Disconnection

bobk100

Hi All
Advice please.

I don't use gas for the time being and consequently Southern Gas Networks decided to take out the meter. A year later they decide they want to disconnect in the road
as their pipe runs under the property and class it as unsafe.

I said - since it's their pipe they deem unsafe I want an indemnity against reconnection costs when I want to use gas again. They refused.

I cannot logically and sensibly see how they arrived at this declaration. Any thoughts - preferably that that can be backed up by creditable legislation?

As an aside - I wonder if all the other properties are in an unsafe condition?!
Regards

spiro

Regardless of them removing the pipe, if no gas is supplier for too long with no meter in place they quite often replace the pipework anyway.
If and when you want to use gas again you will have to pay to have a new pipe installed they wont do it FOC.

ic

Is this being driven by the fact that they're perhaps upgrading pipes and running new pipes to all the other houses (they normally just push a pipe inside the existing) - perhaps they don't want to do this to your house as you have nothing to connect to - it'd be easier for them to disconnect in the street as they've already got it dug up anyway?

Surely you'd already face costs to re-establish a connection seeing as you don't have a meter any more anyway?

If you didn't want gas, I suspect the easier solution at the time would have been to move to a no-standing charge tariff, then turn off the gas at the meter and simply not use any. You'd still be a customer, would have an account and could turn on the supply whenever you wanted?

bobk100

Thanks for your reply.

That's just what I did - switched to a no charge meter. Ahhh but - because I didn't use gas for a year that's when they decided to take the meter and disconnect in the road.

Wywth

bobk100 wrote: »

...I don't use gas for the time being and consequently Southern Gas Networks decided to take out the meter. ...

That won't be a reason for taking out the meter.

I know of properties that have a gas meter installed, and haven't used any gas for years. In fact so many years, the supplier comes along and replaces the meter.

Curryeater

They are required to isolate the supply outside the property under the gas safety in use act ( gas safety regs) this is because a service without a meter on is deemed to be unregulated. Just go to another shipper and have a meter fitted. They will eventually remove it if you don't use gas, at which point go somewhere else.
The gas transporter does not want to cut the service off as it costs them money to do it, unfortunatley they have to.