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

Anne2

PS we contacted the police yesterday and they said there was nothing they could do. What we were telling them was what we think; we have no evidence that the neighbour upstairs is very dodgy. (yet!)

[Deleted User]

theres a few people on here dont understand the reality of the outcome of bypassing electric meters, firstly chris1973 there will be no monitoring of any prepays useage by anyone or any supplier. They don t bother. No prosecutions either, the Police dont get involved unless theres cannabis growing involved, ( and no prosecutions for that if less than 14 plants ) theres too many "get outs " and solicitors are expensive so they just estimate the ammount of the theft and put it on ( a new meter costing £400 ) the meter as debt to be repayed weekly. In my experience I have never heard of any disconnections at all, at least with BG, Scotpower and EDF. The suppliers have all had a much needed kick up **** by the Regulator to reduce bypassing and meter tampering . They are appallingly , unbelieveably lax in stopping meter bypassing, indeed British Gas has recently stopped my £10 finders fee when I report an electric meter bypass, its as if they dont really want to find them. They dont want to find them because if they dont collect the money out of the tennant/flat dweller ( which they dont most of the time ) all the money has to be repaid by them back to the National Grid. This procedure does nt happen with gas fraud. Chris, if you think anyone is monitoring prepays, why do I keep finding fiddled meters which have been like that for many years.My record is a five year bypass on an electric prepay. Only this week i have just found a gas prepay fraud with a Scottish Power meter which a meter reader reported 6 months ago and nothing at all was done about it.

chanz4

billycasper wrote: »

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.

No its covers under 7/11 Electricty act, no notice has to be given. Someone will of let them in todo it, however as its a risk of fire and been flats they can call the police out without a warrant

chanz4

sacsquacco wrote: »

theres a few people on here dont understand the reality of the outcome of bypassing electric meters, firstly chris1973 there will be no monitoring of any prepays useage by anyone or any supplier. They don t bother. No prosecutions either, the Police dont get involved unless theres cannabis growing involved, ( and no prosecutions for that if less than 14 plants ) theres too many "get outs " and solicitors are expensive so they just estimate the ammount of the theft and put it on ( a new meter costing £400 ) the meter as debt to be repayed weekly. In my experience I have never heard of any disconnections at all, at least with BG, Scotpower and EDF. The suppliers have all had a much needed kick up **** by the Regulator to reduce bypassing and meter tampering . They are appallingly , unbelieveably lax in stopping meter bypassing, indeed British Gas has recently stopped my £10 finders fee when I report an electric meter bypass, its as if they dont really want to find them. They dont want to find them because if they dont collect the money out of the tennant/flat dweller ( which they dont most of the time ) all the money has to be repaid by them back to the National Grid. This procedure does nt happen with gas fraud. Chris, if you think anyone is monitoring prepays, why do I keep finding fiddled meters which have been like that for many years.My record is a five year bypass on an electric prepay. Only this week i have just found a gas prepay fraud with a Scottish Power meter which a meter reader reported 6 months ago and nothing at all was done about it.

Suppliers monitor the Itron dip key and none charge, just takes them so long. First case disconection isnt normal, however some of the supplier I work for ask for disconnection if know one is on site.

chanz4

1. Who is liable for the dodgy meter and debt on it? - The equipment tamper is the account it falls under - the debt of usage is yourself since proved and verified move in.
2. Can the edf revenue people cut electricity like that with no warning? (we had no clue there was a problem)
Yes - 7/11 electricity act and section think 29 for safety.

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? So then it hasnt been paid dd then, as Bg no longer supply you..
4. Who is liable for the hours I spent on the phone to 0845 numbers? Yourself, however you could ask your letting agents as they are supposed to have these checked prior to a move in.
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?? No it just means they didnt do one check, it doesnt change the contract.
6. What will happen to our neighbour if he has been letting us pay for his electricity? Nothing
7. Finally, when will get our electricity supply back??!? If the letting agents proves to the supplier they are a genuine letting agents and the date moved in can be same or next day.

One tip though stay calm, as the people you will speak to are there to help

billycasper_2

Thats fine but i have to agree with sacsquacco that generally suppliers are slow to react to tampered meters and the chances are its been removed because of the debt rather than the safety...

[Deleted User]

Until theres a big change in the attitude of these middlemen suppliers, meter bypassing will only increase. We need prosecutions in the Magistrates courts for each and every bypass in an occupiers premises. thats what always used to happen . they say they waste their time and money in prosecutions because nothing can actually be proved as to who actually did the bypass, but they can levy their own individual fine on the bypasser by charging them for a new meter and any estimated past useage and put it on as debt on the new meter. The element of fear of prosecutions has largely gone now, at least amongst the type of people who routinely and repeatedly fiddle meters. so if they dont fancy opening the door ever when we come for a routine look at a prepay, thats as far as it go s, locksmiths and warrants also cost the suppliers money. I read meters for a few micro suppliers also, eg Spark Energy, the last thing these sort of people are interested in is stopping meter bypassing. EDF are actually the worst of the worst with virtually zero activity by their useless RPU people. i found an EDF electric bypass last year, they sent their RPU man round ok, but the girl inside just said "its not convenient come back another time " and he simply just left never to return. 6 months later when i finally got into the property again, the meters still bypassed. Thats EDF for you , useless !

Anne2

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? So then it hasnt been paid dd then, as Bg no longer supply you.. I have been paying direct debit each month to Eon!!
4. Who is liable for the hours I spent on the phone to 0845 numbers? Yourself, however you could ask your letting agents as they are supposed to have these checked prior to a move in.
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?? No it just means they didnt do one check, it doesnt change the contract.
6. What will happen to our neighbour if he has been letting us pay for his electricity? Nothing- but he has broken the law!!!!
7. Finally, when will get our electricity supply back??!? If the letting agents proves to the supplier they are a genuine letting agents and the date moved in can be same or next day.---fingers xed!

One tip though stay calm, as the people you will speak to are there to help

---

:I'm trying!! This is all pretty stressful though!

[Deleted User]

Anne2 ,thats what all the general public say when i tell them what happens with meter bypassing nowadays, they are shocked and appalled to know that breaking the law is disregarded. Money takes precedence nowadays.nick a bottle of whiskey from M and S and you will be prosecuted if caught, but here in modern UK you can have a go at getting free energy worth thousands, growing your own cannabis supply, risk burning down or blowing up your and your neighbours property, knowing it wont be prosecuted if you are unlucky enough to be stopped. Sad to say my meter reading colleagues , apart from three others, are nt interested in even checking for bypasses, and dont do anything even if they spot anything. Happily the distributors are taking there own actions knowing that the suppliers cant be trusted to do their job properly

Anne2

Revenue protection services are not answering their phones or returning calls, so we can't even get our electricity back let alone deal with all the other issues. I left numerous messages today, was left on hold to them for over an hour by eon. Another more helpful lady at eon tried to call them for me and sent them urgent e mails, but no one has replied. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! Apparently they are the only people who can tell me what the !!!!!!! hell is going on and give me some electricity, but I can not speak to them.

Any suggestions!??!