Left to freeze!!!

[OneBrightAzureBiscuit]

Hi, hope you all well. I just need some advice please. So me and my partner have a gas card for gas , same for electric. Anyways, our gas card broke and apparently an engineer was meant to come out for like 4 days. Anyways, we called them tonight after I had a massive asthma attack due to the freezing cold in the flat & the woman on the line said nothing could be done tonight. Yet the helpline is 24/7?

we are absolutely freezing in the flat- we have no heating or hot water BUT we have electric cos it’s a separate mains or something like that? So we do have a kettle, lights, oven etc.
just looking for advice on what to do and tips for staying warm immediately tonight. British Gas won’t help us at all, surely they have some sort of duty of care? The woman sounded shocked when we told her it’s been 4 days with no heat but yet wouldn’t help us. Any tips please?
we have been layering with blankets and drinking coffee&soup x

When I worked in convenience we used to have blank electric keys and gas cards that the companies could activate by giving customers a code. I don't know if it's the same now but they could be used through pay point.

Can't you go to argos and buy a fan heater? Move it round house as needed? You can get one for less than £20

We had no heating recently for 2 weeks thankfully it was before this cold snap but our house was down to 11 degrees inside on the last day we just stuck largely to one room, heated bedrooms before bed and wore layers.

Not up to the landlord at all.

A plug in portable radiator

British Gas have instructions on what to do on their website:

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/meters/getting-a-new-card-or-key-for-your-meter

Whoever you spoke to on the phone should have been able to tell you that, ideally 4 days ago, instead of booking an engineer 🤔

Is your meter a smart meter or a “traditional” meter? And did they say why an engineer is needed?

are you calling the general number or the “off supply” helpline number?

for gas you will need to manually re-enable the supply, it won’t just come back on because you have topped it up. British Gas should have instructions on their website or have a team who can talk you through it.

unfortunately the out of hours teams often don’t have a clue how to help and they don’t have engineers available in the night. They do indeed have a duty of care, as you’ve had health issues as a result of this you should speak to them about whether prepayment is safe for your gas supply.

for keeping warm I’d suggest finding somewhere else to go if you can.

Have you asked for a replacement card?

You can top up over the phone with the number on your card, unless you threw it away. You must have a letter or something somewhere with it on.

I've got a card to top up but never used it as I top up on the website. I presume British gas is the same.

You saw the forecast, did you not think to get a cheap electric heater?

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/meters/help-with-smart-pay-as-you-go

We bought one when our boiler broke, it did the trick really well. Have since lent it to neighbours in similar predicaments, if you have a local WhatsApp or similar it might be worth asking if anyone has a loaner.

British Gas used to leave fan heaters with the customer in such cases, at least they did about ten years ago.
@OneBrightAzureBiscuit , if you have to buy one, I'd go with a small oil-filled radiator with a thermostat as these are less noisy and bright than other heaters so you can run them overnight.

There is supposed to be a list of vulnerable customers who get priority, I believe. Maybe worth phoning back and pointing out your health issue?

Can you type the top up code into the metre without your card?

I realise that people are trying to help by suggesting that the OP buy a cheap heater, but when money is tight, a "cheap" heater isn't that cheap.

If you have asthma that is impacted by cold you could probably register as a vulnerable customer which I think sounds like it would be worthwhile. Might not solve it this time but with a try as they have a duty of care.

@OneBrightAzureBiscuit watch out your pipes don't freeze if the heating has been off all this time in the cold weather.

Lots of places like libraries are open longer hours & at the weekends that offer a 'warm room'. These are advertised on fb or via your local council.

I would be thinking of staying at work for longer, asking someone if I could stay a couple of nights.
Can you get a cheap electric heater, or borow one? I have a humidifier that heats the air a bit with hot steam but dont think that is a good idea in the UK.
Apart from that, winter clothing, a hat, hot drinks, soups, various heat pack /salt heaters, buckwheat pads /can be heated in microwave/.

Yes - or even use the phone top up number and type in gas card number.

OP you need to find some sort of electric or oil heater for the air - I also have asthma and the cold air is the biggest trigger. It is life-threatening for you. I am sorry I can't help with what to do with BG - but you need to urgently find something to heat the air in the room, even a small room that you can be in.

Just another point about fan heaters that comes to mind: oil filled radiators are generally better for people with asthma because sometimes fan heaters can swirl dust around and trigger an attack- but they're still better than nothing of that's the only choice, obviously. And of course it depends on what triggers your asthma but that was the case for me.

As PPs have said -
Fanheaters from Argos - pick up or same day delivery. Take the edge off the cold air.

If you're renting, get in touch with your estate agent. They sometimes have electric heaters they can let you use.

Or, if you have the money, buy an electric heater. The ones that blow out heated air are good, they can keep a room good and warm.

But as pp said, oil filled are also good and will be quiet if you want to use them at night.

It's not a "white lie" though is it? It just means that the OP and her partner displace some truly vulnerable person in the queue.

Shocking. We put up with too much shite in this country. I have a friend from the destitute country in Eastern Europe, now part of the EU - she told me stuff I find amazing - gas and electricity engineers who attend 24/7 and fix things, which is part of their council block (!!!) maintenance procedure, doctor (!!!!!) staffed ambulances which arrive within 7 minutes of your call when you feel unwell (not dying) and kindergartens where every child has their own bed for a midday nap and language lessons. She went back after 15 years in the UK, despite her salary being x10 times in the UK. It was things like the OP posted about, that broke her and she is a tough woman. She said 'everything here is a performance, because you are too nice, you don't demand things to be done properly'.

Is there something wrong with your gas meter? I don't understand why an engineer is required to replace a card. Blow/fan heaters and oil radiators are good. We keep a number of these for emergencies. The fan heaters are very drying but they're fast and cheap.

She has asthma, she is vulnerable!