Abuse of process with warrant of entry by power company?

Flying_Demon

Hi All,

I’m after some advice please on the process a power company takes to obtain a warrant to enter a domestic property to install a prepayment meter.

I have a home that is rarely occupied with power bills being met by a monthly direct debit with all bills being paid in full and on time.  It’s a flat so the meters are in a communal riser within the block so no access to my specific flat is required to read the meter.  The meter has not been read by the power company since May 2020.

In 2021 the power company increased the monthly direct debit for electricity from £25 to £105 per month without any reason or justification as they had not taken a meter reading and as the property was unoccupied there was no one available to provide a meter reading.  I objected to the increase as it was unjustified given the property was essentially unoccupied and I invited them to reduce the direct debit or send a meter reader to obtain an actual meter reading to base future bills on.  They did neither and after getting nowhere with correspondence on this I then cancelled the increased direct debit in protest.  Unknown to me in August last year they applied to Magistrates Court for a warrant to enter the property and install a prepayment meter citing a “outstanding debt” of £520, I never saw the correspondence at the time and the warrant was granted with a prepayment meter being installed.  The power company have conceded that they did not have an actual meter reading when they applied for the warrant and in my opinion the account was probably in credit based on payments already made so in my view they obtained the warrant on the false premise that a proven debt existed?

Does anyone have any similar experience and in particular have the power company abused the warrant process by claiming a debt existed when in fact it did not?  I have tried to find out details of the degree of proof required to obtain a warrant but it does not seem straight forward.  Can a power company legitimately obtain a warrant when they do not have accurate meter readings?

Thanks.

Cardew

Let me say at the start you clearly have a grievance and there have been a few similar cases over the years on this forum.

You state ' unknown to me ----' and 'I never saw the correspondence'. Presumably you are not disputing the correspondence was delivered but you were not at the address.

By cancelling the direct debit you probably broke the terms of your agreement.

That said there is a chance you might win a court case because they hadn't obtained a meter reading. However what are you trying to claim in a court case? Presumably financial compensation, in which case how much have you lost financially?

You can obviously go to the Small Claims Court, and claim???

IMO your best bet is to try and get some compensation from the company before court.

Sorry to be so negative!

 

Flying_Demon

Cardew said:

Let me say at the start you clearly have a grievance and there have been a few similar cases over the years on this forum.

You state ' unknown to me ----' and 'I never saw the correspondence'. Presumably you are not disputing the correspondence was delivered but you were not at the address.

By cancelling the direct debit you probably broke the terms of your agreement.

That said there is a chance you might win a court case because they hadn't obtained a meter reading. However what are you trying to claim in a court case? Presumably financial compensation, in which case how much have you lost financially?

You can obviously go to the Small Claims Court, and claim???

IMO your best bet is to try and get some compensation from the company before court.

Sorry to be so negative!

 

Correct, the correspondence was sent but I was not at the property which the power company should have been aware from earlier correspondence.  I am currently in discussion and a degree of compensation has already been offered together with reinstating the original credit meter.  However they continue to state they acted correctly in obtaining a warrant based on estimated meter readings.  I guess I’m trying to understand the legal position here as to me this doesn’t seem right.

Ms_Chocaholic

If the company are agreeing to return you to the situation you were in previously and have given you some ££ in compensation that you are happy with, I'm unsure why you are continuing with this, I'd let sleeping dogs lie.

welshmoneylover

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

Flying_Demon

Ms_Chocaholic said:

If the company are agreeing to return you to the situation you were in previously and have given you some ££ in compensation that you are happy with, I'm unsure why you are continuing with this, I'd let sleeping dogs lie.

Appreciate your comments, but if power companies are routinely obtaining entry warrants based on dubious debts that actually don’t exist this needs calling out and I am ready to do it. 

Flying_Demon

welshmoneylover said:

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

I have to disagree there.  The account is managed on-line and all my early correspondence disputing the increase in direct debit and that no one was available to read the meter and they should send a meter reader was made via this portal throughout early 2021.  I was indeed expecting them to respond on-line but it seems they then decided to resort to postal correspondence which I was unaware of.  I think it would have been reasonable of them to have at least informed me on-line to expect future correspondence via post but they did not.  

Ms_Chocaholic

Flying_Demon said:

welshmoneylover said:

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

I have to disagree there.  The account is managed on-line and all my early correspondence disputing the increase in direct debit and that no one was available to read the meter and they should send a meter reader was made via this portal throughout early 2021.  I was indeed expecting them to respond on-line but it seems they then decided to resort to postal correspondence which I was unaware of.  I think it would have been reasonable of them to have at least informed me on-line to expect future correspondence via post but they did not.  

What happens to any other mail that is delivered to the flat's address that could be important?

Flying_Demon

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Flying_Demon said:

welshmoneylover said:

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

I have to disagree there.  The account is managed on-line and all my early correspondence disputing the increase in direct debit and that no one was available to read the meter and they should send a meter reader was made via this portal throughout early 2021.  I was indeed expecting them to respond on-line but it seems they then decided to resort to postal correspondence which I was unaware of.  I think it would have been reasonable of them to have at least informed me on-line to expect future correspondence via post but they did not.  

What happens to any other mail that is delivered to the flat's address that could be important?

You seem to be missing the point here.  It’s not about by domestic mail arrangements but can a warrant of entry be legitimately obtained when based on estimated meter readings and an unproven debt?

Ms_Chocaholic

Flying_Demon said:

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Flying_Demon said:

welshmoneylover said:

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

I have to disagree there.  The account is managed on-line and all my early correspondence disputing the increase in direct debit and that no one was available to read the meter and they should send a meter reader was made via this portal throughout early 2021.  I was indeed expecting them to respond on-line but it seems they then decided to resort to postal correspondence which I was unaware of.  I think it would have been reasonable of them to have at least informed me on-line to expect future correspondence via post but they did not.  

What happens to any other mail that is delivered to the flat's address that could be important?

You seem to be missing the point here.  It’s not about by domestic mail arrangements but can a warrant of entry be legitimately obtained when based on estimated meter readings and an unproven debt?

I'm not missing the point, if your mail was redirected you would have heard about the warrant thus you wouldn't be in the position you are. Also many flats are leasehold, what if a letter was addressed to you at the flat re £££ of work that was required, just as an example.

Flying_Demon

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Flying_Demon said:

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Flying_Demon said:

welshmoneylover said:

if they didn’t you arrange to have your bills redirected to you or set up an online account?
you are coming across a bit negligent; you should have arranged to submit meter readings.

I have to disagree there.  The account is managed on-line and all my early correspondence disputing the increase in direct debit and that no one was available to read the meter and they should send a meter reader was made via this portal throughout early 2021.  I was indeed expecting them to respond on-line but it seems they then decided to resort to postal correspondence which I was unaware of.  I think it would have been reasonable of them to have at least informed me on-line to expect future correspondence via post but they did not.  

What happens to any other mail that is delivered to the flat's address that could be important?

You seem to be missing the point here.  It’s not about by domestic mail arrangements but can a warrant of entry be legitimately obtained when based on estimated meter readings and an unproven debt?

I'm not missing the point, if your mail was redirected you would have heard about the warrant thus you wouldn't be in the position you are. Also many flats are leasehold, what if a letter was addressed to you at the flat re £££ of work that was required, just as an example.

I am sorry but you are missing the pertinent point here.  It’s not about my mail or response but if the warrant was legitimately obtained in the first place.