npower warrant of entry, questions. ***UPDATE***

Terrylw1

sacsquacco wrote: »

british gas seem to apply for warrants of entry differently to npowers, as my manager or assistant manager go s along to the court with a list of warrants they require and the magistrate then signs them all after perusal i presume. They then go to the properties in one day along with locksmith if necessary and fit the prepays.
I am sure it would not be necessary to go through all the rigmarole and expense of a court appearance if you are happy to allow access at any time for your prepay to be fitted, Its not as if you ve actually refused point blank, you ve just rearranged a couple of appointments and then been in the bathroom when they knocked( they would nt just have politely rung the bell) They do give the door a hell of a knock though so it sounds as if you definitely was nt available on the day they came.You are saying they did nt even turn up at all, did they post any communcation to prove they had called ?

That's my understanding as well, all grouped together.

I reckon in this case, the supplier never even tried to book the 3rd visit given the 2 Max they said afterwards.

The OP needs to get them to explain what has happened.

DVardysShadow

sacsquacco wrote: »

british gas seem to apply for warrants of entry differently to npowers, as my manager or assistant manager go s along to the court with a list of warrants they require and the magistrate then signs them all after perusal i presume.

Terrylw1 wrote: »

That's my understanding as well, all grouped together.

The reason that the warrants are granted en bloc is that no one turns up to defend.

If the notice of intention to get a warrant sates a date of putting the matter before the magistrates, anyone who turns up shouuld get a hearing - but should make themselves known to the ushers.

Also, it may not be a bad thing to put a letter in to the magistrates, copy to nPower and keeping another copy, stating the intention to oppose, outlining the defence and stating that a letter has been written to nPower offering appointments. Should be able to read from this letter at the hearing too, killing 2 birds with 1 stone

spiro

If you go to court you will also need to provide evidence of why you failed to keep the 1st 2 appointments.

DVardysShadow

spiro wrote: »

If you go to court you will also need to provide evidence of why you failed to keep the 1st 2 appointments.

I think a statement of why combined with the fact that OP did call nPower to rearrange should be sufficient.

As I see it, nPower are jumping the gun going to warrant - unless they have already notified OP that if they are unable to install the PP meter the will go to warrant. Without that step, what nPower are doing I consider to be an abuse of process.

Norman_Castle

1st appointment was book and couple days beforehand i had to rearrange due to things going on a dds school, so i rebooked, 2nd appointment came and i had to reagrange due to dd not being well and i had to take her to the doctors that day, so the 3rf was booked and this time i made a point of staying in all day, i mad sure my batteries in my bell was working and i stayed at the front of my house to keep an eye on when thwy turn up

1st appointment was rearanged with their agreement so was not missed. Second appointment is in fact the first appointment rearanged, admittedly missed by you. Third appointment they failed to attend. Not your fault. Tell them or the court you are happy to allow access at an agreed time and offer your phone number and ask them to telephone you if they arrive at your home and you appear to be out.

DUTR

I think the plan should be to get the meter installed as soon as possible and preferably before the court date.

DVardysShadow

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Perhaps check this as well.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/2-3/21/section/2

2 Warrant to authorise entry.E+W+S

(1) ....
(2)If, in a case to which the preceding subsection applies, the relevant enactment does not require notice of an intended entry to be given to the occupier of the premises, the justice shall not grant a warrant under this section in respect of the right of entry in question unless he is satisfied—
(a)that admission to the premises for the purpose specified in the information was sought by a person lawfully requiring entry in the exercise of that right, and was so sought after not less than twenty-four hours’ notice of the intended entry had been given to the occupier; or
(b) ....
(c) ....
(d) ....

Good find, terry.

As I read it, a lot depends upon whether nPower have given notice of intended entry. If they have not, then they should not get a warrant. If they have given notice, then it plays out differently.

IMO if OP wrote to nPower giving possible dates, then it would be abuse of process for nPower to even apply, given that the intent is to allow peaceable entry.

raven83

Thankyou for all your replies, i am now going to email a complaint over to npower and explain i find their whole system a farse and that i am allowing them peacfull entry into my home without the need of a warrant! I will also write a letter and send it to npower with 3 dates that they can attend and i will happily let them come in and install the meter, i will get a copy of this letter and i will hand it over to the court on the day, but i am hoping that a strong worded complaint to the monkey will get them to suspend taking it to court and hopefully( fingers crossed) will come and fit the meter without the need for a warrant.

raven83

hi this is what i wrote to them:


I am writing to express my feelings and make a compliant about the way i have been treated by your company. I owe a debt on my gas which i have happily agreed to have a pre payment meter installed ( i have one for my electric and have never had no trouble) Anyway end of last year the 1st appointment was made to come and fit it, which at the time was fine, but nearer the time i had to rearrange due to childcare issues and everything was finee to change the appointment. 2nd appointment was made, but then again day before the appoint i had to ring and explain that childcare was going to be an issue again and if i could please make it for another time, at no point was i warned on this phonecall that you operate a "3 strike rule" where by you are allowed 3 appointments to be cancelled after that then you apply to the courts. Anyway on the 3 rd appointment i made a point of staying in the front of my house to look out for them, i even checked the batteries in my bell to see it was working i waited all day, yet NO ONE turned up! So when i got a letter in the post to say that they was going to apply for a warrant to the courts for missed appointments i rang immeditaly, but was basically told there was nothing now that could be done and that they would be applying to the courts even though i had said there wasnt any need for that as i was happy to have the meter installed and to let them in.

So now i have recieved the letter with the court date set for the 24/4/12 at 9.15. I fully intend on atteneding the hearing and explaining to the court how this is all completely unessacary and not beneficial as by gaining a warrant will incur yet more charges onto my already big debt and thus take even longer to pay off! I will explain that i am more than happy to have them come to my home and put in a meter without the need for the warrant, i will also write and send a letter to yourselves and offer 3 dates in which i will be availiable for someone to come and call round to put in a meter and i will keep copies of this letter and will present it to the court to show i am willing to have the meter installed PEACEFULLY. And there is a chance a warrent will be denied if i put forward my case. I will also bring up:


- no GSOS payouts which are mandatory per Ofgem.
. You understand how it could have inconvenienced them but it cost them nothing for the visit as you stopped it going ahead and the fact you are trying to work with them
. You weren't told you only had 3 attempts so they have allowed you to be progressed to a warrant stage when you may have been able to avoid it
- the extra charges would be adverse in a debt case and put you further in the more
- you can save them the trouble of a warrant
- why won't y even tell you when by will come as this reduces their chances of easy access, increases costs unnecessarily and is unreasonable since they must book external agents in to come and give them notice


I think it is abhorrent that you don't notify of when a warrant is obtained when it will be carried out, it is almost as if you want to catch the person out and therefore incure even more costs for a locksmith to be used, i think this is in very bad taste and that is another reason i shall be attending the court date so if a warrant is given i will know of when it will be carried out.

I am writing this in the hope that someone will call me and we can arrange a new time for someone to come and put in the meter and suspend the court hearing, if this isnt resolved i will be contacting the relavent people and watchdog to warn people of your sneaky tactics, but i am hoping it wont come to this. I will leave my mobile number please do not ring my landline aas i have problems recieving calls on it, my mobile number is XXXXXXXXXXXX.

I wait to hear from you soon.

DUTR

raven83 wrote: »

Thankyou for all your replies, i am now going to email a complaint over to npower and explain i find their whole system a farse and that i am allowing them peacfull entry into my home without the need of a warrant! I will also write a letter and send it to npower with 3 dates that they can attend and i will happily let them come in and install the meter, i will get a copy of this letter and i will hand it over to the court on the day, but i am hoping that a strong worded complaint to the monkey will get them to suspend taking it to court and hopefully( fingers crossed) will come and fit the meter without the need for a warrant.

Raven I'm not sure why you think that the response will not be a standard reply, it is not an attack on you, look at it from the other side, you are in arrears of a good 12 months gas, and no sight of a prompt resolution, the company has 28 days to respond to the letter and in that time the court date will arrive. The 3 dates offered naturally should be before the 24th, so it would seem that you are trying to delay, I'm no JP but I'm sure someone in 'authority' is going to pick up on this. You must have some family or friends around who can occupy the property for the change to take place, that way you can ensure the meter change proceeds