DUX

I'm looking for help from any lawyer-types or anyone who has been to small claims court.

Here's the story:

- The wife and I have a house that we are prepping to sell. We have already moved most of our stuff to our new home.

- In July we never received an electric bill for the old house, so my wife called to check. The clerk told her one was due, so she paid by card over the phone. The clerk failed to tell my wife that the power had already been cut off (we never got that notice either.)

- We did not go to the house from July - Mid August. When we finally did go to the house, we noticed a horrible smell and the house was hot. The power had been off for a month and the refrigerator/freezer was now a horrible science experiment and cannot be used again. The floor under the refrigerator is also ruined.

- The wife called the power company and they apologized for not telling us the power had been cut. They also admitted that someone must have forgotten to turn it back on after the payment had been made by phone.

- We also found out that we had a credit of nearly $300 with the city b/c they had collected a deposit from us when we were renting the house a few years ago and never refunded it to us when we purchased the home. They apologized again, saying that they should never have cut the power at all b/c of the money in our account.

SOOOOO....I filed a claim with their insurance company, Travelers (good luck if you do business with them): After numerous phone calls to them and promises to call me back I received a letter today. They are denying the whole claim.

I will be making calls tomorrow to the city, telling them to fix the situation or I will be filing in court. Any other suggestions?

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

NorthernRR

Working for an electrical utility I can say you will have little to no luck with them. If you look up your terms of service you will "likely" find a thing that says something like they don't garauntee service, nor do they claim any responsability for any damages concured while out of power.

Good luck with it though, honestly large utilities are far too good at taking advantage of smaller people trying to use their size to intimidate. I have unfortunatley cut many people off in the middle of the summer, but what can you do? I have to or I loose my job, than the papers get "lost" and the poor bastard(that'd be you) suffers...

good luck and hope that you can stick it to them.

__________________
See you at Indy

DUX

Thanks. I'm not trying to stick it to them though.

They were negligent in more ways than one and have admitted to it/apologized for for it.

Right now it's the insurance company that's putting up the wall.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

NorthernRR

For sure. Good luck with it. I hate insurance companies even more...

__________________
See you at Indy

luvtolean

Before court, does whatever state this happened in have an insurance commission?

It took barely a mention of the CA Ins commission to spur the useless a-holes at Allstate to action on a claim with me.

__________________
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. - Winston Churchill

DUX

I don't know but I'll check thanks. This all took place in Dover, DE.

My first stop is going to be direct back to the City tomorrow. They were helpful and apologetic before. It's time for them to turn up the heat on their insurer.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

seamus

Also, if you can. Don't do your dealings by phone or email. Go to an office and raise your voice right in the lobby. No business likes irate customers in front of other potential customers.

__________________
Ducit Amor Patriae

Richard Herald, The Gentle Giant

The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.
--- Thucydides

luvtolean

Home Page for Matthew Denn, Delaware's Insurance Commissioner

Give them a call, might help.

Best would be the city laying on them though. They are the insurance company's customer...

__________________
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. - Winston Churchill

RedRider

Written correspondence and documentation is your best defense.

nhfirefighter13

+1

Document everything. Timelines, phone calls, names, issues, thoughts, EVERYTHING. If you end up in court, he who has more paperwork apparently wins.

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http://www.kezerphotography.com
"Ok, so what is the speed of dark?"

G-ForceJunkie

You have a tape of this, because if not, it didn't happen Good luck with this.

SheepOfBlue

Sad to say that I agree Northern. I had a house that was in AL when I was being tortured in Michigan and had the heat real low. The folks were coming buy and checking on things periodically. Some moron stole my meter and the utility company replaced it and disconnected the power with no notice. Of course my folks were checking during the day and while things felt chilly they knew the heat was low. That is until it got to cold and busted hundreds of dollars in pipes. Not only did I not get the s actually tried to bill me for the power used by the THIEF after they found the meter

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When the past is allowed to fade to nothing then only chaos is left.

Hammer

Good way to get thrown out of an office and labeled a hostile customer. But not the way to get things done.






Is this a coop or an investor owned utility?

If it is a coop or municipality, you should have a board of directors, go to them and file a formal complaint. That is your "In" to the higher up's.

If it is an investor owned company, check with the state utility regulatory commission and file a complaint with them. Coops are sometimes regulated by them also.

What ever happens, it will be a battle and will take time to resolve.

__________________
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

Hammer

Welcome to the Delaware Public Service Commission

__________________
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS