A hydro surge this past Sunday left 100 east London households with blown hydro meters and fried TV sets and household appliances.
It happened in the Salisbury and Highbury area when an accidental surge toppled one hydro line onto another.
The residents affected are being told by London Hydro to put the claim for damaged goods through their own insurance first and then submit it to London Hydro.
“Every one of us here pays our hydro bills. If we don’t, they come looking for the money,” Doug Underwood says.
“But when we have a problem on their end and we go looking for the money, we get runaround. It’s not right. Why should we have to pay, out of our pockets, for something that was their fault?”
London Hydro’s Nancy Hutton understands the frustration.
“When the incident occurred, we quickly worked with the Electrical Safety Authority and they came out and actually inspected the meters right away that had to be replaced.
“If they wanted to submit a claim to London Hydro, there’s a process on our website and they submit that in writing.”
Keiry Membreno says some of her light switches, receptacles, a microwave, washing machine and video game player no longer work.
That’s a lot of damage and she wants the utility company to assist.
It was frustrating and hopefully London Hydro can come through and help us out,” says Membreno.
