A mum-of-four has been left 'disgusted' after she and her family were made to to live in their home with no heating over Christmas due to an alleged problem with her gas meter. Rebecca Lindsay Bower has been left in tears after being forced to wrap her children up in blankets and keep the oven on just to keep them warm as she claims that her home is colder than the temperatures outside.
Rebecca, from Scunthorp, lives with her partner and 14-year-old child, six-year-old twins and her nine-year-old who has special needs. She claims that the issue is a fault in the property's gas meter after money was being registered as a credit to the gas rather than a top-up but E.O.N are refusing to take immediate action, Grimsby Telegraph reports.
The problem, which has been going on for about three weeks, meant the family were running out of gas 'every two days' despite several complaints made to E.ON and emergency visits to their home. Rebecca said she was told by the company that workers refused to attend any more call-outs to her home and that the meter would be fixed in 'two or three weeks', leaving the family without heating for Christmas.
She said: "The kids are sitting downstairs wrapped in blankets and me and my partner are having to get under the quilt. The other morning, we had our electric cooker on and the tumble dryer going just to keep warm.
"Downstairs it's tiles and wooden flooring, so you can imagine how cold it is. It's absolutely freezing. It's warmed up outside now and I said to my partner, 'It's warmer out here than it is inside the house'.
"It doesn't matter about the temperature, it doesn't matter about me having a vulnerable child. They (E.ON) are just point-blank refusing to come to the house anymore.
"I've cried about Christmas coming up. It's disgusting." The helpless mother was forced to turn on her electric oven and tumble dryer to keep warm after temperatures recently dropped into the minus' across some parts of the UK.
She said: "It's a breach of my human rights." Explaining how the issue started out, Rebecca said: "On November 30, E.ON came out and credited the meter.
"We were told they'd put £10 on the electric and £20 on the gas, and off they went. They asked if there were any people with vulnerabilities in the house and I told them my son has severe autism and learning difficulties, and they said to me, 'You will never, ever be without supply'."
However, she revealed that two days after the visit, their gas had 'completely gone' and they still had not been given a gas card. They were told to contact the emergency line to which workers responded by coming out to her property for a second time to top up the meter.
Two days later, the gas was gone again and when Rebecca contacted E.ON she was informed there was an issue with the meter and it was still registered as a credit on their end. Every time the gas disappeared, which was happening every two days due to the rising costs, they'd need to call the emergency line to come up top it up again.
Rebecca said that they were finally given a gas card on December 13 but when they went to use it, the money was taken 'straight away' but the gas was not topped up.
She explained: "We rang E.ON and they said again that there's a problem with the meter and to call the emergency line, again, to come out. So the next day, we did, and they came out and topped it up.
"By Friday, the gas had gone again." Rebeca was then put 'on hold' for four-and-a-half hours on the phone before she was finally told that nobody would be coming back out to her house to fix the meter.
She added: "I told them I'm on a priority list and I've got a vulnerable child. And they said, 'No, you've been topped up enough, and as of December 15 we are not topping up any more gas, you will have to wait until the meter is rectified'."
"They said, 'There's too many emergency appointments, and you've had five of them'. Bearing in mind that this is a fault their end, not mine.
"I was told by a supervisor that if I needed gas, I had to ring the emergency line, but it's now emergency that are refusing to come out. The frustrated mum has made three complaints to the company but they are still refusing to reinstate her gas supply.
She said: "It's just disheartening, especially with everything going on at the moment - the temperatures outside, and with the cost of living - it's hard enough as it is. My main concern is Christmas.
"Am I going to be able to cook Christmas dinner for the kids? [E.ON] have just got no compassion."
E.ON have been contacted about the matter but have not responded.
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