On Oct 19, 10:00*am, Michael Kilpatrick
wrote:
On 19/10/2012 09:28, Robin wrote:



I am unclear as to how much delay would be needed to leave you less
disgruntled.

How about five minutes, and a knock on the door?

[I'm assuming that's not going to happen if they have to cut off 10,000
houses, obviously!)

Or just a van with a loudhailer? I bet 40 years ago they would have done
so, but those vans with loudhailers seem to be out of fashion. Even
politicians used to use them during election campagns (although I can't
imagine why they thought it would gain votes). Maybe they still do?

By the way, if the company is forced not to undertake the tree-cutting
immediately owing to the presence of a ventilated patient who needs
time to prepare or be moved elsewhere, *and someone is killed on the
street at 5pm by an arcing power-line/tree, I assume the company will
still be liable?

I rather doubt that question admits a simple answer. *But I am fairly
sure that the company's defence to *any* claim would be weaker if it
delayed action in order to identify the customers who would be affected,
to give those customers notice of the time they would be disconnected,
and then wait until that time before starting work.

Hang on, isn't there some sort of obligation to notify any business
premises if they are going to cut the power manually? I thought there
was. That's obviously more important than my ability to finish writing
my email or to boil a kettle, especially if the business has machinery
or computers.

None whatever in an emergency.