utilitys:do they prosecute for meter tampering?

[Deleted User]

thanks C_mababejive,I cant believe that theres another bypass loop back on ebay,one was reported on this forum a few days ago,quite a few reported it to our organisations and ebay;and the listing was removed within 24 hours,funnily enough the thread and posts were all deleted from here also which makes me think there was a prosecution in the offing. I will once again report this item to my company and ebay and UKRPA

utility_csa

I know british gas when their mop contracts were being taken in house did absolutely loads of warrant calls, their revenue protection offers were quite good.

I remember once reporting a customer who just kept getting wind-ons every day. she couldn't even afford gas, yet had it full blast 247. pretty much the same as tampering. BG didnt give a damn...

[Deleted User]

thanks,I think you worded it perfectly,British Gas have bigger priorities than deterring gas and electric theft. Its definitetely on the increase throughout the less advantaged areas shall we say.Yes they have proberbly have the best Revenue Protection of the lot.Last week I made dozens of calls to EONs revenue protection to report a serious gas bypass which involveded internal damage to the latest gas prepay,with no answer whatsoever.I dont work for EON personally but I know people who do and they didn t even know the number seeing as they never check and dont even really know what to look for to spot tampers.Its open season nowadays for meter tampering, no one prosecutes,the meter readers are not trained much in spotting them,British Gas seem to have given up monitoring completely I Have just made a complaint myslf to ofgem about it all but I dont even expect a reply

SailorSam

Sacsquacco do you think if the meter readers not only had better training but were on a commission to report it would reduce theft. In my last house i asked for the meter to be moved so that it could be read from outside, it was already in the porch so would have been simple to do, it was going to cost an-arn-and-a-leg. Rather than charge shouldn't that be almost compulsory, if all meters were in the street fiddling would be less easy to do.

Terrylw1

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I think the whole system has become far more fragmented since privatisation. When The mighty and great British Gas Corporation ran everything it was all far more tightly controlled and safer. Circulation of meters and fittings was kept in house and controlled. Now the wheels have more or less fallen off and its a wild west free for all.

Whats the worst that happens if you get caught fiddling? They just bill you for the stolen gas.

You can then carry on fiddling.

Of course if referred to the police,they would prosecute and if discovered by police,there is a chance of prosecution but really...you can buy new and stolen meters on Ebay now and you can also buy home made meter bypasses so why bother paying for gas?

Ebay arent bothered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAS-METER-LOOP-PURGE-TEST-POINT-BRIDGE-TEST-RIG-FOR-DOMESTIC-METERS-/230763940066?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item35ba9a48e2

By the way,this person is falsely representing this item as some kind of testing device which is complete rubbish.

He isnt the only one who sells them.

For elec I would disagree. All the problems that exist now were around then so I would argue that they never set the industry up for privatisation. Over the years I've often heard the old guard say "it always worked back in the day" but those same people have been seen to lack understanding of what should happen and why, and many issues have beenn sorted out by post privatisation employees who are not clouded by the old ways. Its much more complicated now and companies just make it harder searching for cheaper ways to run their businnes than the correct ways. On on the end of this we've had a regulator who has let them get away with loads with no control. All the heavy complaints monitoring is all new and still doesn't actually measure more than how many complain seeing all complaints as equal.

In terms of the tamper issue, no one is enforcing anything so companies just look to the bottom line.

utility_csa

SailorSam wrote: »

Sacsquacco do you think if the meter readers not only had better training but were on a commission to report it would reduce theft. In my last house i asked for the meter to be moved so that it could be read from outside, it was already in the porch so would have been simple to do, it was going to cost an-arn-and-a-leg. Rather than charge shouldn't that be almost compulsory, if all meters were in the street fiddling would be less easy to do.

I was always under the impression that meter readers always should be reporting any sign of tampering or damaged equipment. The issue is no one really cares.

moving the meters to outside is a pain and costly, and in reality if someone wants to steal electric or gas they will do it whether or not its inside. Smart meters for residential would have prevented a need for them to be moved outside.

One of our engineers reported a supply being illegally tampered with on a big residential site to Uk Power Networks over two years ago... He had to visit it again last weeks to work on another meter in the same unit. they haven't even bothered with it.

Terrylw1

utility_csa wrote: »

I was always under the impression that meter readers always should be reporting any sign of tampering or damaged equipment. The issue is no one really cares.

moving the meters to outside is a pain and costly, and in reality if someone wants to steal electric or gas they will do it whether or not its inside. Smart meters for residential would have prevented a need for them to be moved outside.

One of our engineers reported a supply being illegally tampered with on a big residential site to Uk Power Networks over two years ago... He had to visit it again last weeks to work on another meter in the same unit. they haven't even bothered with it.

In elec the meter reader can select a code for tamper, the meter operator can do the same but can also send an adhoc information data flow to explain it. A specific tamper flow even exists as some results from tamper visits where the supplier has sent them to check it.

Gas I believe have similar methods but text codes as opposed to numeric ones.

Eitherway, it comes down to the supplier using the codes. At deregulation, these codes were all new but the billing systems were old. So suppliers had to build mechanisms to handle them, but did they also build them to extract the codes as well as say the readings they wanted?

Its an industry of short term fixes...hence all the threads on this site!

[Deleted User]

as usual Terrylw1 is spot on that they are always looking at the bottom line,he kmows how this industry works,Sailorsam, I can tell you the meter readers get very little training at all in detecting gas and electric theft.British Gas are the only ones I know to pay any attention to this issue,they send their men round with examples of tampered meters ,slide shows and they do pay an incentive payment for sucessfull tamper finds.Edf have never mentionrd anything ever nor have EON when we had their contract.I did originally work for N.power and they also did virtually no tamper training at all.I have read "must reads " for Scottish and Southern (2 year meter checks), and 3 out of the 5 prepay gas I finally got into were tampered, which does nt bode well for their record either.Sailorsam, if you want the meter moved you will have to pay National Grids rip off price as its their concern.price is constantly going up,expect to be quoted in excess of £350 minimum, plus you have to buy the meter box,you have to go through your supplier to get this going

lemontart

Yes I have heard of instances where there have been prosecution and convictions as not only is it theft but they are endangering people and property.

Also those caught selling equipment for such are actively pursued and taken to court by various bodies.

Owain_Moneysaver

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Ebay arent bothered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAS-METER-LOOP-PURGE-TEST-POINT-BRIDGE-TEST-RIG-FOR-DOMESTIC-METERS-/230763940066?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item35ba9a48e2

By the way,this person is falsely representing this item as some kind of testing device which is complete rubbish.

He isnt the only one who sells them.

this item has been taken off ebay now.