Help with warrant to gain access

mattcanary

Unless the caretaker/managing agents give you to key to get access to the meter communal cupboard whenever you like/need to, I would not recommend agreeing to have a prepayment meter fitted.

Just having one fitted on their saying they will allow you access once or twice a week is not good enough. What happens if they go back on their word? You will not then be able to get access to your prepayment meter to top it up and you will soon be without power.

Even if you gain access once or twice a week, the arrangement only works on the basis of your supplier setting the right debt repayment prices, etc on your meter (and keeping them set at the right level). It is not uncommon for suppliers to make mistakes with this. This could then lead to problems also.

spiro

mattcanary wrote: »

Unless the caretaker/managing agents give you to key to get access to the meter communal cupboard whenever you like/need to, I would not recommend agreeing to have a prepayment meter fitted.

Just having one fitted on their saying they will allow you access once or twice a week is not good enough. What happens if they go back on their word? You will not then be able to get access to your prepayment meter to top it up and you will soon be without power.

Even if you gain access once or twice a week, the arrangement only works on the basis of your supplier setting the right debt repayment prices, etc on your meter (and keeping them set at the right level). It is not uncommon for suppliers to make mistakes with this. This could then lead to problems also.

But if the supplier goes to court for a warrant then they will fit one anyway as dunloadin says who by his post is/was probably a meter fitter or similar. You will then be left with the problem of access.

dunloadin

There should be access to your meter for youself and any meter readers....the landlord/agency should provide this. That said I have been in communal cupboards chock full of bikes and used as storerooms, perhaps they're trying to avoid this.

I'm surprised that the supplier is insisting on a warrant being issued, particulary as your willing to pay more monies, mind different companies work in different ways. You should as a minimum get one of their reps/warrant officers knocking on the door and trying to sort something out long before it gets to the warrant stage. This aint my area of expertise, perhaps one of the call centre/billing types on here can be of more help.

If you name the supplier you may get more info from others.

Gurn_2

its more likely that you have had payment plans agreed in the past and failed to keep your repayments up, once you keep missing payments they will say enough is enough and the key meter will be fitted to ensure future payments are met, and outstanding debt will be clawed back slowly.

If its a communal cupboard, then as above said, there is no reason why they cant fit a meter there, you will need to talk to your landlord and tell them you need a key for the cupboard as you are having a key meter fitted.

If you dont agree to it, then it will be done with a warrant, and the problem of getting the key will be yours.

kjsmith7

It's a very long time between owing the money and a warrant being applied for, so you must have owed this money for quite a long time (perhaps as Gurn suggests you had agreed payment plans in the past and then couldn't keep up with the repayments?) I'd suggest getting the meter fitted of your own choice after requesting a key from the landlord rather than them going through the courts. You can now top up meters at home, as I presume you are using the internet at home? The home top up is available from a couple of the Big 6 suppliers (whom statistically you more likely to be with) and is free of charge.

spiro

kjsmith7 wrote: »

The home top up is available from a couple of the Big 6 suppliers (whom statistically you more likely to be with) and is free of charge.

Just so no ones is confused, you still access to the meter you just dont need to go to the shop to get money onto you key.

undaunted

Have you just failed to pay or are you generally & genuinely struggling, ie your electricity is a priority debt & should be paid if you can but if you genuinely can't afford to give them £550 or £120 p/m don't just be bullied into it. Contact Consumer Focus who aim to help those who have been or are under threat of disconnection and ask if they can try to help you / mediate You do not have to just accept a pre payment meter, often more expensive for you, despite what the supplier may try and tell you.You can go to court and argue against the warrant and if you are offering £120 p/m have not reneged on previous arrangements etc there is no guarantee they will ever be granted a warrant of entry.If you are on benefits you could choose fuel direct rather than pre payment meter (ie deductions of £3.30 or so are made at source & paid over to your supplier) Do you have children or any elderly or disabled people in the house or are you unemployed? If so ask your supplier about their vulnerable customer policies and do not be kidded that they can just disconnect you if you have made a reasonable offer Google (sorry can't post links unfortunately) for an ofgem best practice document on disconnection and for rights of entry & you will find an oops.gov.uk act detailing some of the grounds they would need to satisfy to gain a warrant of entryThey will probably object to you transferring supplier at the moment but my suggestion is that you write to Consumer Direct and Ofgem with a copy to whoever wins the election today asking if they can explain why an electricity provider should have rights that no other industry has, what is wrong with them pursuing the same civill debt avenues anyone else must and why those in financial difficulty should be forced to stay in a contract on disadvantageous terms if no other barrier (eg the presence of a fixed term agreement) exists to your wish to obtaining the best possible deal for youThere are unlikely to be any over night answers I'm afraid but enough people query the injustice of companies profiteering in this fashion it will perhaps eventually - as the practice of overcharging on pre payment meters has begun to doGood luck

spiro

undaunted wrote: »

Have you just failed to pay or are you generally & genuinely struggling, ie your electricity is a priority debt & should be paid if you can but if you genuinely can't afford to give them £550 or £120 p/m don't just be bullied into it. Contact Consumer Focus who aim to help those who have been or are under threat of disconnection and ask if they can try to help you / mediate You do not have to just accept a pre payment meter, often more expensive for you, despite what the supplier may try and tell you.You can go to court and argue against the warrant and if you are offering £120 p/m have not reneged on previous arrangements etc there is no guarantee they will ever be granted a warrant of entry.If you are on benefits you could choose fuel direct rather than pre payment meter (ie deductions of £3.30 or so are made at source & paid over to your supplier) Do you have children or any elderly or disabled people in the house or are you unemployed? If so ask your supplier about their vulnerable customer policies and do not be kidded that they can just disconnect you if you have made a reasonable offer Google (sorry can't post links unfortunately) for an ofgem best practice document on disconnection and for rights of entry & you will find an oops.gov.uk act detailing some of the grounds they would need to satisfy to gain a warrant of entryThey will probably object to you transferring supplier at the moment but my suggestion is that you write to Consumer Direct and Ofgem with a copy to whoever wins the election today asking if they can explain why an electricity provider should have rights that no other industry has, what is wrong with them pursuing the same civill debt avenues anyone else must and why those in financial difficulty should be forced to stay in a contract on disadvantageous terms if no other barrier (eg the presence of a fixed term agreement) exists to your wish to obtaining the best possible deal for youThere are unlikely to be any over night answers I'm afraid but enough people query the injustice of companies profiteering in this fashion it will perhaps eventually - as the practice of overcharging on pre payment meters has begun to doGood luck

Why did you mention disconnection 3 times, the supplier is not going to disconnect they are going to fit a ppm. As to profiteering from ppm meters, OFGEM has already got supplier to drop their ppm prices so that in most cases they are on a par with standard tariff cash/cheque customers. PPM customers cost a lot more to manage because every time they vend the shop wants a cut and the infrastructure provider wants a cut. Suppliers also have to process an average 42 payments a years comapred to 4 or 12 for nearly ever other customer.

kjsmith7

Undaunted: electricity (and gas, where applicable) is a necessary expenditure. It's completely different to other types of debt because you continue to use it (e.g. you can cut up a credit card or cancel your mobile phone contract) - you cannot merely stop using electricity. Also, a supplier would not want to incur the cost of obtaining a warrant unnecessarily. If a warrant was to be obtained, the balance would have to be outstanding for a long time. It's better for the OP to choose a prepayment meter if there are no other options, rather than having one forced upon them. As spiro has stated, other than the lack of direct debit discount (but the OP is obviously not on a direct debit) and where applicable an online tariff, prepayment metered tariffs are on a par with credit/quarterly bill metered tariffs with most suppliers.

undaunted

spiro wrote: »

Why did you mention disconnection 3 times, the supplier is not going to disconnect they are going to fit a ppm. As to profiteering from ppm meters, OFGEM has already got supplier to drop their ppm prices so that in most cases they are on a par with standard tariff cash/cheque customers. PPM customers cost a lot more to manage because every time they vend the shop wants a cut and the infrastructure provider wants a cut. Suppliers also have to process an average 42 payments a years comapred to 4 or 12 for nearly ever other customer.

A warrant of entry, if granted, would give the possibility of fitting a pre payment meter and / or disconnection if not safe / practical to fit one, as I'm sure you are aware and other posters touch upon.

The poster has said he doesn't want a pre payment meter. The suppliers retort is I suspect likely to be that he cannot refuse - unless he wants to be disconnected - which as far as I am aware is simply not true.

Whilst there may be some extra costs in processing payments it is conveniently ommittted that the energy company then has their money perhaps 3 or 4 months sooner and therefore gains some interest (especially in better economic times) to offset costs. Historically they have made significant and excessive profits from pre payment customers - that is why they have been forced to change.:T