Electric help british gas took out my meter and left me with no electric

spideruk99

hi i want to know if there is any help i can get with the fact that i had my electric meter pulled out after i had rented my house to a criminal. i phoned british gas my electric and gas supplyer and told them that a crimial had bypassed the electric meter. they then came out to my house and pulled out the electric meter, and told ME I HAD TO PAY £650 to have a new meter fitted. thought i was doing a good deed GUESS NOT i am currently not in work and on sick i am living in candle light with just my gas fire, how can i get my meter put back in.... would the britsh gas trust help me or not. HELP HELP HELP i can not take living in dark much longer....

chrism_scotland

You say that you rented the property out to someone, did they have a tenancy agreement with you while they were in the property?

brewerdave

NO electric? -gas powered PC perhaps??

spideruk99

there is no meter or box left in the house and i have contacted other electric company's and they say i have to have it re-fitted by British gas which are my electric and gas supplier the tenant that rent my house i have found out that he is in and out of prison, and there was a tenant agreement it was one of the ones from the post office filled in. i have no new known address for this tenant and i feel i would not get any money out of him what so ever so i am having to find the money somehow to have my KEY METER put back in £650 thats why i am wondering if there is any help i can get to have this electric put back in. i am without electric and hot water, my gas fire is my only source of heating as the rest of the heating needs electric which the house does not currently have and i am a 50 year old lady living like this HELP HELP:mad: ("i am sending these messages from my sister house not my own")

ollski

Are they saying they want their money back from the power stolen in your property?, I'm no landlord but isn't it your (or the letting agents) responsibility to pay it and then recover your monies from the guilty party from the deposit or small claims court?

spideruk99

It is ok saying recover it fromthe other party how do you do that without knowing there new address and also what are the chances of him paying me never i am saying the electric company want me to pay to put a new meter back in and yes pay his arrers which is not my debt but now is all i want is my electric back on not bothered about anything else just £650 to put a new key meter in and to have running hot water and lights and power

ollski

I think you need to report the crime to the police first...it is a crime and people have done time for it. It is almost always done to run a cannabis farm and believe me the police would take more than a passing interest. This may then go some way to convincing your utility provider it wasn't used by you as they have no idea. To them a meter has been illegally bypassed in your house (your account?) and used an amount of free gas until they were tipped off.
Did you not get a months rent in arrears and a deposit?, private lease or through a management company?

dizzybuff

ollski wrote: »

I think you need to report the crime to the police first...it is a crime and people have done time for it. It is almost always done to run a cannabis farm and believe me the police would take more than a passing interest. This may then go some way to convincing your utility provider it wasn't used by you as they have no idea. To them a meter has been illegally bypassed in your house (your account?) and used an amount of free gas until they were tipped off.
Did you not get a months rent in arrears and a deposit?, private lease or through a management company?

The crime you are looking for is abstracting electricity and there will also be a criminal damage of the box, neither of which you will be the AP for . But you can report it. however the AP would need to record the crime . AP being British Gas. They should have done so as they took the meter .

Crime details underneath

http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/counttheft07.pdf

chrism_scotland

If you have proof that you were not in the property; you mentioned a tenancy agreement via the Post Office, then you should be able to prove that you were not responsible for the property when the meter was bypassed which should enable BG to get the meter re-fitted for you, as long as their is proof that you were not the responsible party then you should not have to pay the re-connection and stolen energy costs.

spideruk99

OK thanks for your help, i have already been to the police and they said they didn't want to know because they have not stolen from me they have stolen from British gas, i have also already sent a copy of the tenant agreement and they don't want to know because the tenant never had it changed from my name to his name meaning they think it was me all along even with the tenant agreement as it is one that you just fill in yourself they are basically saying i could have made it up.

sleepless_saver

Have you tried your insurance company?