A woman has shared her frustration after her landlord capped her gas supply, after she missed engineer appointments due to her poor health. Shelly Van Damme claims her poor health has led to repeated hospital visits - something the cold has only worsened.
Shelly has a nine-year-old daughter named Skye, and struggles with her health on a daily basis. The 40-year-old suffers from severe arthritis in her legs and jaw, as well as fibromyalgia - conditions which worsen significantly in cold conditions.
“I fell down the stairs in November last year after a vertigo attack," Shelly said, when speaking to Gloucestershire Live. "I thought I had damaged my tendons and was sent for an MRI scan. The scan showed I have arthritis, and fibromyalgia in my back, neck and shoulders. Recently I was also diagnosed with having arthritis in my jaw and when I do not have heating or hot water it makes my health worse.”
Her landlord, Bromford housing association, says it has done all it can to sort the situation out but has been unable to make contact with the 40-year-old.
Miss Van Damme, who uses a wheelchair, has lived at her property in Tewkesbury for five years. The two-bedroom home has been adapted to her needs which include handrails on the stairs, bedroom and bathroom, along with seating adaptations in the bathroom.
She said: “A gas engineer was sent out to cap my gas last month, and I have had to come and stay with my friend. I ache from head to foot. Since staying with my friend, I have only just begun being able to speak again as the cold made me so unwell."
Miss Van Damme says her health continued to deteriorate because she had no hot water or heating. Sitting on her bath seat with hot water covering her aching bones is able to give her temporary relief from her pain.
Upset by what was happening, Miss Van Damme’s friend requested both she and her daughter go to stay with her. At this point, the tenant claims her skin was looking bruised and purple from the cold.
Miss Van Damme said: “Living in a home with no heating or hot water really affects me. My friend saw how poorly I was and said to me ‘you cannot stay here’. My skin looked bruised and I was going purple with the cold."
Due to Miss Van Damme’s ongoing hospital appointments, she missed several visits by the gas engineer to service her boiler. Yet Miss Van Damme says she called Bromford twice to try to reschedule the appointments when the gas supply was capped.
She said: “Dates have been made to service the boiler when I was either in hospital or had to go to an appointment in December. They asked me to call them in the new year, but I knew I had an appointment in January for the MRI so I was waiting for that to come. I called them twice about getting it sorted and never had a call back.
“In February I heard a ring at my door and I was in bed poorly. Even with my disabilities, it would have taken time for me to answer the door, but a note was pushed through the door to say they had capped my gas.”
Miss Van Damme called Bromford to explain her difficulties and how not having heating and hot water would affect her. She says on two occasions she was promised an engineer to visit that day.
Miss Van Damme said: “When I called back again to see what was happening, I was told the call out for an engineer had not been put on the system. I waited and stayed in as I was expecting someone to come round twice.
“By this time my body was purple where I was so cold. They expect you to wait in for hours, in either a morning or afternoon appointment, but my body cannot take it. They have made me ill physically and mentally. They still get their rent and fob tenants off.
“My daughter has been late for school because I have not been able to stay in Tewkesbury and been at my friend's place in Tuffley. I need my home with the adaptations. They cannot expect me to wait in for six hours in the cold; they need to make an appointment with a specific time they will arrive. I am happy to let them in to do the work. However, after that, I would need to go out for a couple of hours to let the house warm up throughout.
“I was left without heating throughout all of those storms. I was lucky I had my friend offer to take me in as I have no support in Tewkesbury.”
Her landlord responds
Bromford says it was forced to cap the gas after unsuccessful attempts to enter the property. The housing association also says it tried to get in touch with Miss Van Damme by text, phone call and letter.
Bromford’s associate director of localities Dave Grinter said:: “One of our central aims is to ensure that all of our customers have a home that is safe, secure, and warm and we have a legal responsibility to carry out regular safety checks including annual gas fire and boiler servicing.
“Unfortunately, and for Miss Van Damme’s own safety, we were forced to cap the gas at her property on February 16 after a number of unsuccessful attempts by letter, text message, and telephone to arrange a suitable time to carry out this essential servicing.
“We have continued to try to make contact to resolve the situation and on Friday (March 11) our contractor attended but was denied access to the property. We remain committed to finding a solution in the quickest possible manner and would urge the customer to contact Bromford as soon as possible.”
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