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How to track down communal electricity supplier?

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  • Haarlem
    Haarlem Posts: 345 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 8 July 2010 at 5:36PM
    . (The woman at MPAS didn't sound at all bothered by the notion that we might be getting free electricity, presumably because it's such a small amount.)

    As I said previously it all points to an unmetered supply with the record of who should pay being lost in all the changes to the structure of the industry.

    I am surprised the Distribution Company (Not MPAS) cannot help because they should have it on record for safety reasons. If someone gets injured from this communal service and they have no record of where the service enters the building and the location of the cutout then there could be a claim aginst them.

    MPAS will not be interested as it will be one of many thousands (probably 10s of thousands) services not being billed, and as I have stated in previous posts there is no incentive to find out as we are all paying for the units not billed in system losses.
  • Ken68
    Ken68 Posts: 6,825 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Energy Saving Champion Home Insurance Hacker!
    Could it be Quantam that the Factor is using the unmetered electric from the 'cleaning' socket for his own use. Maybe he considers it as wages in lieu.
  • Haarlem wrote: »
    As I said previously it all points to an unmetered supply with the record of who should pay being lost in all the changes to the structure of the industry.

    Yes, it does seem likely. (Scottish Hydro -- the distribution company -- claim that they only install unmetered supplies in exceptional circumstances, but I've looked everywhere for a meter and can't find one.)
    I am surprised the Distribution Company (Not MPAS) cannot help because they should have it on record for safety reasons. If someone gets injured from this communal service and they have no record of where the service enters the building and the location of the cutout then there could be a claim aginst them.

    I'm surprised too, but it does appear to be the case. Back in the 80s, when the conversion was done, Scottish Hydro were the only game in town and almost certainly installed the supply, but they are quite clear that they have no record of one.
    MPAS will not be interested as it will be one of many thousands (probably 10s of thousands) services not being billed, and as I have stated in previous posts there is no incentive to find out as we are all paying for the units not billed in system losses.

    There seems to be a deafening lack of interest on all sides, sadly; since I'm not about to pay an electrician to look into the matter, it's looking like I'm out of options. Not really a satisfactory state of affairs, but what else is there to do?
  • Ken68 wrote: »
    Could it be Quantam that the Factor is using the unmetered electric from the 'cleaning' socket for his own use. Maybe he considers it as wages in lieu.

    Since he doesn't live in (or even nearby) I doubt it, though I wouldn't be surprised if some of the residents are doing this. It's more likely that he simply decided that chasing it up was more work for him and more expense for us, so decided not to bother.
  • anniecave
    anniecave Posts: 2,469 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I would stop worrying about it if I were you. Even if there was a meter recording consumption and some supplier is running up bills at 17.5% VAT on some standard (high) tariff then if it's only a bit of lighting and occasional use of a vacuum cleaner then by the time the bills are divided up between all of you then it won't be very much anyway. If there are lifts and heating in the communal areas it may be a bit more....
    Indecision is the key to flexibility :)
  • anniecave wrote: »
    I would stop worrying about it if I were you. Even if there was a meter recording consumption and some supplier is running up bills at 17.5% VAT on some standard (high) tariff then if it's only a bit of lighting and occasional use of a vacuum cleaner then by the time the bills are divided up between all of you then it won't be very much anyway. If there are lifts and heating in the communal areas it may be a bit more....

    True enough. This began (at least partly) because I was worried they would include penalties and interest payments along with 7+ years of back charges, turning a fairly small bill into something more substantial, but that definitely won't happen. In fact, I get the distinct impression they don't feel the effort involved in finding a way to bill us is worth the bother.

    Thanks for all the help and advice everyone!

    Cheers, and goodnight,

    QC
  • Hi I don't agree that you should "let sleeping dogs lie". By using elctricity or gas you are deemed to have accepted the prices and T&C's of the supplier, this happens the minute you switch on your supply. Whilst I accept this is different ,you know something is not right here so ignoring the fact is not going to solve the situation.
    Without a meter thsi becomes very difficult to track down the supplier and I suspect as someone has mentioned earlier that one of the tenants is paying for this supply.
    An electrician should be able to trace the wiring. I may be wrong but I thought all elctricity supplies were meant to be metered since the industry was opend up to comepetition.
    Let us know how you get on
    Good luck
  • Hi I don't agree that you should "let sleeping dogs lie". By using elctricity or gas you are deemed to have accepted the prices and T&C's of the supplier, this happens the minute you switch on your supply. Whilst I accept this is different ,you know something is not right here so ignoring the fact is not going to solve the situation.

    I agree that something is not right here, but (unless you have any other ideas) my options at this point are either to (a) get Scottish Hydro to investigate (which they won't do unless we all agree, and there's little chance of that) or (b) pay to get an electrician to investigate (which would have to come out of my pocket, as no-one else is interested in helping).

    Frankly, the idea of having to spend my own money in an effort to push payment on an electricity company that doesn't appear to be interested anyway is more than I can bear. They have been informed of the situation, and that I'm happy to co-operate with them should they wish to take any steps to resolve matters. Why should I have to do more?
    Without a meter thsi becomes very difficult to track down the supplier and I suspect as someone has mentioned earlier that one of the tenants is paying for this supply.
    We've now checked, and the supply isn't being billed to any of the flats (nobody's meter ran faster when a 3kW kettle was plugged into a communal socket).
    An electrician should be able to trace the wiring. I may be wrong but I thought all elctricity supplies were meant to be metered since the industry was opend up to comepetition.
    Let us know how you get on
    Good luck
    The building was converted in the mid-80s, before the industry was opened up. Perhaps a meter should later have been installed, but it doesn't appear to have been.

    As far as I'm concerned, I've now done as much as any reasonable person could be expected to do, and the matter is now closed.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,059 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    Agreed, let it be!

    Right now from the back of the communal socket drill a hole through the wall and run a heavy duty lead into your flat and
    ;)
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