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'Fire destroyed our home - then Sky wanted box back'

Matt WeigoldDerby
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service A badly fire-damaged kitchen with charred appliances and rubble.Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
The house was badly damaged in the blaze

Sky has apologised after asking a mother of three whose house was destroyed in a fire to return the charred remains of her TV box or face a £58 charge.

Hannah Foster rescued her children after a faulty tumble dryer caused the fire at her home in Derby the night before their family holiday in March.

She told the BBC she rang the broadcaster to cancel her subscription then received a message "cruelly" asking her to retrieve and return the melted box.

Sky has now apologised, saying the request was been made in error and no charges would be applied in relation to the damaged equipment.

Before receiving the apology, Foster said it would have been "dangerous and traumatic" to return to her badly damaged home in Allestree.

"It's very cruel to say that I have to go back in there just to get this thing that won't even work any more," she said.

DFRS/Hannah Foster Two images. Left, a burned out semi detached house with broken windows, rubble and a charred conservatory and garden furniture. Right a screen shot of an online message conversation with a Sky logo at the top. The first message reads "Hannah, please stay connected while we check this for you." The return message reads "Okay," Another message reads, "Thanks for waiting patiently, Hannah. I've checked your account, and since you have a bit of melted plastic left, I kindly request that you return it to any of the nearest post offices to avoid non-return charges. Even after returning it, if you get charged, you can reach out to us, and we'll check and help you with it."DFRS/Hannah Foster
Hannah Foster was asked to return the charred remains of her TV box or face a £58 charge

Foster noticed smoke and flames coming from her kitchen at midnight on 26 March.

The special educational needs teaching assistant grabbed her sleeping daughter and alerted her two sons and partner to leave their home.

Since then, the family has been looking for a new home and she has cancelled any existing bills and subscriptions for the property.

Foster said she explained her situation to a Sky employee over the phone, who ended her subscription and reassured her that although they would send out a cardboard return box for her equipment, she should ignore it.

However she then received two further calls from the Sky sales team asking why she had cancelled her subscription.

Hannah Foster A woman and boy sitting on a sofa. The woman has her arm on the shoulder of the boy and they are both smiling.Hannah Foster
Foster rescued her children when their home became engulfed in flames

"I understand they're a company and they want to make money, but it just felt very cruel to make me repeat myself time and time again," she said.

"I don't think it would hurt them to show a little bit of humanity."

A short time later, Foster received a text and email which said she must return her Sky set-top box or face a £58 fine.

She opened an online chat with Sky to clear up the misunderstanding but was stunned when she was asked to return the "bit of melted plastic".

"It was bad enough going into the property the first time and trying to see if there's anything we could recover," she said.

"It's very triggering to be somewhere after such a traumatic event - to literally see all our memories and belongings either turned into ash or melted."

Sky confirmed Foster had received "conflicting information" from advisers but the matter had now been resolved.

A spokesperson said: "We're very sorry for the incorrect information Ms Foster received and for resulting distress this has caused.

"We've spoken to Ms Foster to apologise directly and to reassure her that no charges will be applied to her account in relation to the damaged equipment."

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