lpg delivered by mistake!!!

First and foremost, find out which supplier actually owns the tank. If it is a supplier other than Flogas, then make sure that you advise them in writing that an unauthorised delivery has been made to the tank by another supplier, and give them as much detail as you can.

Earlier in this thread, Cardew suggested that you might be able to "negotiate 50% off the price": in principle, a good starting point, but, 50% off what? As the company is Flogas, you would be VERY well advised to understand current market pricing and to stand your ground.

At the moment, I would suggest that a "fair" (and I don't mean cheap) market price is probably somewhere between 45 and 50ppl;
I would consider a "cheap" market price at present to be be anywhere sub 41ppl;

The current wholesale price for December is a shade under 30ppl, so you couldn't reasonably expect to agree a price lower than that.

Therefore, if you are going to take the "knock something off and I'll pay you, otherwise take it away" line, I would suggest that you should be aiming to agree a price of about 34-35ppl;

However, Flogas are frequently quoted as being the most expensive supplier, with prices well in excess of 70ppl being quoted (and one occasion, a price of 79ppl was quoted). So, by Flogas' normal standards, 35ppl is a very heavily discounted price, which might make negotiations a little awkward, but don't forget, you're in this situation because they made a mistake, not you!

I can see one further problem here: Unless Flogas can prove to your satisfaction and beyond reasonable doubt just how LPG much they actually added to the tank in error, how many of their litres of best LPG do you actually pay for at your negotiated price, or, if you are unable to negotiate a price, how much do you let them take back out?

The bottom line is it's their mistake and whatever happens, it is my understanding they cannot legally leave you in a situation where you are worse off than before they made that mistake.

Personally, I would be inclined to put a padlock on the tank before they try to "pop along and remove the LPG" whilst you are in the process of negotiation with them.

Remember, until the LPG in question has been paid for or title transferred under some other agreement, that it remains the property of Flogas. If they point-blank refuse to agree a sensible price with you, put them on written legal notice that you are quite prepared to let them recover their LPG from the tank. But only on certain (reasonable) conditions. For example, the following approach seems "quite reasonable" to me, given the situation:

That they may remove from the tank a quantity of LPG not exceeding the minimum quantity of LPG delivered, provided that:

1. They can provide you with hard proof of the minimum amount that they put in by mistake - if they can't do that anyway, they really have no right to be taking anything out of the tank;
2. They provide copies of current certificates of calibration for the metering equipment fitted to the tanker that made the erroneous delivery. If they can't do that, then they are quite simply not in a position to prove how much was actually delivered;
3. When the tanker arrives to collect the LPG, that you want a representative of Weights and Measures or other qualified independent witness to be present (at Flogas cost), to verify the amount removed does not exceed the minimum amount added in error;
4. Further, if the tank is not owned by Flogas, liaise with the tank owner, and ask whether they would require one of their engineers to be present to ensure that everything is done to their satisfaction and that any remedial work required is rectified immediately and at Flogas' cost. Of course, it would be up to them how they arrange this and whether or not they dictate an appointment time or charge to Flogas.
5. They provide you with copies of certificates of calibration for the metering equipment fitted to the tanker that is recovering the LPG;
6. They make reasonable compensation for any time that you may have to take off work to witness the process and to sign that it has been completed to your satisfaction - how much that is will be entirely dependent on your salary and how long the process would take;

And so on and so forth. The bottom line, is make it as awkward, expensive and time consuming as possible for Flogas, without actually doing anything that any fair person would consider an unreasonable action to protect your own interests. With any luck, they will look at the situation and cut their losses. Aim for 34-35ppl and settle for 38ppl and you won't have come out of it too badly.

Good Luck

Thanks

Point taken about an oil company 'debt'(alleged or actual) - I hadn't realised that they differed from utility companies and banks.

So it would appear that the posts from people who have had their credit record affected by an unpaid Utility bill could be accurate.

So OP tell Flogas to take a jump, and I am not going to pay the paper-boy tomorrow;)

It "maybe" an idea to mention all this to the Landlord. I would ask him who owns the tank. You would need this information anyway to get it filled in the future, especially if its owned by a particular company.
Tanks are very rarely owned outright by the house owner (I looked into it, not worth the bother) If it is owned by Flowgas and you are thinking of staying in the house for sometime, I would certainly ask the LL for permission to change suppler.