Grosvenor Services- entered property today

Rushton

Hi all,

Just after a little advice/ clarity!

I have gotten into some debt after splitting up with my partner and owed EDF money. I moved out of the house for a little while until my ex partner found somewhere else to live then I moved back around 5 month ago. During this time letters ace came which I should have responded to but stupidly didn’t (difficult time in life- dad was having cancer treatment)

Today I have came home and there is a letter on my sofa- placed central and neatly so I can spot it from Grosvenor Services group saying that they have gained a warrant to swap my metre for a pre payment metre. They have also unplugged my WiFi.

I am just a little confused how they got into my house? The doors were locked, no damage etc.

Why have they unplugged my WiFi?!

And finally why did they need to enter the house in the first place as the metre is outside?

I am now a little scared that someone has been in without me knowing?!

Also how will this effect my tariff? They are taking £20 a month back which is fine but will I be on a higher usage rate now?

Cardew

They must have obtained a court order to enter, and used a locksmith. Amongst the letters you ignored should have been notification that they were applying for a court order.


No idea on your router and outside meter; ring and ask! Also query your old and new tariff; these days pre-payment charges are not as bad as in years gone by.

EachPenny

Cardew wrote: »

No idea on your router and outside meter; ring and ask! Also query your old and new tariff; these days pre-payment charges are not as bad as in years gone by.

Disconnecting appliances which might be damaged as part of the meter swap? (dangerous just to pull the suppliers fuse outside without knowing what might be 'on' inside).

[Deleted User]

If you were on a standard/variable tariff then your new capped prepayment electric tariff will be quite a bit cheaper, as much as 3p /kwh for the electricity tariff. You can see the pence per kwh price on one of the screens. Prepay rates get a review in October 2018 so this may not last too long.
You can see all the details of the weekly debt on the prepay screens. Screens "S" and "T" (need to have key inserted to see these )for the electric meter and 26 and 27 for gas meter.
Its a pity it went as far as locksmith and warrants because that would have added approx £300 to your debt
They go down a long drawn out process beginning with debt counselling and many attempts to resolve large debts by a voluntary acceptance of a prepayment meter without the extra expense of court warrants to force fit one.
What options have suppliers when occupiers don`t want to engage in resolving the debts ?
It should never have got that far when locksmiths have to gain entry.
They fit a new lock , so how did you get in.You have to contact them to get the new keys. They leave a note on the door with a phone number to contact them

HampshireH

You should have been notified of a warrant being obtained or at least the process of obtaining it.

You say you didn't respond to your letters. Did you read and ignore or fail to open them?

This will cost you more as they will load the debt to your meter. This will be paid off when you top up. You may want to do a couple of trial top ups to see how much it takes each time (whilst they say 20 a month you need to understand how frequently that is taken. I.e. as a daily charge or when you top up.

Rushton

I never received any letters from Grosvenor just general Bills from EDF. Which were only addressed to ‘the occupier’.

I don’t even have a card or any details on how to top it up so I’m assuming they will come in the post? There is £25 on there at the moment.

Im glad it’s happened in a way because now it’s arranged to be repaid I just don’t like the fact someone has been in my home without me present, the dog was terrified when I came home. That will teach me I guess just sometimes life can be a little overwhelming and the easiest task comes last!

HampshireH

You will need to call EDF and put the account in your name thus so accepting the debt


Then they will send a key/card.

[Deleted User]

HampshireH wrote: »

You should have been notified of a warrant being obtained or at least the process of obtaining it.

You say you didn't respond to your letters. Did you read and ignore or fail to open them?

This will cost you more as they will load the debt to your meter. This will be paid off when you top up. You may want to do a couple of trial top ups to see how much it takes each time (whilst they say 20 a month you need to understand how frequently that is taken. I.e. as a daily charge or when you top up.

All the information is there to see on the meter, no need to guess
.Screen "T" shows the weekly repay rate.Screen "S " shows the total debt outstanding.
If the OP s debt is only £5 a week then its a fairly low amount owed. They can go up to £16 a week for the larger debts which runs into thousands.

Pmwo21

If they havnt left a key, one will come in the post within a few days.
The key will be programmed with all the debt information (sometimes takes couple of tops to register on the meter)
Edf will generally keep the weekly repayments low to account for any vulnerabilities, and they would’ve asked the grosvenor rep if there’s any signs of kids etc.

macman

There is something missing here...
How did the supplier gain entry without a key, if the locks have not been changed?
If there was a dog in the property then they would not have forced entry without a dog handler being present.
Perhaps the OP could check if the meter outside has actually been changed?

Pmwo21

You’ll be surprised how many locks the locksmiths can pick open without needing to change them