A mum-of-three claims her house has been ruined just before Christmas after British Gas botched the installation of a heating tank cylinder.
Emma Garner says that engineers from the firm came to her Withington townhouse on Thursday December 9 to replace the cylinder after the original had a ‘very, very slow leak’.
However, in the process of installing the custom-made replacement part, Emma says the engineers caused a leak in her loft, the MEN reports.
She said this sent water down through the Whimberry Way house, wrecking her newly decorated bedroom, living room, and cavity wall.
To make matters worse, when they returned to remedy the problem the following day, the Garner family was told the issue could not be fixed — so they were going to be left without heating and hot water over the weekend.
The issues got worse still on Friday evening, when it appeared the leak had interfered with electrics in the house, with video showing a light flickering even when the switch was turned off, Emma claims.
“We pay top whack,” Emma, 36, said. “We are going to be out of pocket.
“We are running a gas fire and oil radiator [to heat the house]. They said it could take up to six weeks [to fix].
“It’s ridiculous.”
Emma, a teacher, says her husband Dan pays £300 annually for British Gas’ homecare cover.
She added that a possible temporary fix — reinstalling the old cylinder — is no longer an option, as it has a ‘huge hole’ in.
Following Emma’s claims, British Gas said that electricity has been restored to the home — and the firm’s claims team will assess the damage to the property.
“Our engineer visited Mrs Garner’s home to fix a leak in the hot water cylinder and, unfortunately, there was an issue with a replacement part,” a spokesperson said.
“We know that it’s an inconvenience to be without hot water and heating, and we’re sorry that Mrs Garner is in this situation.
“We have spoken to her to let her know that our engineer will visit on Monday to find a solution to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
“Mrs Garner does have electricity at her property, as a circuit breaker for the area affected by the leak was isolated. In addition, our electrician will be visiting [on Monday] to make sure everything is in order.
“We’ve also let Mrs Garner know that if we have caused the leak that damaged her property, our claims team will look at and resolve this matter.”
