Warrent to enter to change my metre but they left it so that I am unable to get in.

MeterMan

Have you now gained entry to the property?

I'd be asking why the gas was disconnected, It should only be disconnected if there is an immediately dangerous situation.

Your landlord also has a legal responsibility to make sure your gas appliances are in a satisfactory condition, regardless of contracts.

kazwookie

npower did give you the right set of keys for the lock??

[Deleted User]

suppliers are loathe to disconnect gas or electric with young children involved.Its not allowed. Prepays will be fitted. OP said npower call centre was closed all weekend when their website clearly states its open 8 am to 6 pm on saturdays. I m suspecting a wind up here with this post or some anti Npower propaganda.

MListin

We are in.
I had to force the window, which bent the brackets meaning it now won't close but I'll hopefully be able to get that sorted out in a week or so.

I called npower as suggested but as I cannot pass the security questions they refused to speak with me, i asked to speak to a manager and stated as Cash Strapped and Mark the shark suggested but the manager told me that there is no way the damage was done by their employees and there is no chance they will take responsability for it.
She also said their locksmith will not come out but even if he wound it would be at my expense and he would just tell me the same thing.

So we are back in our home but our front door is unusable.
I can also confirm that I have no gas, so no heating, hot water or hobs until I can afford to get someone to remove the cap on the meter, but at least we are inside and home now.

Sacsquacco,
I can 100% guarantee that this is not a wind up but for your information...
I went out Saturday morning at 10am and returned home at around 2.30-3pm, It took over an hour and a half to get to the npower offices In The nearest city to collect the keys, half an hour to park, unload the kids, get the keys, reload the kids and then leave and over an hour to get home.
I tried the keys, they didn't turn, I realised the handle wasn't right but spent a good while trying to open it, when I eventually realised it was never going to work and something was wrong I googled for a number and tried to call them, by that time it was after 6.30pm and it said they were not open and to call again when they reopened Monday am.
The first call to an npower number was made at 18.39 on 02/04 (I have just checked my call logs)

I then went next door to ask my neighbour for help, by 7.30 the kids were starving and tired since it didn't look like I was going to be able to get in I called my friend, explained the situation and asked if we could come around, after some googling for advice I found the MSE Forum and after reading a fair few threads I posted here at 9.30pm.

Is my timeline acceptable to you?
Or do you still think I am lying?

I clearly stated that they did not disconnect the gas but broke in to fit a prepayment meter, which they have done, I later found out that they have also 'capped' the meter, googling lead me to believe this is a plastic cap fitted inside the pipe to prevent the gas being used, npower claim they have to do this if the homeowner is not present when the meter is being fitted.

CashStrapped

So, as I suspected, you now have to access the property through a window but you still cannot operate the door. That is one step forward and two back. Now you have a window and a door to repair.

This is somthing the landlord should really be dealing with. They could deduct the cost gradually via your rent.

Somthing is really amiss here but that aside it seems that court action is the only further course of action to take.

You need to get a locksmith to come out and just give a quote for repair. Take photos and video of the way the door is operating. Get him to write down the issue with the lock, and the reason it is not opening and cost for repair and get two copies. Use that as evidance. You never know, he/she may be able to get it working.

Speak to citizens advice and ask them for the process of taking npower to court.

Also speak to citizens advice about debt advice. I think you also need to learn how to manage your finances. That would have avoided this whole scenario

Ectophile

Marktheshark wrote: »

They wont want to go to court as they risk perjury, the district judge is going to want to know why they used a 1958 gas act warrant to gain entry to fit a pre-payment meter, the act only allows entry to make safe an unsafe gas installation.

What is this Gas Act 1958? I can find no trace of it on the government web site. There seems to be a whole raft of Gas Acts over the years, but not one in 1958.

MListin

Thank you Cashstrapped, I will try to get that all done ASAP.

The problems I have are due to not finding out about any of the debts until just over a month ago, I've managed to speak with and explain the situation to everyone whom there is debt in my name with, all seem to have been somewhat understanding and have agreed to a reasonable payment plan, npower were the only ones who refused to accept any kind of realistic payment plan, they said there was no way they could accept anything longer than a 6 month payment plan, and since there was no way I could pay that and they wouldn't agree to anything else we ended up here.

I'm not going to lie, knowing I have thousand and thousands in debt in my name is terrifying (especially when 6 weeks ago I thought I was completely debt/credit//loan free).
This has knocked me back a few steps but on a whole things are still considerably better now than they had been for a very long time and I'm confident that with time they will continue to improve.

Thank you again for your advice.
I will update when I have further info.

macman

MListin wrote: »

The house and the mortgage are solely in the owners (ex's family member) name, the original agreement was that ex would pay the mortgage payments and when it is paid off ex and the owner would become 75/25 owners of the property.
However, due to things ex did that agreement is now no longer valid so the owner and I came to an arrangement where I would pay rent but be fully responsible for the house. We have a legitimate contract and it's all legal.

Assuming that the mortgage holder has agreed with the lender that the property can be rented out. If they discover that the mortgagee is not in occupation themselves, then they will be in breach of their agreed terms.

MeterMan

Actually, they are not allowed to disconnect unless there is a dangerous situation, they certainly aren't allowed to do it in order to charge you a reconnection fee.

I do this sort of work for a bigger company, we don't 'cap' the meter during warrant work unless there is a dangerous situation which needs immediate attention.

MListin

The letter left states,
"Restarting your gas supply.
your meter has been left secured, which means that you'll have no gas supply until you contact a gas safe registered engineer to restart your supplier and to ensure that there is no air in the pipes or appliances, this is called the purge and relight. if you call Npower they can arrange for a gas safe engineer to visit for a charge of £76. Or you can ask a local gas safe engineer of your choice to restart your supply but you'll need to agree the costs of the work directly with them."