Faulty Meter - Unique problem?

Lotak

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,
Scottish Power wouldn't know what your night usage was.
Maybe you worked nights and put main switch off when you left the house (no fridge/freezer).
Why didn't you raise it with Scottish Power when you moved in?

I didn't raise it because I didn't realise at the time. I even missed it on my statements because I was busy sorting out other issues with the switch from SP to Ovo. It took over 4 months for the switch to fully take place and to settle my account with SP, probably due to the electric meter.
Also, bear in mind this isn't just me. This is also the previous occupier who would have been on Scottish Power. Its HIGHLY unlikely that SP would see no night usage for well over a year and think that this sort of usage was probable. I can't see it happening.
What I really would like to know is to find out who (or which supplier) tampered with the meter and why they did it. I could follow the trail and ask SP if they did it and if not, ask who was the previous supplier and ask if they did it etc ...

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Lotak wrote: »

What I really would like to know is to find out who (or which supplier) tampered with the meter and why they did it. I could follow the trail and ask SP if they did it and if not, ask who was the previous supplier and ask if they did it etc ...

I don't think it would be a supplier who 'tampered' with the meter.

More than likely a diy job by a previous owner then meter blocked in to make access difficult.

[Deleted User]

That is why the original tamperer made sure no one could easily see his handiwork.No one is supposed to box in vital meters in the first place, only a complete idiot would do that accidently. I bet if you examine the bottom of the meter where the wires go in you will see evidence. The lower cover will most probably have the metal seal missing. the screws, and the screws which lead to to night rate cables will show evidence of use, there may even be bridging wires under the cover. Its an old trick to box a meter in a bit especially at the bottom to keep nosy meter readers at bay.Whenever I see that I m very suspicious and either pass it on to RPU or see if I can see anything untoward.

Kitchen_Sink

sacsquacco wrote: »

... I d love to find ANY magistrate who is dealing with the energy thieves in his courtroom because here in Doncaster where its endemic I ve so far NEVER read about any court appearances for energy theft even if its for £16000 ( thats the highest I ve found ), and I peruse Donny Magistrates court appearances every week in our local paper. We get cannabis growers (who nick the electric to the tune of £800 in 12 weeks ) but the fine is purely for cannabis growing, never for bypassing.

I don't know why no one is bothered in Doncaster - perhaps you need to raise that matter with your MP what with all the evidence you appear to have.

However, a quick search shows that other courts in other locations are being dealt with by the law courts.

As you said, most often it is also combined with cannabis farming, and so those matters end up in the Crown Court (but all Crown Court cases start out in the magistrates court), and they do include charges for meter tampering (or illegal abstraction of electricity, as the laywers call it)

e.g.
Worcester - Jan 28, 2016
http://worcesterobserver.co.uk/news/three-men-arrested-50k-worth-cannabis-found-worcester-house/

Derby - Jan 18, 2016
http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Cannabis-farmer-running-cops/story-28555436-detail/story.html

There's plenty more involving cannabis farms.

But there are also examples not involving cannabis

e.g.
Gloucester - Aug 18, 2015
http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Skip-company-boss-jailed-dumping-waste-fiddling/story-27630937-detail/story.html
(That one also ended up in Crown Court)

Peterlee - Mar 20, 2014
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/darlington/11092572.Man_in_court_over_alleged_electricity_theft/

HTH

[Deleted User]

Thanks for dredging up a "couple " one of which was a business meter, but Kitchen Sink luv/mate, theres many many thousands of bypassers throughout the UK and I can categorically tell you and anyone else who does nt believe me 99.99% will not appear in any Magistrates.Every MP should be onto this anomaly of justice but the suppliers deem it a civil matter and its up to them if they are going to plough more money , and waste it sending people to court who will just plead stupid ignorance and say it must ve been someone else/the landlord/ the last tenant etc .Believe me, I know of whole streets in Hexthorpe Doncaster and Edlington , Doncaster where meter bypassing is endemic. The same houses are doing it all the time.BG try their hardest (on gas alone ) but the rest ..forget it..its cheaper to turn a blind eye to it. So dont waste your time dredging up a couple in some rural area when I can show you Spansyke street in Doncaster awash with thieving people having the hottest houses in Doncaster..gratis. God knows what downtown Liverpool or Glasgow/Manchester is like. it will be rife ! .Theres is nt a will to stop it by anyone.
Even the cannabis farms ( the smaller ones ) are getting police cautions nowadays its so common.Some appear in the courts like one last week in Donny..£250 fine for "growing " and no mention of abstracting electric in the sentence, and he will have nicked £800 in electric alone in the 12 weeks its taken to grow a crop. The chances of getting that electric money back will be close to zero, because he will be off to another property or his mate/girlfriend takes over the account. You live in a different world of blissful ignorance Kitchen Sink.

Nathan94

I never knew TB was so rife in Doncaster

[Deleted User]

Nathan94 wrote: »

I never knew TB was so rife in Doncaster

TB meaning "thieving barstewards ", yes there s plenty in Doncaster with the central terraces with a floating population being the epicentre . I m not allowed to mention which ones have a preference not to pay for their energy because its "racist " but energy theft is spread across the whole community and my biggest private house find was a 6 bedroom mansion with tennis courts and two top of range Mercs who fiddled gas to the tune of £16k over a few years. People never get prosecuted as they should but just are asked to repay it.. Thats not the way the law of theft is supposed to work but that is how the suppliers prefer to run their affairs. Hes now switched from BG who nabbed him and doing the same thing with Utility Warehouse who def won t nab him again.

Kitchen_Sink

There were 1,582 cases of illegal abstraction of electricity that went to court in 2014-15.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5432143

'Nuff said

davietich

Some engineers if they cannot gain access to the actual meter but can access the connected time switch will remove the switch wire that changes the rates on the meter leaving it only recording on the day rate. This is far from ideal but I have come across it in difficult to access areas, it is not tampering if it was done by the power company but as they call it 'a quick fix'.It will likely cause problems when changing supplier but more so if you have a main fuse failure when you will have to deal with the access before your power can be restored.
Ideally and legally it will be better in the long term to rearrange the area to provide access to all the suppliers equipment.

[Deleted User]

Kitchen_Sink wrote: »

There were 1,582 cases of illegal abstraction of electricity that went to court in 2014-15.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5432143

'Nuff said

I d bet that most of these would be linked and associated with cannabis growing.
Interesting to see that my county of South Yorks had a laughable 25 in the year. Astounding figures for not just little old Doncaster but the large city of Sheffield and Rotherham which is awash with meter bypassing. BG, who I work for , say they will prosecute after the third offence by the same occupier.
BBC aired an episode of "Inside Out " in Jan 2014 a couple of years ago, it was commented on a lot on here, where British Gas RPU(thats the Revenue Protection Unit ) investigated a gas explosion in Dundas Road Sheffield. They conducted random visits to check other meters in the rest of the street,( not just BG customers) , of 20 properties only, and 7 out of the 20 had either bypassed electric or gas. That is just one small street in a fairly large area of city terraced houses.When I went to the same street I had a bad day and only found 2 with many suspicious refusals.
Once again , I will remind you of my statement I made..I have NEVER seen one prosecution for energy theft at Doncaster Magistrates Court and the small prosecutions are all reported every Thursday in the Doncaster Free Press...Energy theft is overlooked on a grand scale and getting grander every year and 1.5k court appearances in the whole of the UK is shameful on all concerned and that will represent the less than 1% of people getting free energy, the other 99% dont go to court, they do a deal on payback or never get caught.The vast majority won t get caught and that can t be measured. . A lot of people need a huge kicking up the backside , suppliers, DNO , OFGEM , meter reading companies ( who dont train people properly or at all ! MPs need to get involved in the wholesale crime of meter bypassing/extraction,