LANWorx Vulnerable Consumers Register
In November 2020, the Commerce Commission published the 111 Contact Code to ensure that vulnerable consumers can contact emergency services in the event of a power failure at their premises.
While it is clear the Code is primarily focused on consumer connections, it also applies to businesses where a person ordinarily resides at the premises where we provide your landline service. If this does not apply to you, you can safely disregard this email.
Click here to download the 111 Contact Code.
How a power outage may affect your ability to contact emergency services
Fibre and fixed wireless will not work in the event of a power failure unless you have a backup power supply, so if your landline is supplied over these technologies you will not be able to use it to contact the 111 emergency service during a power cut. The code does not apply to copper broadband services.
Certain devices at your premises, such as PABXs, cordless phones and medical alarms without an inbuilt battery, may also not work in the event of a power failure without a backup power supply, so you may not be able to use them to contact the 111 emergency service during a power cut.
We recommend keeping a charged mobile phone on hand to ensure you have means of contacting the 111 emergency service in the event of a power failure at your premises.
Vulnerable consumers
The Code defines a vulnerable consumer as someone who is at particular risk of requiring the 111 emergency service and does not have a means for contacting the 111 emergency service that can be operated for a continuous eight-hour period in the event of a power failure.
If someone at your premises relies on your landline connection for medical, safety, or disability reasons and you do not have a way of contacting the 111 emergency service in the event of a power failure, you can let us know you want to be listed as a vulnerable consumer by emailing noc@lanworx.co.nz
We will send you an appropriate means of contacting the 111 emergency service that can be operated for the minimum period in the event of a power failure.
If we do not supply your broadband services and you are outside mobile coverage you will need to contact your broadband provider to ensure they provide you with a suitable solution to ensure your broadband will continue to function in the event of a power failure.
We cannot deny or cease supply of a retail landline service on the basis that we know or suspect a consumer is, or may become, a vulnerable consumer.
Disputes
Please contact us if you have any concerns about the information provided or if you have a complaint about this process.
A dispute between a consumer and a provider about their rights and obligations under the Code may be referred to an industry dispute resolution scheme by the customer or the provider. The account holder can submit a complaint regarding the 111 Contact Code to us or an industry resolution scheme on behalf of themselves or another person residing at the premises.
You may also make a complaint directly to the Commerce Commission regarding our compliance with the 111 Contact Code, but the primary method of making a complaint is through an industry dispute resolution scheme.
We’re here to help
If you have any questions about the Code, how it applies to you or how to let us know you have a vulnerable person/s living on a business site, you can contact us using the methods below:
- Contact your LANWorx account manager and following up in writing.
- Emailing noc@lanworx.co.nz to advise us.