Problem with reading electricity meter

rachael_alice

A colleague at work has a problem with getting his supplier to read his electicity meter and I wonder if there is anyone out who might be able to give me a suggestion as to how to help him.

He lives on his own in a one bedrooom flat and is out at work all day. He is currently paying £800 per year for his electricity. His meter is in a basement flat which is not owned by the company he rents his flat from and in the 5 years he has lived at his flat no one has been able to gain access to the basement flat to read the meter - the owner of the flat is unknown. The meter was read before he moved into the flat

His utility company say they are not obliged to read the meter and will carry on sending him estimated bills based on previous bills.

Any suggestions please?

kat21

I find it strange that he has lived their all this time and never had acess to his electricity meter. the supplier is obliged to read your meter every two years, please contact engery watch and they will be able to provide you will details Helpline: 08459 06 07 08
they should also be able to tell you who the meter is registered too.Your electricity meter should be accessable at all times in case of fire or fault.
Clearly if they cannot gain access, I find this strange to since every flat I have lived in on the day I have taken up tenancy, I took my meter readings and passed those over to the energy provider, who provided the start meter point reading? If no body appears to have entered or left this basement flat perhaps contacting your local council might help or indeed your local councillor, because I assume their must be council tax to pay, just as their is with my accomodation.If the meter was read before he moved into the flat, then clearly they should have details with who supplied that reading. I think taking into account this has gone on for five years you will probably need legal advice because I am sure the meter has to be accessable to be read.

Giddytimes

Did the company your friend rents from convert the property into flats? When this was done the builders should have had the meters moved to a communal area. Obviously this hasn't happened, if it is rented the electricity company will expect the landlord to pay to move the meter out of the downstairs flat. In fact I doubt very much they should be letting the flat out at all, it must be breaching some regulation? Your friend would not be able to reach the electricity meter incase of emergencies/powercuts. I presume his fuse box is in his flat though?

As previously said the electricity company have to read the meter once every two years, I find it hard to believe that they haven't gone to court for a warrant and forced entry by now.

Edit-changed as I didn't read the original post properly!

oldwiring

Anything in the lease or rental documents about access to the meters?

black-saturn

The house I used to live in had the electric meter under a built in fire place and no one could see what the meter reading was or get to the meter (like that when I moved in). In the end I think I phoned Siemens who arranged to have the meter moved for free as it was the law to get a proper reading done every now and again. I found they were over estimating my payments by a lot and had to pay me back a hefty sum of money.

Wig

£2 online Land registry search to find the owners name & address of the basement flat.

Look for a broken window to gain entry to the flat, if the window is already broken/open there's no offence committed if you go into the flat. I had a similar situation, not the meter but the fuse had blown supplying my meter, the fuse was in the downstairs flat, I found an open window, I was thinner then and it was a tight squeeze.......just to be sure I telephoned the local police to inform them what I was doing. I changed the fuse which was really old and hideously dangerous IMO, but I managed it, and glad I don't live there anymore..............I was also really dreading finding the occupant dead in bed, spooked me out because the radio was playing sofly in the bedroom :eek:

Obviously if the meter reading is more than they estimated, leave it, and move.

anniecave

I'd agree with Wig - try to find out who owns the flat and get access to it, I'm presuming no-one is living there at the moment, otherwise your colleague and meter readers could get access to it if need be.
Even when you do get access, it will be difficult to figure out how much has actually been used during the time in question. Honestly, meters should always be accessible to at least the resident, if not comunally!