h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am not sure how to describe the last 48 hours, but it has been one of those periods where it is better to laugh than cry, although you're not sure what you're laughing at. i.e. hysteria sets in.

I got home on Wednesday afternoon, was greeted enthusiastically by two dogs and the invalid cat, with much mewing and barking, but in the background there was that little niggle of a noise that was not familiar. Not part of the usual song the house sings. I fussed and tickled and quieted and listened again. It was coming from upstairs so the investigation squad set forth..... me, two dogs and a cat climbing the stairs in varying states of arthritic disorder.

Soon traced the noise - the loft hatch was dripping water on to a carrier bag on the landing floor. Water! . Well, I thought, no use paying out on an insurance with the water board to cover emergency water disasters and not using it, so I found the number, dialled it up and was treated to 5 minutes of "For this disaster press 1, for colour of grandmother's socks press 2, for horoscope reading press 3..." etc. etc. This water company put me through 4 layers of press this and that and in the end, when I did get to speak to someone "real" I asked her to confirm she was not a machine before I began my diatribe.

"Oh, yes, madam, we will get an engineer to you as soon as possible. We will ring him now, and he will ring you back and confirm his time of arrival." Sounded promising - drip! drip! Sure enough, ten minutes later he did ring me, and then things began to take a rapid downward spiral. I told him the problem: "Mmmm won't be for another 4 or 5 hours..." drip! drip! I explained I was a night shift worker and he needed to be here before 10 o'clock. "Noooo, can't do, but don't worry these things don't USUALLY blow! I'll see you in the morning." click! drip! drip!

I checked the bucket under the drip and brooded on what exactly I was spending my insurance money on. drip! drip! Issued all the animals with aqualungs and flippers, and gave the eldest dog a quick lesson in rescue techniques and went to work. Returned home in my break to check things over. All OK except drip! drip!

Home by 0630 the next morning and awaited engineer. Well, I can be naive at times! Finally rang the insurance company at 0800. Went through usual layers of mechanical voice and explained my problem. "Well, you should have rung again yesterday if the wait was too long, we'll see what we can do for you madam... yes, an engineer will ring you shortly and arrange... etc. etc. Ten minutes later an engineer rang... "Won't be for another 4 or 5 hours...." So I rang the insurance company again. 4 layers, "Yes, madam... engineer..." "Won't be for...." etc. etc. drip! drip!

FIVE times I rang and got the same responses, and, of course, by this time the water had started to collect under the ceiling paper and was hanging in threatening water bombs all over the ceiling just outside the loo. On the sixth attempt I blew my top good and proper and eventually an engineer turned up an hour later to have a look. Credit where credit is due, he was good, and thorough and he soon found the cause of the leak.

"It's that joint on the tank that you put mastic round recently," he called smugly, (in parenthesis) "Stupid woman, doesn't she know you can't stop a leak with mastic, did she think I wouldn't notice, she's just trying to con the insurance...." I looked him squarely in the face and said: "I haven't repaired any leak on my tank for years - in fact, I have never repaired a leak on that tank."

He looked taken aback. "Well, this mastic is brilliant white and new...."

Now, dear hootooers, can I take you back to last August when I had the small problem of a re-wire..... Is anyone catching on to where this is leading....? The electrician was the last one in the loft who would be likely to have mastic about him, and just below the joint, between the joists, is a spaghetti junction of wires where the bathroom wiring meets with the landing wiring. And he did have big feet. Need I go on? But need I also say, that I can't prove it.

The upshot? He has drained the tank and the leak has stopped, but I have no water in the house except the mains in the kitchen, so - no loo, no shower, no bath, no washing facilities (except cold water in the kitchen, and a boiled kettle). The bath is full of water which I can use to flush the loo, but it won't last for ever, and I can't carry any more water up the stairs. Laugh? Cry?

I have had two estimates in for replacing the tank and I can nowhere near afford either of them. Laugh? Cry? And just when I thought I had got the house together.

I like to end my journals on an up-note, but today I can't think of one. Laugh?

I need a hug

UG

and a few extra jugs of water!

oh yes... and aqualung.

Get back in touch with the electrician - if you roar loudly enough - whether by tears or volume, you could probably claim on HIS insurance
- or maybe your local CAB could give a bit of advise? There's got to be a way around this that ISN@T going to cost you too much, nor give you dysentry, surely?

hi there UG.Certainly not trying to cause you anymore tears,but insurance.My claim started 5 years ago,a l-o-n-g story,as you can imagine,and it still isn't sorted out!!.of course it had to beo be complicated,mostof the thngs i do seem to be,but,to get to to the point,your buildings insurance should be able to sort it out for you.It was accidental dmage to your water tank,no matter who did it,and the the redecoration should be covered by water damage as well.I agree that you should contact your electrician friend,but i'm pretty certain that your insurance will cover you,and if they need to will also sort out any arguments with the electrician .,keep us informed.xx

Oh dear, that's just the sort of hassle you can do without

in getting it all sorted.

Poor Granny. Water's terrible stuff isn't it?

"Look, I'm starting to get really annoyed" is a good line to use when you're not getting anywhere with companies. Then after the person has assured you that THIS time it will certainly be sorted out ask for their Christian name AND surname.
If you have to ring again ask for a supervisor, get his/her full name and give her a list of all the names, dates, times, promises and outcomes of your previous calls - just to show you ARE taking notes.
Normally works.

Sorry to hear about your trouble with insurance Smurfles. Mine have normally been very good. The problem we had after our flood was with the builders

Granny, make sure you point out ALL the decorations, carpets etc that are going to have to be renewed - and remember you don't have to use the companies they deal with. You can ask them to give you the money and you can use someone else.

And if the electric spaghetti junction is just under the leak GET IT CHECKED!!!!!

Why do people dahn sarf use cold water tanks? It seems to be more custom than anything else. What's the pressure like in your mains-fed kitchen tap? Can you not have your whole system running from the mains, with just a small header tank for the hot water system?

Also, if the insurance company consider the house isn't in a livable condition they move you to a hotel. Having no water to flush the loo should certainly qualify.

hi there TK,thanks for the vote of sympathy.It is ilegal to leave anyone without a useable loo,and they should have ensured there was an adequate water supply for that purpose.Our problem has been with builders too,distinctly unqualified,slip shod,"have a kip in the wheel barrow in full view of the whole street" type builders!!!! I think i should write my experiences in my journal,after all,everone likes a good !!I'm sure UG will find all this very encouragingug.

Many people have a cold water tank because the mains pressure is too high for flushing toilets & running taps. (The mind boggles)

Although I think there must be at least one tap off the mains for drinking water. Otherwise I think you need special valves to reduce the pressure.

Might the valves be cheaper than a new cold water tank (in the event that the insurance company refuses to pay for it)

I'm not sure if you can have them in domestic premises. They need annual maintenance & inspection by an authorised engineer, so regular costs involved. Hard water areas will scale them up.

Hmm. I don't want to dash your hopes but according to this version of Water, water, everywhere... http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F61436?thread=120130 our flood was on June 7th and the builders finally started work on September 24th :-/ UGgie. Looks as though you're going to need it (along with your sense of humour)

Hi UG to read about your problem, That sparkie you said was up there last, he should carry insurance against such an event

The insurance company will try any trick (as Im sure youve found out by now) not to pay out
We had a similar prob a few months ago over a breakage, and had to fight them all the way!! We won, and right after the job was done, we cancelled the policy with them and went else where

Try contacting that sparkie again, and face him up about the leak
Smudger,

Yup. Go Granny.

As the great Mae put it - Don't let anyone put anything over on you, outside of an umbrella.

It would definately point at your electrician, but I'd let the insurance company chase him - an insurance company who thinks they've got someone to foot the bill is an awesome thing.

The CAB are a good idea - but the ammount of time spent hanging on the phone can be awful - don't hesitate to play the lady alone card.

Good luck Granny - wish I could do something practical, but even h2g2 has its limitations.

Oh dear me,,what happened to UG,and to the water leak???I do hope all's well,and that you managed to get something sorted out,or haveyou just abandoned the house until someone offers practical help UG??The buildings insurance have emergency numbers to get immediat assistance,and the contents can be sorted out at a later date.xx

She was on briefly last night but she was in the middle of a thunderstorm so I think she probably logged off quickly to avoid having her modem and/or hard drive fried.

It's also the half term holiday now so there are probably more grandchildren around, needing attention.

Hopefully after the Bank Holiday the Insewerance people will get their collective fingers out?

UG

PC has crashed 10 times this last week, losing all my carefully hoarded info... give a mistral, willya? Ta.

Ev

As soon as I get up the morro (or is that today, now?)



UG