A 76-year-old Croydon pensioner is bracing for another sub zero weekend after being without a working boiler for a month. Susan Plume, a council tenant of 44 years, has been living without hot water and relies on small heaters to stay warm.
The icy temperatures and her long-running health battles have meant she is often left shivering ‘uncontrollably’ at night. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I thought when I got to my age I would be better treated than this.”
Susan, who lives with one of her daughters at her home in Croydon, first noticed issues with her boiler on December 13. She immediately called the council, fearing she would be without a functioning boiler throughout the festive season.
Susan Plume says she shivers uncontrollably at night
(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)
However, Susan says the council’s and their repair contractors’ response did not do much to assuage her fears. She said: “I phoned them on December 13, and they said somebody would be out to see it in four hours, but they came the next day and said they needed a new part for it.
“When someone eventually came to fit it, they said it didn’t look like there was anything wrong with it. When he left the boiler got even worse, so then I had to call them again. This whole process took ages. I just want the boiler done, I don’t want to sit there doing text messages.”
In the run-up to Christmas, several contractors from Sureserve and Wates came to Susan’s address with the intention of fixing the boiler. Yet, to Susan’s dismay, she says many of them could not complete the fix and had to reschedule repair dates because of missing parts and the need for further plumbing work.
Meanwhile, Susan has been kept up day and night with a boiler that constantly drips water onto and behind her kitchen surfaces. Susan said: “When it first happened, I was in the front room and could hear water running. I thought I’d left the tap on, but when I came in, the water came out and went everywhere.
“The boiler would more than half fill a bucket a day, so I have to keep coming in and emptying it. I put tea towels behind it, but they always get absolutely soaked.”
The 76-year-old former cleaner and part-time carer told the LDRS of her current ill health, characterised by chronic jaw pain that she says ‘really gets me down’. She says her current boiler situation has ‘come at the worst possible time’ and is only exacerbating her condition.
Six different contractors have come out to try and fix her boiler since she first put in the complaint on December 13
(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)
Susan’s other daughter, Andrea, 53, who she doesn’t live with, feels her mother is being made to suffer as a result of the council and their contractors’ own failings. Andrea, who lives in Wales, told the LDRS: “Mum has not been well for quite a few years. She not only suffers from lung issues, but she is also a cancer survivor.
“Sadly mum also suffers from crippling depression and anxiety. Croydon Council are well aware of this, and I am appalled by the treatment she has received. Mum doesn’t have internet, so trying to get repairs, especially emergency ones, is frustrating. She has now been left for weeks and weeks without any heating, and as winter grips us, I am extremely worried about her health.
“So many visits with workers who don’t understand the issue, don’t turn up, or scare her at 9:30 at night. Yet there is still no heating, and now there is no hot water. I hope the council can fix this issue and apologise for the stress this has caused her and me. Living in Wales and being disabled myself means there’s little I can do when this type of thing happens.”
Croydon Council’s repair contractors attended her property at Smock Walk on Wednesday (January 8), by which time the number of contractors who had visited reached six. On that occasion, they provided her with a small heater to compensate for her not being able to use her central heating properly.
Despite this, she still does not have hot water and feels that the small heater will be too expensive and won’t be sufficient to heat her whole house during the cold snap. Susan admitted she has not been able to take a hot shower or do any washing up in the last week.
Susan Plume in her home in Croydon
(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)
When asked how she will manage if the boiler issue isn’t fixed soon, Susan replied: “I really don’t know. I’m 76 and not in the best of health. I really don’t need to be left in the cold at my age.
“I might as well be living on the street because that’s how cold it is. I was shivering, I couldn’t keep still.”
The contractors have since promised Susan they will come out to fix her boiler soon. However, she remains sceptical, saying “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
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