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In this issue:
By law, to work legally on gas appliances all gas engineers have to be qualified and must be on the Gas Safe Register and carry a Gas Safe Register ID card.
Before you ask for any gas work to be carried out, always check the engineers ID card and make sure the engineer is qualified for the work you need doing.
Badly fitted and poorly serviced appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas. You can’t see, taste or smell it, but it can kill quickly with no warning.
Protect yourself from the dangers by following these simple steps:
- Only use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, fix or service your appliances.
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Get your gas appliances regularly serviced every year. Tenants - make sure your landlord arranges this.
- Fit an audible carbon monoxide alarm.
- Check your appliance for warning signs such as lazy yellow flames or black marks or stains around the appliance.
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Know the six main signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning – headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.
For more information or to find and check an engineer go to the Gas Safe Register website or call 0800 408 5500.
Earlier this year a man trading in West Sussex who falsely claimed to be a registered gas engineer was fined more than £1,000. The trader also failed to carry out the necessary legal procedures with his work relating to contracts and offering a cooling-off period.
Flights can be delayed or cancelled for lots of reasons, such as adverse weather conditions, strikes, hurricanes or a technical failure.
However, under EU rules, airlines have to pay compensation for cancelled or heavily delayed flights unless the problem has been caused by some 'extraordinary circumstances' such as sudden severe weather events like a hurricane or the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which occurred 3 three years ago.
EC Regulation 261/2004 sets out the compensation that is due which is dependent on the length of the flight and the Regulations apply to any flight leaving an EU airport and any flight into the EU on an EU-based airline.
In addition you should be offered meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation as appropriate whilst you wait for a rearranged flight. They should also cover any transport costs between the hotel and the airport.
If your airline does not provide assistance, keep your spending to a minimum, make sure you get receipts and claim reimbursement from your airline when you get home.
For further information on your rights, visit the UK European Consumer Centre website.
Following further reports of traders going door to door offering a variety of services we are reminding residents that the 7 day ‘cooling off period’ for most contracts costing more than £42 and agreed at your home has now increased to 14 days. This means that you now have 14 days in which to change your mind and cancel any work on your property.
The council is highlighting this information as it has come to our attention that traders across the area are offering to do roofing/guttering, driveways, cleaning & gardening work and may not be giving consumers this information.
Information about who the trader is and an address also has to be given before any work is agreed.
If you are approached by a doorstep trader you should not be pressured into agreeing to immediate work and you should never pay cash up front.
Also remember that if you ask a person to leave your property they must do so immediately.
If you display one of our Doorstep Notices telling cold callers not to knock at your door but this is ignored report the caller to us.
If you feel threatened or if you suspect that a person is a bogus caller phone the police.
For further information contact the Citizens Advice consumer service – 03454 040506.
For
more information on scams, visit: www.coventry.gov.uk/scams
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