Pregnant with no heating or hot water.

[Lilbear14]

Hi ladies, just a really quick question as I've searched the net and can't find many answers.
Currently pregnant with two kids youngest being 4.
My boiler has broken and as you can imagine my house is absolutely freezing.
Rung British gas as we are on a home care plan and the next available appointment they have given us us Saturday afternoon/evening!! That will be 4 days in total with nothing. I made it clear that I was really not happy as they usually sent someone out the same day!
I thought it had to be classed as a priority with children but she was dead certain there's nothing they could do.

Actually nearly in tears as it is that cold and I have so much to clean. They've not even offered to bring any form of temporary heating out which they have previously.

Sorry missed out my questions
So are they allowed to leave us so long with nothing?
And if not what the hell do I do? Cus they're not willing to sort owt out over the phone

Sorry, what was the question?

Are you looking for a solution? Do you have a kettle or any hot water bottles? Can you post on Facebook to see if anyone near you has any portable electric heaters? We borrowed six from local people when this happened to us last year (and it was actually our own fault for being without heating rather than it just being an unfortunate incident).

It really isn't that cold at the moment, OP. If it's colder where you are i apologise but it's 7-10 degrees here - it's not like it's minus 10. I don't know the law regarding leaving children without heating but I think the outside temperature would also be relevant.

Not seeing anything obvious online. Personally, I'd be all over their twitter feed asking what they suggest. A bit of public nagging can go a long way.

Are you on their priority services register? The blurb says, "Our Priority Services Register is a free service that lets us know who needs extra help. If you’re a British Gas customer of pensionable age, disabled, chronically sick, or on means tested benefits with children under 5, we want to make sure you’re on our register"

say you smell gas - they come out free of charge to check and will fix it there and then - they have too. Not really the most ideal thing to do but in your situation it might be worth trying x

I don't know what the temperature is outside but my house is absolutely freezing due to hard flooring. And the temperature drops during the night to the point where there is frost on the cars.
My question was regarding to how long they can leave us. Even in summer they've sent someone out within 24 hours. I can boil hot water but it's not exactly ideal for 4 days, especially during the school holidays.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm being dramatic but we are all cold and I'm not exactly thrilled with the situation.

Thank you ladies. I have messaged them on Facebook and asked for their policy regarding children and pregnant women.
I've not gone public with the pregnancy so as of yet can not post anything public.

Do you have an electric shower to get washed, are you boiling water just for washing up!?

I know when my DCs were little they always gave us priority, but we weren't on a special list. That was 10+ years ago though.

Even recently and the kids are too big to count ( ) they usually come out within a couple of days - although they do take longer in the winter/during colder spells as more people use their heating and more break down.

In the past, if they can't fix straight away, they have left electric fan heaters to keep us warm.

try ringing again - you might get a different operator who is more sympathetic.

@Woohoo1 we do have an electric shower so that's not a worry. I'm currently using the dryer to heat the kitchen.
My house isn't very well insulated at all, it's actually just a heap of crap. Never been so excited to move. Kids are all wrapped up. I just know by tomorrow it's going to be so much worse.

I'm usually quite relaxed about this sort of stuff as I know there will be other priorities. But I also know how cold my house can get with no heating after a day or two. Even at this time of year.

@Twinningsloverbutnotanymore
In this instance they would send out national grid for check for gas leaks - if there are none they shut off the gas until supplier can come and sort any other issue.

OP - I get it must be annoying, it is cold and its not an ideal situation. They can probably send people out in the summer quicker as there are less people using the service.

I would ask to borrow some temp heaters from someone - or ring them back and ask. Failing that I would go and get some.
Hot water unless medically necessary isn't an emergency even in the depths of winter - so you will have to boil water in the meantime.

Is there not a family member or friends you can go to for showers etc?

@Seeline I've never had to wait this long. It's usually within 24 hours and I bet I have had to get them out atleast 4 times a year.

The boiler is around 15-16 years old, so it's not exactly brilliant.
My estate agents won't do anything as my landlord has the home care with them.

@OhComeOnRon thank you. I am currently enquiring about some heating for this evening. We are going to my parents for a few hours today just to get out of the house.
My eldest has just been sat with a hair dryer 😂😂

I could have coped with 24-48 hours without. But Saturday just seems a long time to be left.

OP do you have electric blankets on the bed? If not then I would recommend you get a couple and use that heat. There is an initial outlay for the blankets of course but they are very cheap to run (a couple of pennies per night) Snuggle up together and watch lots of movies.

The summer 24 hour thing is because not many people have problems with their boiler in summer as they don't use them much whereas everybody's starting to have them on full time for heating now which is when problems come up - there's only so many staff to go around so very busy time of year. See if you can register with the priority service the above poster mentioned but don't think it will work this time but maybe if it breaks in future. Do you have any neighbours who you could use their showers/baths in the evening? You could explain about the pregnancy. Hot water bottles and extra blankets in beds with the kids. Hot chocolate or a wee cup of soup before bed to warm you up and hot porridge in the morning. Just thinking of what we used to do when my mum had run out of money for heating when we were kids.

Yeah I'm asking my mum to take me to the supermarket for some supplies as my car has broken down aswell! Probably contributing to the massive mood I am in. All comes at once.

During the beast from the east this year they were out within 24 hours then, and I can imagine they were absolutely flooded. I do recall a conversation a few years ago about priority as they asked me a lot of questions regarding the situation I was in.

Last year we went away for a few nights, exact a year ago and it took nearly a day for the house to actually start to heat up.

I've not had to deal with such a long wait before, so it's really really made me panic.

If you are pregnant or have a child under 5 they have to get out to you within 6 hours. Law

@Powerless thank you. I will press on with trying to get someone out asap.

@Powerless
That's not true. I work for a HA and they would class small children in property as an emergency - but the call out is still within 12 hours for most and 24 hours for a particular part of the country.

@OhComeOnRon I'm afraid it is true! Children under 5 - 6 hour priority. I should know!

HA's rarely give a fig about stuff like that!

@Powerless please cite the law you are referring to so op can use it to get help!!

@Powerless - yes please cite this non - existent law.

Seriously - misinformation is no help whatsoever. If you smelled gas I'm sure there may be something in place regarding a call out time - for general boiler breakdown/ no heating there is no such thing.

I was heavily pregnant and had a baby under one when our boiler packed up. British gas sent a guy round urgently and he gave us two electric heaters to keep, as they couldn't fix it until the next day. Ring back and tell them your situation.

This seems a tad dramatic if you have an electric shower TBH.

It's definitely not ideal waiting, and I'd still be hassling them to come quicker if at all possible (and asking if they - or your landlord - can provide electric heaters in the interim) but a few days without heating isn't the end of the world. Wrap the kids up warm and keep them active! Hot water bottles and/or electric blankets at night seems a sensible suggestion.

Our combi boiler broke at Christmas a few years ago - no heating and absolutely no hot water - so I do feel your pain. I hope they have a cancellation and can come sooner, chin up in the meantime!