Being charged for the fire brigade to come out?!

LighterGuy

(oh for the record of mods I think AH is a better place for this as its a discussion of things)

But I was reading a thread in the Emergency Services section and it appears (something I never knew ) that in certain counties in Ireland you get charged for the fire brigade to come out and put out a fire :eek:

One women in particular got charged 350 euro to put out a chimley fire.

Am I the only one who finds this mental? Are taxes becoming less about paying for services and showing nothing for it?

we've got water taxes (and the areas that already dont are going to)
we've got road taxes.
we've got VAT.
... i could go on. we've practually got tax on everything.



Thoughts?

My name is URL

*looks at OP's username*

phasers

You pay for ambulances too.

7sr2z3fely84g5

its common,but oddest part it's not a universal charge,depending on where you live you could pay more or less,most recent article-

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/huge-differences-revealed-in-fees-for-fire-callouts-2364636.html

Millicent

I love that you said "chimley". And yeah, it's ridiculous. Think the Joe Duffy Brigade were on this topic before but nothing seems to have come of it.

LighterGuy

My name is URL wrote: »

*looks at OP's username*

hey,
i feel for the people who I burn down ok!!!! :P

biko

I would assume that if you have caused the fire through negligence they'll charge you for "wasting" their time.
Also they saved the house and possibly other properties, 350 is kinda cheap then.

edit, good link Geese_Howard

easyeason3

Thoughts?
I hate threads that end with 'thoughts?' or 'discuss'.


Oh & apparently a friend of a friend of a friend was charged €900 for a chimney fire call out :eek:

mikemac

Our estate has wasteground surrounding it and there have been three cars burned out by the local scum joyriders in recent months.

Surely they charge the property owner, not the person who reported it, right?
Or I'll be thinking twice before I call 999 and give my name on a recorded line

dan1895

Millicent wrote: »

I love that you said "chimley". And yeah, it's ridiculous. Think the Joe Duffy Brigade were on this topic before but nothing seems to have come of it.

How much do they charge for a call out?

alchemist33

I believe that if you call them for somebody else's house, you get charged. I called an ambulance once, form the phone of a man who had been in a car accident. They took all my details but never came back to charge me.

7sr2z3fely84g5

To save money


Blast em with píss

Bally8

phasers wrote: »

You pay for ambulances too.

No you dont. You pay the A&E charge if you dont have a medical card but you dont have to pay for the ambulance

Dartz

For that price, I'd almost be better off taking it on meself.

Though, wouldn't home insurance cover something like that?

amandaf675

we got charged 4000 for the firebriagade to come out when our hay shed went onfire and they didnt even put it out. just stop it spreading

stevejr

I've heard that with all the cut backs now that if you ring the fire brigade...they'll courier you a complimentary Super-Soaker...

irishdude11

Ridiculous that you get charged for a fire brigade. The lazy twats are sitting on their holes all day getting paid to do nothing, and then when they are actually needed there is a surcharge. Itd be the same as if the guards started charging to people to call out when they are needed. Or the postman charging you for bringing letters.

lastlaugh

Get out.

Stay out.

Get the Fire Brigade out.

(Then get your wallet out.)

breadmonster

i think you can avoid it by calling the guards first and get them to call the fire birgade. probably bad use of emergency services though..

lastlaugh

breadmonster wrote: »

i think you can avoid it by calling the guards first and get them to call the fire birgade. probably bad use of emergency services though..

If you can avoid getting stung for a charge for having people do what they are paid for, it sounds like a good idea to me.

Run_to_da_hills

'No pay, no spray' policy in America.

A rural Tennessee fire chief says Obion County firefighters are being unduly demonized for letting a man's home burn because he hadn't paid a $75 municipal fee.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39535911/ns/us_news-life/t/no-pay-no-spray-case-firefighters-threatened/

coolmoose

alchemist33 wrote: »

I believe that if you call them for somebody else's house, you get charged. I called an ambulance once, form the phone of a man who had been in a car accident. They took all my details but never came back to charge me.

No you don't get charged if you call the brigade out for someone else. "Ambulance charges" are not levied by the ambulance service itself (i.e. we don't bill people directly), but are charged by some hospitals in the event of an RTA.

Run_to_da_hills

coolmoose wrote: »

No you don't get charged if you call the brigade out for someone else. "Ambulance charges" are not levied by the ambulance service itself (i.e. we don't bill people directly), but are charged by some hospitals in the event of an RTA.

If there is a third party insurance claim involved in an RTA they will claim for everything.

WoollyRedHat

amandaf675 wrote: »

we got charged 4000 for the firebriagade to come out when our hay shed went onfire and they didnt even put it out. just stop it spreading

That's quite silly, having your shed made out of hay

Capt'n Midnight

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

That's quite silly, having your shed made out of hay

it's next to a wooden one and a brick one

bonzodog2

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

That's quite silly, having your shed made out of hay

This isn't the time for strawman arguments.

Pedro K

irishdude11 wrote: »

Ridiculous that you get charged for a fire brigade. The lazy twats are sitting on their holes all day getting paid to do nothing, and then when they are actually needed there is a surcharge. Itd be the same as if the guards started charging to people to call out when they are needed. Or the postman charging you for bringing letters.

That's a bit much. They're hardly lazy twats. I think the ambulance service for most of Dublin is operated by the fire brigade. Just because there's no fire, doesn't mean they aren't working. Who do you think cuts the victims out of crashed cars etc.

They save lives every day, not necessarily through fire fighting, and in my opinion deserve nothing but respect.(obviously there are Dickheads, but that's the same in every walk of life)

jester77

Who pays for callouts?

If I'm walking down the street and see a house fire and call it in, do I pay, do the occupants of the house pay or does the landlord pay?

Gophur

Chimley? :D:D

Is the OP in pre-school?

Daniel S

easyeason3 wrote: »

apparently a friend of a friend of a friend was charged €900 for a chimney fire call out :eek:

LighterGuy wrote: »

One women in particular got charged 350 euro to put out a chimley fire.

Which is better value?

PCPhoto

Bally8 wrote: »

No you dont. You pay the A&E charge if you dont have a medical card but you dont have to pay for the ambulance

Yes you do !!

had an RTA (Road Traffic Accident) a few years ago - single vehicle collision (tyre blew on me and I crashed car) .... an ambulance was transporting a patient from Dublin to Cork at the time, they took me in the ambulance and several weeks/months later a bill arrived for the ambulance.

I called them up and told them I was not the only person in the ambulance so they halved the bill....and I paid. (cant remember the amount)

Gmol

PCPhoto wrote: »

Yes you do !!

had an RTA (Road Traffic Accident) a few years ago - single vehicle collision (tyre blew on me and I crashed car) .... an ambulance was transporting a patient from Dublin to Cork at the time, they took me in the ambulance and several weeks/months later a bill arrived for the ambulance.

I called them up and told them I was not the only person in the ambulance so they halved the bill....and I paid. (cant remember the amount)

Should have shopped arround

ejmaztec

Gophur wrote: »

Chimley? :D:D

Is the OP in pre-school?

He was until he burned it down.:(

Pandora2

Having worked in an area that touched on this, ime charges, if any, vary from County to County, one incident of a tenant in a house of bedsits calling in a smell of gas (rural), they attended with his name & address as the complainant and he got the bill from the County Council. They were not interested in who owned the property but who they had the address for!! He paid €250!! Never heard of the ambulance charge...surely if you came on someone injured or a burning bulding you should not have to weigh up where you are and if you can afford the charges before getting appropriate help!! There are some who would just keep going:eek:

If your County are not doing this already they will be doing it after the next budget...each Council is given their budget for the year and must make it work, a monkey can tell they will be getting Sweet Feck all this year and they will root around in the other Council's to see what other revenue raising measures they use and hey presto we will all pay for ambulances and fire engines.

These decisions will be made by Councillor's voting locally and if you are against such charges..bend their ear!!!! As money gets tighter, fires will go unreported/the ill will be neglected for fear of charges...might solve the
A&E Crises but it is an indication of how Ireland is going to be a very different place to live into the future!! Thin end of the wedge:rolleyes:

phasers

Bally8 wrote: »

No you dont. You pay the A&E charge if you dont have a medical card but you dont have to pay for the ambulance

Wrong.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/ambulance_and_transport_services.html#l62fd2

Mr. Presentable

That's why you have insurance

Esoteric_

There is an ambulance charge. My sister was charged like 200 euro for needing an ambulance.

phasers

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

That's why you have insurance

Except a lot of people don't, and even if you do claiming for something small like this would affect your no claims bonus so it's not really worth it.

Mike 1972

alchemist33 wrote: »

I believe that if you call them for somebody else's house, you get charged.

I believe its a tad irresponsible to spread roumers like this unless/until one knows what theyre actually talking about.

pickarooney

I remember one time part of our house went on fire and my mother rang the fire brigade in the closest town. They couldn't come because it was over the county line and so we had to ring another station and wait for them to come, then charge us, whereas the other county didn't have this charge.

Zuppy

Every county council is different in regards to charges. BUT the common practice is the beneficial user of the service pays.

If you ring for your neighbours house on fire then the bill (if there is one, depending on the service) goes to your neighbour.

PLEASE : ring the 999 Fire service. The Gardai have enough to do and the fire service require different information and give different advice depending on the nature of the call.

Zuppy

pickarooney wrote: »

I remember one time part of our house went on fire and my mother rang the fire brigade in the closest town. They couldn't come because it was over the county line and so we had to ring another station and wait for them to come, then charge us, whereas the other county didn't have this charge.

And you no longer ring the stations. 999 and they will connect you to the fire control for the province. Hence if you ring from a mobile they will ask where you are and what county etc. Cross county agreements are in place so the nearest station that is available will respond no matter what county they and you are in.

Mr. Presentable

phasers wrote: »

Except a lot of people don't, and even if you do claiming for something small like this would affect your no claims bonus so it's not really worth it.

It's only small if they put the fire out and the house doesn't burn down. If it's only small why call? Surely almost all householders have insurance.

Wicklowrider

irishdude11 wrote: »

Ridiculous that you get charged for a fire brigade. The lazy twats are sitting on their holes all day getting paid to do nothing, and then when they are actually needed there is a surcharge. Itd be the same as if the guards started charging to people to call out when they are needed. Or the postman charging you for bringing letters.

Outside of cities and with exception of one or two larger towns in Ireland, the fire service are retained part time. If they are "sitting on their holes" as your eloquent vocabulary put sit, then they aren't being paid. Even Bray hasn't a full time service.

I used to be on a retained service. One day we were called and the duty driver didn't show up. I drove and when we got there it was the duty driver's car on fire! And yes - he did get a bill.....

Supraman

irishdude11 wrote: »

Ridiculous that you get charged for a fire brigade. The lazy twats are sitting on their holes all day getting paid to do nothing, and then when they are actually needed there is a surcharge. Itd be the same as if the guards started charging to people to call out when they are needed. Or the postman charging you for bringing letters.

Well An Post charge the sender of the letter/packet isnt that enough. The fire brigade don't charge who started the fire lol.

wild_cat

Its to stop bogus calls so they caller is charged.
I think their line is that "your insurance should cover it".

Our neighbour was burning rubbish.... :rolleyes: During a dry time a few years ago. His whole acre went up.. Other neighbour called the gaurds first and got them to call the fire brigade to avoid having to pay the charge for something that wasn't even on his land.

Oink

LighterGuy wrote: »

we've got water taxes (and the areas that already dont are going to)
we've got road taxes.
we've got VAT.
... i could go on. we've practually got tax on everything.

I'm all in favour of a new tax on idiots. It would be based on a new unit of measurement called a tWat.

=>If you use 250 tWats/h, for example by not keeping your fireplace clean, or starting a fire in the dry season, you get charged accordingly when DFB is called.

=>If you crash you car after a DUI, that's another 200 tWats/h for the ambulance. You would of course get credited with 3000 tWats if you manage to remove yourself from the gene pool during the incident.

That would encourage less tWatage.

What do you think?

Mike 1972

Oink wrote: »

You would of course get credited with 3000 tWats if you manage to remove yourself from the gene pool during the incident.

Who would recieve the units since removal from the gene pool would mean death for oneself and no offspring ?

Seachmall

Oink wrote: »

What do you think?

I think we'll be out of the recession in no time!

Lemsiper

The only way to do it is when you have call out the fire brigade is to give your neighbours details, even if it's your fire.

Dravokivich

Bally8 wrote: »

No you dont. You pay the A&E charge if you dont have a medical card but you dont have to pay for the ambulance

There are only 2 exceptions to a charge for the Ambulance that I've heard of:

1) Medical Card
2) Pregnant Women