Massive gas and electric bills!?

nic_santorini

I deal with abstraction of electricity at work. If you find it, you should call EDF very soon and get them to come out. Its sounds as if someone is abstracting your electricity and this can put your safety at risk if they have done a botch job - which all of them are. EDF usually turn up within 2 hours and switch of the electricity.

Hope that helps, give them a call

jalexa

Joelk wrote: »

I do have a feeling someone else may be enjoying free electricity at my expense, as the blue and red cables I spoke about in my last post bypass my fuse box and disappear off into the floorboards above.

That's possible, though a fraudulent hook-up would be better made before the meter not after. Whatever, it is something you should bring to the suppliers attention urgently as the "red and blue" wires are protected only by the main fuse and are a fire hazard if not of sufficient rating for whatever use is being made.

Does the meter terminal cover have a lead seal?

Joelk

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses again. I had indeed feared it could be quite a fire hazard so am very keen to get this sorted ASAP.

I'm going to call my landlord tomorrow before calling EDF. He owns the ground and basement flat where I live (used to be a maisonette that was split into two flats which could explain some of this...). Could rather annoy my new neighbours if they suddenly have no electricity when they may never have been aware of the mess up that someone else may have made. However, if it's unsafe, I'm sure a fire would annoy them much more.

@nic_santorini - thanks for your reply! If EDF do come and turn off the electricity, what then happens? Am I also left without electric? In your experience, how long does this often take to resolve - how long would I be without electricity for?

In terms of the lead seals - there are lead seals on either side of the meter itself. In terms of the screw that seems to keep the cover on the terminals that go into the bottom of the meter, there is no lead seal on it - seems to add to my theory that perhaps someone is taking my electricity.

I'll make a few phone calls tomorrow and keep the forum updated so everyone can see the outcome - could be quite interesting for anyone in a similar position.

jalexa

Joelk wrote: »

I'm going to call my landlord tomorrow before calling EDF. He owns the ground and basement flat where I live (used to be a maisonette that was split into two flats which could explain some of this...).

Don't forget to take some photographs before the evidence is "lost". Also check for presence of a seal on the main cut-out fuse.

Joelk

Already snapped a few photos on my phone ;-)! Where is the main cut out fuse?

macman

The cut-out is the next 'box' upstream from the meter.

Terrylw1

The rewiring could also be the culprit so if someone is coming out, be there.

I'm wondering if the conversion has gone wrong and some of your neighbours are connected to your meter. I have seen this before.

The load may not be enough to warrant a safety issue e.g. you could have a 3 phase meter that would cover the lot. It sounds more likely it would be a single phase metet in a domestic property rated up to 100 amp, which would be a safetty issue since each property should have one although you do get shared supplies such as flat+shop and they are fine.

I'm wondering whether this is a mess on the landlords side as sometimes they take short cuts to save cash. Do you know if your neighbours pay elec or veen have a meter? It could even be that there are submeters involved but its difficult to say so asking the landlord would be a good move. If you can get some more info and post it, perhaps it will be evident whether its a tamper or a wiring problem?

macman

Post a photo of the 'bypassed' cable arrangement.

Joelk

images posted at the following URLs:

www . joelkirstein . co . uk / meterimages

Remove the spaces - can't post proper links as I'm a new user!

Notice the following:

Photo 5: No seal on face plate part of meter. Red and blue cables do not go to my meter.

Photo 1: See how the black cables go to the black box then into my meter.

Photo 3: See another angle of photo 1, how the black cable goes off into the floorboards. I imagine all the grey cables are "my" cables that go off to my appliances etc.

Spoke to the agent today and he said he will get an electrician around soon - said he didn't know when yet but will tell them it's urgent. Am going to chase on Wednesday if i dont hear anything.

I don't want the electrician to re-connect the red and blue cables anywhere though - if they supply another house that is unmetered and he puts them on the "other side" of my meter, then they are essentially abstracting from EDF? But then whoever is stealing it (knowingly or not) is left without electric for god knows how long!?

What do people think?

jalexa

Joelk wrote: »

Photo 5: No seal on face plate part of meter. Red and blue cables do not go to my meter.

Do you mean your fuse-box?