Our electricity has been cut off. Have we been paying someone else's bill??!?

Anne2

Advice please!
I got back from work last night to discover someone from edf energy revenue services had disconnected our supply due to evidence of interference with the meter. (we rent snd have been here for sbout 5 months). They left a number but when I called it there was an automatic message saying they are open monday to Friday; helpful of them to cut the electricity then go home for the wkd! We pay monthly by direct debit so I was sure we were not at fault. I have small children so was not happy to wait until monday. I spent a couple of hours last night on the phone to edf, e on (our suppliers)and national grid, but none of the could help me. I tried again this morning but still nothing so I rang our agency. The guy who lives in the flat upstairs (it's a converted house) said the people who lived here before us were dodgy and fiddled with the wires- he hadn't mentioned this before!!?! The agency brought extension leads so we could get electricity from his flat(both flats are with the saame agency). The electrician came later to see if he could work out the problem. He said the meter there was for the upstairs flat; I said that's our meter! He said no your meter has been removed, they took it! It was then I remembered the key card meter that had been there when we moved in, with debt on it. When we saw it we asked the agency was the keycard meter for our flat, they said no; when we rang British gas when we moved it they said the serial number on the other meter was correct for our flat! To cut this very long story short it looks like we have been paying our neighbours electricity and the electricity we were getting was through a dodgy meter. Our neighbour has said nothing except that he always pays his bills ( we didn't ask him!). Strangely enough since they cut the electricity somebody has labelled which flats go with which meter! Can anyone answer the following...
1. Who is liable for the dodgy meter and debt on it?
2. Can the edf revenue people cut electricity like that with no warning? (we had no clue there was a problem)
3. My bank statements show money leaving my account for British gas (I have bills for them with the meter serial number on) and eon ( we switched to them not long after we moved in) but I don't have any bills from eon- I didn't give them a reading, they estimated-will this be a problem?
4. Who is liable for the hours I spent on the phone to 0845 numbers?
5. As the agency let us move in to a flat with this big bit of dodginess attached to it and gave us wrong information about the meter, does that mean the 12 month contract is no longer valid??
6. What will happen to our neighbour if he has been letting us pay for his electricity?
7. Finally, when will get our electricity supply back??!?

Thanks for reading this and any advice or thoughts gratefully received!!

chris1973

I don't really understand, if you have been paying the Electricity for your neighbour then why is your Electricity off?, surely the meter serial number on the account and bill was the same as the one they removed?, so if you had have been paying the bill for the supply to your neighbours' (or another persons) property it would be your neighbour (or another party) who would now be cut off.

They must have removed the correct meter whose serial number was shown in relation to the one which was metering for your account / property, or you wouldn't have lost your supply when it was removed.

The agency brought extension leads so we could get electricity from his flat(both flats are with the saame agency).

So your neighbour is now happily giving you 'free' unmetered 13A supply of Electricity?. On what basis / agreement and cost??

This seems strange, as no Estate Agency would have authority to force another tenant to give you a supply of Electricity regardless of whether they handled the rent / tenancy for both properties, and I don't know many people who would agree to doing this, at least without some agreed re-imbursement.

If my agent appeared with a plug and asked me to plug it in so a stranger downstairs / next door could potentially run their tumble dryer ./ fan heater etc night and day at my expense for a non specified period i'd tell them where they could go and plug it - sideways.

The only time I would think it would be acceptable, would be if the Electricity was included in the rent.

rogerblack

Anne2 wrote: »

2. Can the edf revenue people cut electricity like that with no warning? (we had no clue there was a problem)

Addressing only parts.
Yes, they can, as the tampering may have lead to a dangerous condition.
What meter number do they hold for you - it will be on your bills.
Is it the removed one, or the one still there?

Anne2

Chris 1973 from what we can work out we were getting electricity from a meter that had been tampered with. However we thought it was the other meter (that we have now discovered is the upstairs meter) that was ours and gave that serial number etc when we moved in. Yes we have the number on our bill. I'm guessing he is happy to let us use "his" electricity because we are the ones paying for it!
Roger black British gas had the number that is still there. Eon have never sent us anything (strange that I'm now wandering if post has gone astray-we share saame letter box!!) so I don't know if they have the meter number but they have been taking direct debit each month.

Thanks for your responses

chris1973

Chris 1973 from what we can work out we were getting electricity from a meter that had been tampered with.

If it had been tampered with, chances are it wasn't recording properly and so when read a couple of times it would be easy for them to figure out from the readings that it had either failed or had been bypassed or tampered with. If the meters are in an area with communal access, they wouldn't even need to gain access to your flat (or notify you) in order to examine it further.

Chances are, that the supplier has been noticing unusually low readings for some time, so if the low readings go back to a period where you weren't even the tenant then I imagaine that you will quickly be exonerated of any involvement.

The biggest problem at the moment is going to sort out the metering confusion. When you changed supplier, you would have at least got a 'sorry you are leaving letter' from your ex-supplier.

Did you supply them with the Meter serial number of your neighbours' meter by mistake when you changed over?

Anne2

I think the confusion was all on our part! I'm pretty sure the guy upstairs knew exactly what had happened. Do you know if the agency have to accept any responsibility for this? We are hoping this will make the contract void- we do not want to stay now after the guy upstairs has done this.
Thanks for your replies!

chris1973

Do you know if the agency have to accept any responsibility for this?

Again, I echo the point I made earlier in relation that it would be strange for anybody to supply you with Electricity unless they were also pretty sure that you were [already] paying the bill. I'm not suggesting involvement by the agent, but it seems weird that they also would supply an extension lead for you to plug into the other flat, all based on an assumption.

Proving it, is another matter entirely though!.

However the change of supplier is also pivotol. I've lived in a few rental properties and every Electricity supplier i've changed to has asked for both the MPAN and Meter Serial numbers, which i've supplied (from the bill and the actual meter) before the changeover can be processed. In every case I was the person who did this, not the agent, and in some cases I was even asked to supply a copy of the tenancy agreement to prove I was the new tenant.

Generally Agents don't get involved with utilities as a rule, that is up to the Tenant, and of course the liability for any mistakes or meter 'confusion' would also fall entirely to the Tenant.

If you have also been asked for this information when you changed supplier and have given the wrong information from the wrong meter at the time of changeover, even in good faith or through confusion, then unfortunately the blame would lie with you ( although not for the tampering as it was done by a previous tenant, and the Agent would not be liable for any tampering by a previous tenant either)

billycasper_2

It takes a supplier some time to get to the point of removing a meter and disconnecting you.. did anyone receive any mail from edf?? ask edf what correspondents they have sent and who to? I may be wrong but i think they need a warrant to cut you off in which case they have to show they have tried to communicate with you and resolve the issue.
Unusually low readings doesnt always mean interference, the flat could be empty for instance. it would trigger however visits from meter readers and other representatives of the supplier to check the status of the meter and home it supplies. there should be a record of this.

ComeTheRevolution

Anne2 wrote: »

I think the confusion was all on our part! I'm pretty sure the guy upstairs knew exactly what had happened. Do you know if the agency have to accept any responsibility for this? We are hoping this will make the contract void- we do not want to stay now after the guy upstairs has done this.
Thanks for your replies!

Sounds like a police matter. Post sent regarding the matter could have been stolen. Not sure what you can do to get the supply back on but you should be able to prove your payments towards the other meter and if you report your suspicion of a crime you should be able to stop the matter escalating. At the moment you're the ones suspected of ?fraud.

I imagine there would be some safety loophole you can use re contract so you can move. No one wants to risk young children with tampered power supplies, cut-off utilities and a dodgy neighbour.

mazziem

Firstly what you need to do is find out who is the actual supplier of each meter - get something called a MPAN and call up a company called ECOS - they hold all the data for who supplies what meter. Edf should give you the number.

Once you have found out who supplies what meter you need an electrician to do a trace on each meter to see which one supplies each flat.

From what your saying the one that has been removed that was tampered with - is probably your meter.

The reason you need to get the above is so you can find out who's electric you have been paying. If its your neighbours then whoever you have been paying should refund it all to you - as in theory it should have been checked the meter serial numbers and MPAN.

Check your bill too for the meter serian number and the MPAN - again see which meter that is.

If the removed meter has been tampered with they are allowed to remove the meter as its illegal activity.
But if the situation is explained that it isn't you and it was before you moved in and show your bills you've been paying , they should re install another meter and start afresh with them. It's just the other part of it on who you've paid for previously.

Be aware they will be able to calculate what you have used even though it didn't register on the meter. They will bill you for this too

Hope this all makes sense - if not message me and il try to explain some more x

Anne2

Thanks for all your responses! I am going to try and find out the MPAN numbers from edf this morning (if they are open!?) and also ask if they sent any correspondence here.

Now I think about it British gas did not send us a closing statement when we switched and I have not heard from Eon by post since early feb.....maybe post has been going walkies???

I found the letter that British gas sent when we moved; the standard welcome to your new home letter, ring us to set up a direct debit etc.....would they have sent this letter if the meter attached to the property was a key meter?? When we rang British gas they said the meter (that we have been paying for was ours!!

Can't quite believe this is happening!