HA capped my gas supply

moatfarm

I was sent a very early appointment for my annual gas service, 8 months since my last service. I rang to rearrange the appointment for the end of the following month which was still well before the the yearly expiration. 

My new appointment was ignored by the gas team who proceeded to come to my property on three occasions while I was out. After each occasion, I rang the HA and requested to keep my original appointment and was told it was by error they visited. But on the third visit they capped my gas supply! 

I now have my gas supply back but have raised a complaint with the HA considering I did nothing wrong for them to cap my gas. I was in constant communication with them and my service certificate hadn’t even expired. 

I contacted Shelter who informed me that they acted illegally by capping my gas supply. However they are unable to provide me with any legislation that I can quote/provide to the HA in my complaint. Does anyone know where I can find this? Or any law that relates to this to back up my complaint as the HA are denying that they acted illegally. 

Carrot007

Ask shelter. They should know!

However they acted incompetantly not illegally.

They should cover you expenses (if any) and maybe £20.

You can always take them to court.

moatfarm

Carrot007 said:

Ask shelter. They should know!

However they acted incompetantly not illegally.

They should cover you expenses (if any) and maybe £20.

You can always take them to court.

I asked Shelter but they didn’t know. It also stated on Citizens advice that landlords must not interfere with of cut off services such as water, gas or electricity. Unless in the case of an emergency such as a gas leak which does not apply in my case. But contacting citizens advise wasn’t much help either as they suggested Shelter. 

I’ve done a lot of searches online and found this has happened to other people. Some forums where lawyers have commented saying it is against the law but have not quoted the law preventing this. So I’m hoping someone who knows the law may be able to help. 

I’d rather avoid going to court and continue with the complaint/ compensation. I’d just like some help with legislation/ law around this subject so I can be informed of the correct procedures. 

[Deleted User]

I think that you will find that the gas safe engineer capped off your supply as he/she was unable to carry out the required gas safe inspection. I suspect that this is the default (safe) position that the engineer is required to take when there is no access to the property.

Your complaint is against your Landlord but, as always, we only hear one side of the story. The Landlord did not cut off your supply.

Talk about going to Court is a meaningless threat. What would you take your Landlord to Court for?  You cannot claim compensation unless you can provide a Court with a detailed breakdown of a material loss. A Court does not award compensation just because there has been a breakdown in communication. Moreover, Landlords and their agents have a right to enter a property to carryout safety checks etc. I accept that this usually by negotiation and agreement and this is where things have gone awry.

If Shelter believes that your Landlord has acted illegally by shutting off your supply then I assume that they can provide you with the legal basis for this opinion. Illegal also means that the actions broke an extant Law and, as such, this would be a criminal rather than civil offence.

tacpot12

I think Section 29 of the Housing Act 1988 covers this, in subsection (3A) sub-part (b). It says 

"Subject to subsection (3B) below, the landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if—

(a)he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or

(b)he persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises in question as a residence,"

For reference, subsection (3B) reads: 
"A person shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (3A) above if he proves that he had reasonable grounds for doing the acts or withdrawing or withholding the services in question."


So an offence is only commited if the landlord has cause to think that cutting off the supply is likely to cause you to give up your occupation of the property, and if they didn't have a good reason to cut the supply off.

The issue you have here, as has been mentioned above, is that it was an agent of the landlord who capped the supply, and they would have no idea whether doing so would cause you to give up the property - unless the HA told them this. It is very likely that the engineer capped the supply off for a safety reason. You will need to find out why it was capped off, and what the plan is to reinstate the supply.

I think you do have a complaint against your HA, under sub-part (a) of the Housing Act Section 29, as by not re-scheduling the gas safety inspection to a reasonable time (i.e. by letting their agent attend any time the agent wanted to), they are interfering with your quiet enjoyment of the property as your home.

As an observation, given that you are not paying for the safety inspect, it doesn't really matter how early it is performed APART from the face that it interfers with your quiet enjoyment of the proeprty which it should not do. 

moatfarm

Thanks tacpot12, very helpful. 

Well the HA have their own team of engineers who work for them within the organisation. I have been told by HA that it is their policy to cap the gas supply after the third attempt at visiting a property for safety. However, in my case their argument that it’s for ‘safety’ reasons fails as there is no safety reason because the certificate hasn’t expired. I have been told that the correct procedure is to communicate with the tenant and if they cannot gain access at expiration of certificate, then apply to the courts for an injunction to gain access. They should not limit gas supply to force entry. 

This is stated on The Gas Safe Register -

‘We understand that some relationships between landlords and tenants can become problematic. The tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance or safety checks, but if your tenant refuses to grant access you must show you've taken all 'reasonable steps' to comply with the law. This includes repeating attempts to carry out the checks and writing to the tenant to explaining that safety checks are a legal requirement in place for their own safety. Keep a record of any action you take; you may need this at a later date.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations don’t give powers to ‘force disconnection’ of the gas supply in these circumstances and you may need to seek legal advice.’

You are quite right, I should be able to reschedule an appointment suitable around my work schedule. I haven’t gone into detail here but it caused a whole host of issues including loss of earnings to take time off to have the gas reinstated. 

y3sitsm3

moatfarm said:

Thanks tacpot12, very helpful. 

Well the HA have their own team of engineers who work for them within the organisation. I have been told by HA that it is their policy to cap the gas supply after the third attempt at visiting a property for safety. However, in my case their argument that it’s for ‘safety’ reasons fails as there is no safety reason because the certificate hasn’t expired. I have been told that the correct procedure is to communicate with the tenant and if they cannot gain access at expiration of certificate, then apply to the courts for an injunction to gain access. They should not limit gas supply to force entry. 

This is stated on The Gas Safe Register -

‘We understand that some relationships between landlords and tenants can become problematic. The tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance or safety checks, but if your tenant refuses to grant access you must show you've taken all 'reasonable steps' to comply with the law. This includes repeating attempts to carry out the checks and writing to the tenant to explaining that safety checks are a legal requirement in place for their own safety. Keep a record of any action you take; you may need this at a later date.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations don’t give powers to ‘force disconnection’ of the gas supply in these circumstances and you may need to seek legal advice.’

You are quite right, I should be able to reschedule an appointment suitable around my work schedule. I haven’t gone into detail here but it caused a whole host of issues including loss of earnings to take time off to have the gas reinstated. 

But the engineers probably had no idea that the certificate had not run out yet and were simply following procedure.

I think you're arguing this from the wrong angle. They don't cap the supply to force access, they cap the supply because it is then "safe."  If they can't access the property they have no idea if the boiler inside is safe.  I think you'd get a better response from them if you simply pointed out their error, and the knock-on effects of that rather than trying to accuse them of a criminal act, although I guess that ship may have sailed already.

[Deleted User]

y3sitsm3 said:

moatfarm said:

Thanks tacpot12, very helpful. 

Well the HA have their own team of engineers who work for them within the organisation. I have been told by HA that it is their policy to cap the gas supply after the third attempt at visiting a property for safety. However, in my case their argument that it’s for ‘safety’ reasons fails as there is no safety reason because the certificate hasn’t expired. I have been told that the correct procedure is to communicate with the tenant and if they cannot gain access at expiration of certificate, then apply to the courts for an injunction to gain access. They should not limit gas supply to force entry. 

This is stated on The Gas Safe Register -

‘We understand that some relationships between landlords and tenants can become problematic. The tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance or safety checks, but if your tenant refuses to grant access you must show you've taken all 'reasonable steps' to comply with the law. This includes repeating attempts to carry out the checks and writing to the tenant to explaining that safety checks are a legal requirement in place for their own safety. Keep a record of any action you take; you may need this at a later date.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations don’t give powers to ‘force disconnection’ of the gas supply in these circumstances and you may need to seek legal advice.’

You are quite right, I should be able to reschedule an appointment suitable around my work schedule. I haven’t gone into detail here but it caused a whole host of issues including loss of earnings to take time off to have the gas reinstated. 

But the engineers probably had no idea that the certificate had not run out yet and were simply following procedure.

I think you're arguing this from the wrong angle. They don't cap the supply to force access, they cap the supply because it is then "safe."  If they can't access the property they have no idea if the boiler inside is safe.  I think you'd get a better response from them if you simply pointed out their error, and the knock-on effects of that rather than trying to accuse them of a criminal act, although I guess that ship may have sailed already.

A very fair and balanced summary. Based on my past experience of living in rented accommodation, I have always been asked in some way either to accept or reject the offered appointment. As I said before, we are only hearing one side of the story. 

moatfarm

y3sitsm3 said:

moatfarm said:

Thanks tacpot12, very helpful. 

Well the HA have their own team of engineers who work for them within the organisation. I have been told by HA that it is their policy to cap the gas supply after the third attempt at visiting a property for safety. However, in my case their argument that it’s for ‘safety’ reasons fails as there is no safety reason because the certificate hasn’t expired. I have been told that the correct procedure is to communicate with the tenant and if they cannot gain access at expiration of certificate, then apply to the courts for an injunction to gain access. They should not limit gas supply to force entry. 

This is stated on The Gas Safe Register -

‘We understand that some relationships between landlords and tenants can become problematic. The tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance or safety checks, but if your tenant refuses to grant access you must show you've taken all 'reasonable steps' to comply with the law. This includes repeating attempts to carry out the checks and writing to the tenant to explaining that safety checks are a legal requirement in place for their own safety. Keep a record of any action you take; you may need this at a later date.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations don’t give powers to ‘force disconnection’ of the gas supply in these circumstances and you may need to seek legal advice.’

You are quite right, I should be able to reschedule an appointment suitable around my work schedule. I haven’t gone into detail here but it caused a whole host of issues including loss of earnings to take time off to have the gas reinstated. 

But the engineers probably had no idea that the certificate had not run out yet and were simply following procedure.

I think you're arguing this from the wrong angle. They don't cap the supply to force access, they cap the supply because it is then "safe."  If they can't access the property they have no idea if the boiler inside is safe.  I think you'd get a better response from them if you simply pointed out their error, and the knock-on effects of that rather than trying to accuse them of a criminal act, although I guess that ship may have sailed already.

You are missing the point. The fact that the engineer might not have know whether or not the certificate had expired is precisely why I raised the complaint. It’s incompetence and it’s not the first time they have acted this way. 

The HA have already acknowledged fault however it’s important that they follow the correct procedure as I don’t want my gas capped again next year. 

Whilst I understand people like to post their opinions, it’s not really about your opinion or my opinion it’s about the legislation/ laws surrounding gas. We have legislation/ laws for a reason. 

As stated earlier in the thread, the gas safety regulations don’t give powers to ‘force disconnection’. I’m just after some more info if anyone knows and can quote legislation please. Not really after a discussion on opinions. FACTS is what I’m after please. 

wild666

In the past 3 months I have had 4 gas safety inspections, the normal yearly one after 10 months of the previous certificate then 3 within two weeks because the council put in a new kitchen, bathroom and a rewire.  
The inspection should be done within 12 months of the last certificate but I would call 8 months a bit early. My local council usually have them every 10 months.
When the person turned up to do the inspection I was having a new fuse box installed and the person putting the box in said he would interfere with his work having to come past a few times and the letter I received after said I shouldn't use the gas appliances, central heating, after the 26th of the month, June. Although the service was done on the 24th a few weeks later they started on the refurb and that's when the other 3 safety inspections took place.

wild666

My council normally send a letter stating that they will be doing the inspection and give a time/date in the letter and if it isn't convenient to call them and arrange another date.