Family left out in the cold by Warm Front
Mar 28 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
AN ELDERLY couple with a severely disabled daughter have been living without hot water or central heating for a month because of a protracted wrangle in getting their home connected to the mains gas network.
Donald and Christina Coates say they are running up costly electricity bills to pay for emergency heating, and have had to find weekend respite care for their daughter Beverley, 47, because of the problems with keeping their bungalow warm.
They have been without hot water and unable to heat their radiators since their oil-fired boiler burst and was irreparably damaged four weeks ago – and have been told it could be another eight weeks before the situation is resolved
Donald, 74, and Christina, 72, could solve the problem by buying and installing a new gas-fired boiler and run it off gas cylinders until their home in Widdrington Station, Northumberland, is eventually connected to the village’s new gas supply.
However, that would mean them missing out on a £2,700 grant they have been awarded to cover the cost of the new boiler and gas connection – because it cannot be paid retrospectively.
Yesterday, the couple said they feel they have been messed about by a range of agencies since they were first offered the prospect of a gas supply to their home in October 2006.
They took up the gas option and later applied for a grant from the Government-backed Warm Front scheme towards the cost of installing a new boiler and getting connected to the mains supply. They were awarded £2,700 because of their age and Beverley’s disabilities, which mean she is virtually confined to a wheelchair and requires constant care.
The new mains gas supply to Widdrington Station has been dogged by delays, so when their oil-fired system packed in a month ago the couple asked if they could have the gas boiler installed immediately and run it from cylinders until the connection work was completed.
But they were told by Warm Front that this was not possible because the rules of the grant scheme did not allow it, leaving them with a choice of paying for the work themselves and missing out on the £2,700 grant or staying as they are until the mains gas is connected.
Yesterday, Donald, a retired process worker at the Alcan smelter in Lynemouth, said: “This is a one-off emergency to us which came out of the blue. The whole job was supposed to have been completed by December, but now we have been told it could be another eight weeks before we are connected to the gas.
“We have been messed about for so long, but while we had the oil-fired heating it didn’t really matter. Now that we have lost our central heating and hot water it is terrible. All they need to do is come and put our new gas boiler in and let us run it off bottles in the meantime.
“We are just going to have to sit it out and wait or fork out and pay for a new gas boiler ourselves and miss out on the grant we are entitled to.”
Christina added: “It is costing a fortune in electricity to run the oil-filled heaters we are using at the moment and it is cold at night if we have to get up to see to Beverley. We don’t feel as though anyone is helping us through this.”
Last night, Rik Kendal, a spokesman for energy efficiency company eaga plc, which manages the Warm Front grants scheme on behalf of the Government, promised to review the couple’s situation. “This is a Government-funded scheme involving taxpayers’ money to help people on benefits, so there are rules and restrictions on how it can be spent. We told Mr Coates we were unable to do the temporary solution he was asking for, but we have offered him temporary electric heating in the meantime.
“However, there are clearly mitigating and unusual circumstances here, so we are going to go back to the customer and will do a survey on this option he wants as a temporary measure.”
Comment: Page 10
