Scottish power charge for broken seal

sarabelle27

Scottish power came to inspect my electricity meter. (No idea why!)

Sp worker said seal was broken on meter and would have to report it then replace it....today I received a letter from them for a bill for 161 due to the broken seal!!!!!

I don't know the first thing about electricity never mind fiddle with it if they think that's what happened. I'm hardly in my house cos of working full time and caring for my dad who has dementia. Do I have the right to refuse to pay this?

[Deleted User]

I work for Scot Power reading meters and they are the only supplier remotely interested in whether the lower seal is intact. I also work for BG, EDF, EON and many small suppliers. I ve always thought that it was some money making scheme by SP as many electric meters in new builds come with no seal on the lower cover.
Just reply to SP that the meter was like that when you occupied the property.OK when the metal seal is missing it can indicate someone bypassing the meter but most of the time its just poor work practices by whoever installed the meter.
Meters have to be checked every couple of years.

undaunted

You can try refusing to pay if you want to.


You could write back deny tampering with the meter in any way & invite them to provide you with any evidence to the contrary / any legal basis for this claimed bill.


When was the meter last checked? How long have you lived in the property? Could a past occupier have tampered with it? Might it simply be ware and tear?

[Deleted User]

I think its tucked away in the T and C s about meters having seals missing that a report should be given to the supplier.It wont be anything to do with meter tampering that SP have tried to levy this charge. I ve reported hundreds of them and so far I have nt heard of any follow up by SP chasing the occupiers. I thought that it would just be redirected to the DNO so they can ensure that their meter is complete. This charge of £161 would mostly be the charge that the DNOs set for a visit to repair a faulty meter. The meter can be classified as faulty I presume. These seals are made out of very strong wire and cannot just drop off on there own.They need wire cutters to get them off. I ve seen many brand new builds where virtually every electric meter was minus the lower seal protecting the cables. Its just sloppy work by the contractors who could nt be bothered to fit one.

MonsieurFrugal

This is what most installations look like



Does yours have the switch on the right? If not an electrician has probably removed the seal to remove the service fuse to work safely on your electricity installation.

They shouldn't do this, but it happens.

I would refuse to pay in your shoes.

[Deleted User]

I m no expert on electrics but its the seal on the meter itself where the 4 cables enter at the bottom of the meter is the seal that SP are interested in. The fuse itself also has a seal and as you say that is often missing. I would just completely ignore SP demanding an extortinate price just for some DNO worker to come and spend 10 seconds clipping a new seal in .Ebay flog them for pennies. If SP considered that the meter may have been tampered then they should be coming out and checking a potential fire risk pretty damn quick not trying to swindle £160 from a customer.

JC_Derby

sacsquacco wrote: »

I think its tucked away in the T and C s about meters having seals missing that a report should be given to the supplier.It wont be anything to do with meter tampering that SP have tried to levy this charge. I ve reported hundreds of them and so far I have nt heard of any follow up by SP chasing the occupiers. I thought that it would just be redirected to the DNO so they can ensure that their meter is complete. This charge of £161 would mostly be the charge that the DNOs set for a visit to repair a faulty meter. The meter can be classified as faulty I presume. These seals are made out of very strong wire and cannot just drop off on there own.They need wire cutters to get them off. I ve seen many brand new builds where virtually every electric meter was minus the lower seal protecting the cables. Its just sloppy work by the contractors who could nt be bothered to fit one.

dnos don't repair fault y meters that is down to mops.

As has been said, refute any allegation that you have done this and say that it was like that when you moved in.