Advice pls- elec feeding a room that isn't mine

wales2309

Not sure how to explain this -

We have recently been given access by the owner of the freehold to use a storeroom that is no longer in use. Great for the bike etc but I followed the electric wires in the store and it looks like they lead into my flat. Yesterday while fitting our new washing machine is looks like there is a wire heading down the the store. How should I go about getting this confirmed.

If my inkling is correct I have been paying for 5 years electric to a storeroom that has until recently housed fridge/freezers for a cafe that used to be in our block and I know lights were kept on all night as the door is by our stairs and we notice the light on all the time. How can I calculate what I'm owed and how can I get it cut off. Who can give me advice?

Any help or advice would be great.

rogerblack

You can get it cut off by instructing an electrician to remove it.
You cannot really calculate it with significant accuracy - other than as a very rough guesstimate.
For example, you could take the types of freezers, and the sorts of lights, and make a rough guesstimate.
Then comes the thorny issue of payment.
Sure, you could send an invoice to the Cafe - but that may be really problematic, depending on the business structure.

I'm unclear what obligations they would have to pay.

In principle in addition, you may have some form of claim against your landlord, or their electrician.
But if it's been that way for years, the issue of who installed the shunt arises.

ariba10

Switch something on in the storeroom, then turn the power off at the mains in your flat.

Go back to the storeroom to see if whatever you turned on is working.

If it is then don't worry about it.

Terrylw1

Mixed wiring falls to the contractor who performed the work however, the landlord would be aware and so your case is against them.

To confirm it, will require an electrician as this is not part of your suppliers role.

The landlord has caused you to be out of pocket and saved money for the previous liable parties for that storm room.

I would be careful with disconnecting as you will open yourself up to a dispute with the other occupant. You may need their agreement or some legal advice on this part.

wales2309

Thanks for all your replies,

I like the idea of turning my mains switch off to see if the lights reamin on in the storeroom. A good first step, if they do then I'll call in an electrition for confirmation.

after that I'll wait and see I guess. Legal advise may be a good idea.

Thanks all

spiro

wales2309 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies,

I like the idea of turning my mains switch off to see if the lights reamin on in the storeroom. A good first step, if they do then I'll call in an electrition for confirmation.

after that I'll wait and see I guess. Legal advise may be a good idea.

Thanks all

Dont just check lights, check plug sockets as they may be on different curcuits or sources.

jalexa

Terrylw1 wrote: »

I would be careful with disconnecting as you will open yourself up to a dispute with the other occupant.

I'm sure that's well intentioned advice.

Personally if I found it fed from my consumer unit I'd just disconnect at my consumer unit. What is the other party going to do about that? Plead guilty?

chanz4

If its going from the op'd consumer unit, I would disconnect it with an electrian as its theft from the op

rogerblack

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Mixed wiring falls to the contractor who performed the work however, the landlord would be aware and so your case is against them.

'the landlord would be aware' ?
You mean rather that the landlord as he contracted for the work would be responsible for its outcome, rather than actually instructed the electrician to connect to someone elses meter, as an intended theft?

Clearly, if it's an intended connection, with the knowledge of the landlord, it's not a civil matter any more, but criminal.

Terrylw1

jalexa wrote: »

I'm sure that's well intentioned advice.

Personally if I found it fed from my consumer unit I'd just disconnect at my consumer unit. What is the other party going to do about that? Plead guilty?

With it being a landlord, the other tenant may not actually be aware of a wiring error.

I just think the OP should be careful about disconnecting a supply to another tenant intentionally without their consent as that tenant may have grounds to take action against them or it may damage their relationship.

If its empty, would it cause a hazard to the other tenant if there were no lights? The OP is using it for storage, which suggests its vacant as it was agreed with the landlord, so they may just agree until its tenanted...and the landlord should fix it before then.

If it was still operating as a cafe with fridges and you turn off the power, I'm sure they would take legal action to recover the costs they incur. So, it does pay to be careful.

The tenants are both innocent parties in this.

If you apply this example to a meter engineer with a shared fuse, they abort as they know they cannot affect another properties supply and they don't know what problems that could cause.

Terrylw1

rogerblack wrote: »

'the landlord would be aware' ?
You mean rather that the landlord as he contracted for the work would be responsible for its outcome, rather than actually instructed the electrician to connect to someone elses meter, as an intended theft?

Clearly, if it's an intended connection, with the knowledge of the landlord, it's not a civil matter any more, but criminal.

Yeah, I should have said "could" instead.

In some cases its shoddy work but the landlord is responsible for that property and has a duty to tenants and the problem is theirs to correct.

Not sure how it can be resolved in terms of claiming back the over payments. These are a nightmare to correct in energy settlements and are never accurate. The supplier can handle it when they have both supplies but if it becomes multiple tenancies and suppliers, it gets so complicated that it will end up a write off.

Whilst the landlord should confirm it and correct it, getting that money back seems like a legal issue with the cafe who probably don't even know.

Very tricky.