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Energy supplier broke into my house

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myright
myright Posts: 689 Forumite
I have no idea, where I need to put this. So I hope a mod can put it in the right section if it's wrong.

basically, I had an ongoing dispute on my electric and gas bill. The energy supplier had the wrong estimations on my account due to previous owners ( just to cut the long story short)

So I rang the energy supplier, Numerous times for over 6 months. ( I am talking litterally atleast a 50- 100 times) within this time frame. requesting to speak to the manager and the agent who is/ are dealing with my situation, so i can settle this overdue account. (all information has been recorded on their system). I was promised somebody from the relevant team will call me. but no one did. So i repeatedly called them.

To my surprise 1 afternoon. The had asked for a warrent to get into my house. So they broke my locks and damaged my door in the process. Forced entered my home. I was around the back side of my house, and a neighbour told me that someone is breaking into the house. So I entered the house from the back in a rush , only to see the eneregy supplier company with a warrent in my house and several other people in my house.

anyways, i was furious. They looked at my meter and found out i was telling the correct info all the way long, that their estimations were wrong etc. So they took a payment of me on the spot.

anyways, I have been furious about this. I immediately rang the energy supplier. Asked to speak to a manager. I was again promised a call back . but no one bothered.

I am not speaking with the complaints department. They have accepted responsibility that if my calls were returned by the agents/ managers dealing with my query, the warrent should have never been issued and it was down to their incompetence which lead to the privacey of my house being violated.

Where do I stand with this in a legal point of view?
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Comments

  • Wail
    Wail Posts: 265 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    From a legal point of view, you can do anything you want as long as it's legal.

    There is one simple thing you can do which is write a letter/email headed COMPLAINT with a clear chronology and a clear understanding of what you want and what will make this problem go away for the energy supplier or you will go to some other organisation.

    Did you not get any letters advising that a warrant would be taking place?
  • You say that they checked the meter and could see they were wrong, so did you deny/refuse access to meter readers prior to the warrant being issued. Getting to that stage I know is an extremeley long winded affair which could take years. The suppliers are at a last resort to spend money on warrants and locksmiths, prob over £300 at least
  • Clearly phoning them is not working. You need to put your complaint in writing. Once it gets marked as a complaint it should in theory get through to a complaints team (or someone who can actually deal with your complaint). I imagine they would write back to you and say they will investigate and then get back to you within a certain amount of time. Have a look on their website to find their complaints procedure.
    Once you have their response you can either accept it, negotiate or you can then go to an ombudsman ( I presume it works similarly to banks where you have to have exhausted the companies internal complaints process before you can go to the ombudsman). The ombudsman will then make his/her ruling on the situation.
    Oh and I'd think about what you want. Do you want an apology? Compensation? A discount on your energy? Do you want compensation for letters/telephone calls or distress? Obviously it is easy to quantify costs for telephone calls but harder to put a price on your time dealing with it all and even harder to put a price on the distress of having someone break into your home.
    df
    Making my money go further with MSE :j
    How much can I save in 2012 challenge
    75/1200 :eek:
  • myright
    myright Posts: 689 Forumite
    thanks for the above great advice!

    the complaints department have assured me that I will get a call back in a few days explaining to me what stage were at the complaint. Thats not an issue.

    And as to the warrent etc. Yes I did get a letter telling me that if I didnt pay they'll have to obtain a warrent. So I rang them tiredlessly to resolve the matter. I requested call back from the agents dealing with my case. no1 again returned my calls. I asked for managers, they never returned my calls. This in addition to all the calls they didnt return 6 months running to the letter.

    My issue that they broke into my house. even though I was trying to resolve the matter.

    i never had refused them to check my meter previousily. Infact they hadnt checked the meter in 2-3 years! everything was on estimates. so they had chanrged me a higher bill than i owed. i only occupied the house for half a year or so before the estimates were too high. When they broke into my house they did find that they had send me bills higher than actual readings. I had to pay on the spot aswel.

    I was greatly embarresed, they made me feel like a criminal. The whole newneighbourhood saw this. damaged my door and broke the lock
    Whats the likliehood of a compensation or some sort?

    The complaints department have apologised and has recognised this as a fault on their side. so i believe the warrent shouldnt have been granted to them on this basis
  • chanz4
    chanz4 Posts: 11,057 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Xmas Saver!
    Legally it depends on the warrant type, if its an inspection warrant nothing has been done wrong. Somethings a miss from the post
    Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.
  • myright
    myright Posts: 689 Forumite
    well i dont know what kind of warrent it was. But they forced entery.
  • chanz4
    chanz4 Posts: 11,057 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Xmas Saver!
    Inspection warrants allow forced entry, also if no read for 2 years .
    Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.
  • myright
    myright Posts: 689 Forumite
    Yeah but surely you must have to have a valid reason to allow a forced entery? its not as if I was not complying with them. It was them who were being incompitent. the complaints department has acknowledged this.

    And I hadnt owned the house for 2 years at that point. Thats what my whole argument was about! that their estimates were wrong!
  • You say you did nt actually refuse point blank face to face with a meter reader. when I am trying to access propertys like yours for British Gas for 2 yearly inspections, we leave call back cards for the following day and telephone numbers to make an appointment for a convenient time to suit you. I know the other companies are pretty slack at this , EDF and Scot Power just muddle through not complying at all on 2 year inspections leading to major problems like this. It went on too long to inspect your meter, over 2 years is against OFGEM rules
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If the warrant was correct, then they didn't 'break in'. They had a legal right to force entry once the warrant was granted by the court.
    Your issue is why they applied for a warrant in the first place and failed to communicate with you adequately.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
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