statutory payments are £70 for domestic and commercial properties which were off supply for more than 48 hours, and £70 for every additional 12 hours up to a maximum payment of £700.
The £150 refund will be made directly to around 8,000 households, before Christmas, which were off supply for more than two days, with the Guaranteed Standard Payment being paid in due course.
Each household affected is entitled to:
- Two days off (48 hours): GSP £70; SPEN goodwill £150; total £220
- Three days off (72 hours); GSP £210; SPEN goodwill £150; total £360
- Four days off (96 hours): GSP £350; SPEN goodwill £150; total £500
- Five days off (120 hours): GSP £490; SPEN goodwill £150; total £640
- Six days off (144 hours): GSP £630; SPEN goodwill £150; total £780