Gas Safety Checks

amyn84

Not sure whether anyone could help me on this. I know it's not about money saving, but a lot of you seem very clued up when it comes to G&E providers, so hopefully someone can help.

A bit of background first (it's long I'm afraid) my mum has been threatened with a warrant for entry for her gas provider to carry out a Gas Safety test. She's aware of them wanting to do this and has made several appointment with them which they have not turned up for. The company claim they have attempted to contact her regarding this by phone, but they have never left any messages. Upon receiving this letter she called gas provider and was assured all was sorted and that the matter was now closed.

However, she's since received another letter from a 3rd party company acting on behalf of her gas provider saying that they are going to 'gain entry' this week to do the test. She's tried calling this company to at least arrange an appointment to be told, they don't do appointment. She's unable to actually remain at home for the entire week to wait for these people to come round. She googled this company and it actually appears to be a debt collection agency - although doesn't owe them a penny - she as you can imagine she's getting a bit peeved off with all this.

She's asked me to try and get to the bottom of it and see whether all of this is actually allowed as she's since found out that a Gas Safety Test is only a legal requirement for a landlord, not a homeowner, so surely, they're not within their rights to threaten court action should this test not be carried out.

So, in short, where does my mum stand? What should be her next course of action?

I've told her she should write to her gas provider and demand that this is sorted out. I feel that she could be within her right to complain and to demand some form of conpensation should the company be in the wrong (and not enforcing the law correctly) due to stress that has been caused to her. She could also have cause to contact the regulator, but I'm not sure how far that would actually get her. But I'm not sure if any of this is correct.

If you've managed to get through this, is there any advice, or a better place I could go to get some if this isn't the right place?

Thanks for reading

tripled

They are legally obliged to inspect the meter every two years, and if it hasn't been inspected and they can't make contact with the occupier of the property or the occupier breaks appointments then they will go to court to get a warrant.

However if the gas comapny has been the one breaking the appointments, then they shouldn't be taking this route.

Your mum should be able to claim the statutory compensation for each missed appointment in the past (I think it's around £20 a time). I would recommend she speak to the gas company and ask to speak to a manager to get this sorted out. She needs to keep a log of who she spoke to and when. If they are unwilling to help, then energywatch is the next port of call.

amyn84

Had a look as EnergyWatch website, so will pass that onto my mum to keep in mind.

I've made sure she's kept a note of everything (having to deal with finance companies for my job I know to take ALL the details I can).

The thing that is baffling her more than anything, that all this has coincided with National Grid wanting to replace her meter in some scheme they're doing, so they'll be coming out to inspect a brand new meter. Bit pointless.

Cardew

In amplification of Tripled's post, as well as the phone call, put the facts in a letter and send it to the company by recorded delivery.