Help with electric meters

butlerx09

Hi we have lived in our house for about 20 years at a guess and about 7 years ago a company moved next door and our electric has increased and we cant work out why so we got the British gas people out and they say it looks like we have a landlord system in so our neighbour should pay us for there electric and we should be charged by British gas but our neighbour have been paying a separate electric company so we have been paying there's as well.. And British gas don't seem to want to know we said we want our neighbours to be put on a separate supply but they don't want to know...

What do I need to do??

molerat

You need to find out if and how they are using your electric, are you semi-detached with them ? Was the property once part of yours or yours part of theirs ? Can you see any wires coming from your meter and going somewhere other than your fuse box ? Do you know what all the fuses in your fusebox do ? You need to turn off the main switch of your fusebox and see if the meter increases or next door starts shouting ! If you have wiring going from your meter to them then you get BG to disconnect them from the meter, if you have fuses in your box that supply them you remove them. They will have to supply their own power then or pay you for what they are using. What type of business is it ? It is up to them to organise their power supply not you. BG won't be interested as long as they are getting paid. Any dispute over payments is between you and them, I would have sorted it years ago.

JJ_Egan

What is your British Gas monthly electric usage .

Robin9

When you say "company" do you mean - shop, factory, business, office ...................... ?

butlerx09

Hi thanks for the reply, we live in a farm house which has a stable yard etc and i believe the previous tennant had 2 additional meters added one for the stable yard and one for this small offices above the stables then we moved in and didnt even think about the meters as the office had closed down and my mum runs the yard so the electric was always about right, then 7 years ago a business moved into the office and its a computer company and our bill seemed to jump up but never thought much of it but our last bill was £1000 for a quarter and we thought that seemed way too high, so we had british gas come out and they said looking at it we have a landlord sytem in place the power goes through our meter then splits off into the stable meter and the office meter. now we spoke to the office and they are with western power or something like that and they have a smart meter installed and pay there electric company direct so to them it was all right but for us its charging us for there electric as well and now noone wants to help us and suerly we should be compensated for the money they have taken off us?

butlerx09

molerat, thanks for the reply.. yeh your right we should of sorted it years ago but living on a farm the electricity was always high and the office use about £100 a month so when added to a working farm you dont notice it very much but we have been looking to reduce bills and wanted a smart meter in but they couldnt put one in as they said our house is wired for 3 phase and it was only then we were told it was a Landlord system. but now we dont know how to put it right and if we are due our money back that the office have used as they have also paid for there elecric

Robin9

As previous posters have said you need to prove or otherwise if your meter is also supplying the other supplies.

Warn your neighbour and switch off your main switch - you should loose supplies to your farm buildings (and house) and your meter dials should stop going around. If your neighbour stays on supply then the metering is correct and you are not paying for his energy as well and they dont owe you anything.



3 phase Smart meters are common - I've got a couple.

macman

If by 'landlord system' you mean there are sub meters, then it would be up to you to charge them for their usage as shown by the sub meters. Why on earth have you done nothing for 7 years?

EachPenny

Robin9 wrote: »

If your neighbour stays on supply then the metering is correct and you are not paying for his energy as well and they dont owe you anything.

Although it is still possible that some of the wiring in the office is fed from the OP's supply rather than their own - the only way to be sure is to trace all the circuits fed by the OP's meter.

Farm electrics are 'complicated' to say the very least

dogshome

All very odd
Checked on the web and Western Power who the office occupants say they are paying for Elec use, do not bill power to consumers.

They are the power distribution company for an area who own the supply cables and the meters, but it must be another company who does the billing - Ask the office tenants to show you a bill

JC_Derby

dogshome wrote: »

All very odd
Checked on the web and Western Power who the office occupants say they are paying for Elec use, do not bill power to consumers.

They are the power distribution company for an area who own the supply cables and the meters, but it must be another company who does the billing - Ask the office tenants to show you a bill

Precisely, either the office next door are ill informed or are down right lying.
as has been said above, id suggest a further amicable approach and ask to see a bill...if they don't or wont, then id go down the line of warning them you are doing some electrical testing on your system and that there power may be affected. Then turning your power off to see id that has any effect to their power.


Conversely, have you spoken to Western Power. They may be willing to send someone out to look at the electrical arrangement on site and be able to advise you.