Electrical fire

[redlittle]

it's all down to whoever installed the isolator and/or the manufacturers of same. from their communication, they say that they did not install it. that's where you need to find out if that is true or not.

That will be difficult, not unless the same company fitted the boards in every house, in which case I can look at the persons next door as they are all the same.

 

[telectrix]

as i said, let your insurers do battle. they can afford the legal costs. they may decide not to pursue it. the important thing is that you get it sorted so that you and your family have the supply reinstated safely.

 

[ackbarthestar]

I'd agree with Telectrix, let the insurance company take hold of the problem.

 

[Richard Burns]

Yes legal people are the ones to deal with legal issues.

A couple of points to note:
In your first email from them they state (rather ambiguously) that the equipment is their property.
Because of the Eastern Energy logo on the isolator switch this would have been fitted by them.
They have correctly identified that after the meter is the consumers responsibility.

However if the supply company fitted it and nothing has changed since then the responsibility for the install of the switch is theirs.
However the tails to the consumer unit could well have been fitted by the electrician who installed the consumer unit.
The problem comes with having anything electrical done the electrician could well have used the isolator and there is no evidence that he may not have caught the tails and inadvertently pulled them or such like and caused the damage. Also the cabinet is not secure and anyone may have opened it in the intervening time and made any change.

Good luck and remember the insurers do not want to pay out so it is in their interest to have it not your responsibility. Ask them to get the equipment inspected by an independent assessor.

 

[hasel5]

Looking at the the first picture it seems that the right hand terminal the neutral in this case is in a different position to the live these should be side by side and not staggered so would suggest a lose connection on the neutral Also would would of thought the isolated was fitted by the supply auth oat the time of completion.

Would be worth checking the tails in the consumer unit to see if red and black or brown and blue as this would indicate a replacement of the tails

 

[cornburn]

What damage was actually caused? As from the photos about £100 would sort it out and it probably isn't worth all this hassle? I reckon it's degraded over time and has probably been running hot or working loose for years, it will all only stand that for so long. A classic example of why if you don't have any work done for several years it's probably a good idea to get it all checked over once in a while. Although PIRs aren't compulsory you can see why they're needed. I'm sure you've got it sorted by now and aren't stuck without power any more so just put it down to experience and count yourselves lucky it wasn't any worse!

 

[oldtimer]

Ok after reading the mails and looking at the pics here is my tuppance worth first of all DNOs as a matter of course do not admit anything example years ago I was called out to a alarm system that malfunctioned in the middle of the night so as a matter of course I found the supply voltage to be 270 volts AC also the customer mentioned that her bedside clock was flashing and she could not reset it plus the video was the same ok sounds like a supplier problem so I called the guy at the control room and he said well yep we were working in the area yesterday and we adjusted the tapping of the transformer because we had a volts drop at a new site at the end of the circuit wel no surprise their then as my customer is at the start of the circuit and when the load falls off at night the voltage goes high Errrr can you phone back later ok so I did and the manager for the said supplier commented I am sorry but we do not admit liabilty and anyway your reading of 270+ volts is not accepted as your meter is not calibrated plus you do you have a current certificate for it (this is 1995) yes I said funny enough I work on a petrochem site and they are rolling out ISO9000 so they have in house calibration and all testers used on site must be checked for calibration. Please contact our legal department was the last words before the phone was put down.


And the moral of this story is if this was me or you we would have to produce all types of certification but in the case of DNOs it is and always will be admit nothing and our lawers are bigger than yours so push off and mind Nick Glegg wants a fairer sociaty only problem is he fails to mention the coperate elephant ****ting in the corner of the room

 

[BlueToBits]

My 10p's worth:
Whether the DNO's limit of responsibility lies at the meter or the switch is largely irrelevent as it would seem that the failed connections on the consumer's side of the switch almost certainly caused the incident. This is the consumer's responsibility to service and maintain.
IMHO it is quite possible that the loose connections have been simmering away for eight years, and likely because the installer failed to tighten up the terminal screws sufficiently and/or secure the tails to prevent movement. I would think sabotage is unlikely - there are easier and more reliable ways of effecting sabotage. The OP may have recourse from the original installer if installation certificates exist or via part P notification through the LABC, although a claim on the building insurance may be more fruitful.
Most significantly and thankfully, no one was injured and damage is minor.