utilitys:do they prosecute for meter tampering?

utility_csa

mod-boy wrote: »

A VERY INTERESTING THREAD! ...but who's fiddling who?

Fiddling:- I for one, don't resent anybody who would be clever enough to do it. Not at all. I wouldn't stamp my feet and say "it's not fair! - I have to pay whatever the companies say I have to pay,- (no regulation) so therefore I'll grass em up (cos I haven't got the bottle or brains to do it") All a bit 'dog in a manger' is that.

No. What is not fair is that the elec/gas companies have the free rein with charging exactly what they like, always putting up prices, deliberately creating complicated tarrifs nobody understands, what is 'calorific value' !!!!??? f f s???

Can somebody tell me what ofcom/offwat are even being paid to do?

Nobody regulates it. Nobody. Old/vulnerable/poor people have to choose eat or heat. THATS what's not fair.:mad:

What would be fair is transparency as to how it is worked out and fairer prices. That will never happen because nobody with a vested interested would allow it. Infact there'd be more chance of lord lucan winning the grand national on shergar....:rotfl:

There. I've said it. And no doubt that will make me unpopular with 'some.' Such is life.:D

NB. The way things are, the economy, I can't blame anybody who does do it., its survival, not greed. Certainly I wouldn't grass on them, either. Or feel smug if they were found out.

Infact I imagine there must be a few in the know , in the trade who could make a fair bit of money telling people how to do it.

A funny thing, before my grandma had her old wheel type meter took out and replaced with a digital one, she was told that all meters become 'dangerous' after a period of time, for example dangerous sludge seepage emits from them apparently. How very irresponsible/cavalier of the elec companies to knowingly fit a meter knowing it will after a few years become 'dangerous'. especially in an elders house. Lucky for her she never saw any dangerous sludge seepage running out from the meter, and her axminster did not get damaged, but that must have been sheer luck. Now she is worried about radiation beaming out of the new one!:rotfl:

You don't have to be smart to fiddle either an electric or gas meter.
I could easily walk to my electric meter, remove the seals and bypass it. pretty much the same with the gas meter.

Sparkies, Plumbers ect should know how to bypass, i know a few who would even bypass it 'safely' for you.

The issue I have with this 'theft' as such is where lives are put in danger, some of my old engineers visited some tampers on gas that could have literally blown at any time.

With vulnerable people their is always options with payment for fuel, their is so many scum out their ripping the companies off to get free fuel, the real vulnerable ones always suffer.

In regards to the dangerous sludge, I believe that would be bitumen / tar from the fuse/fuse carrier, rather than the meter. I've seen meters that have been in for 30+ years and are recording perfect. I would be more worried by having a new meter installed by some of the idiots the companies employ to fit metering these days, seen some real horrors in the last 6 months on new meter installs.

Terrylw1

mod-boy wrote: »

A funny thing, before my grandma had her old wheel type meter took out and replaced with a digital one, she was told that all meters become 'dangerous' after a period of time, for example dangerous sludge seepage emits from them apparently. How very irresponsible/cavalier of the elec companies to knowingly fit a meter knowing it will after a few years become 'dangerous'. especially in an elders house. Lucky for her she never saw any dangerous sludge seepage running out from the meter, and her axminster did not get damaged, but that must have been sheer luck. Now she is worried about radiation beaming out of the new one!:rotfl:

Every meter is certified for its lifetime and they have to be changed by that time. Sadly, due to inability to access them and the fact no one wants to raise warrants on good customers just to change them, there are many thousands of them out there that are years beyond their recertification date. Ofgem are well aware of this.

Its a misconception anyway, the recertification/life is exactly regarding the recording reliability of the meter. You should find that interesting given the thousands I mention...and whenever you here anyone say "faulty meters are rare".

mac.d

utility_csa wrote: »

I would be more worried by having a new meter installed by some of the idiots the companies employ to fit metering these days, seen some real horrors in the last 6 months on new meter installs.

Clearly there are some idiots but isn't it the case that the utility companies save themselves money by training people on how to replace meters and nothing else. Was that always the case for meter fixers or is a new thing?

Oh and as for the 10-year lifespan for meters, everything these days is about health & safety, and I don't think gas and electric meters is an area where people should be lax!

Terrylw1

mac.d wrote: »

Clearly there are some idiots but isn't it the case that the utility companies save themselves money by training people on how to replace meters and nothing else. Was that always the case for meter fixers or is a new thing?

Oh and as for the 10-year lifespan for meters, everything these days is about health & safety, and I don't think gas and electric meters is an area where people should be lax!

Meter operators are licenced per the activities they are expected to do, regardless of who owns them. Its true that some are better trained than others but its an expectation that when sent to do a job, they are qualified to do so. It does still occur where they are not booked to the right people and sometimes they get out there to find its too complex e.g. electrician qualified, supervisor, band (number) engineer required, Bemco engineer required, etc.

The 10 year lifespan isn't correct anyway. Each model has a tested lifespan and it ranges far beyond 10 years. The National Measurements Office (NMO) holds this under Schedule 4 on here if you want to check them.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/nmo/gas-and-electricity-meters/electricity-meters-introduction

SnowMan

Couldn't see anyone had mentioned it so just mentioning this press release from OFGEM from 26th March 2012

OFGEM reinvigorates industry efforts to tackle gas theft

chanz4

Think it will also need the backing of consumer direct whom take the consumers side when caught too much, also information from engineers would have to improve.

[Deleted User]

thanks SnowMan, I have nt seen that,3000 tampers a year found is laughable, I reckon I ve found at least 50 myself in the last 12 months and 75% of my working year is spent in reasonably affluent and rural areas where tampering is nt common..My finds will obviously be the tiny tip of a very big iceberg. The large inner city areas and sink estates around the country will be rife.As I have said, if you are bypassing the last thing you are going to do is open the door to anybody knocking at all, at least until you ve had a check as to whos knocking.I find a fair ammount of my tampers purely by accident when someones opened the door by mistake, or like with the Roma Gypsys when I got in by being a bit pushy.
I heard on the radio this afternoon about a gas explosion in flats in Clacton, it will be interesting to find out the cause of this gas explosion.
Ofgem dont mention anything about prosecutions in their methods of combatting energy theft although a dedicated hotline is a good idea

Terrylw1

What's the incentive though...a licence obligation? Are ofgem having a laugh? The only way anyone finds out if a licence condition has been broken is when a customer registers a complaint beyond the supplier or ofgem monitor the licence condition. Ofgem are really bad at monitoring licence conditions in my opinion.

In terms of all licence conditions, unless they are monitored, all those complaints that are resolved prior to the ombudsman stage...are they reported to ofgem? Are they boot!

chanz4

Just reported a fully tampered etm on tbay 280856830452

[Deleted User]

Thanks Chanz4 , thats a double whammy that one, an illegally damaged and former bypass now offered for sale again on the UKs central clearing outlet to carry on the good work.unbelievable!