Abuse of process with warrant of entry by power company?

Sailbad

As a former meter op it was part of my job to install key meters under warrant if there was an unpaid long term debt.
We always went to great length to engage with the customer and would only apply for a warrant if we had to hire a locksmith to gain entry.
In Flying Demon's case the meter is external to the flat so we would have been able to see whether there really was a debt before considering a warrant.
It looks to me that the company did not act correctly here, they should have tried to contact you by phone ,SMS, email and post, but if you have had the credit meter reinstated and been offered compensation I'm not sure what else you can do.

welshmoneylover

Of course they acted correctly, it is not the energy companies fault if the OP didn’t check the mail ; legally they have to write to the address if they are chasing debt.

spiro

You say your meter has not been read for some time but how often did you submit meter readings? Most suppliers have something in their T&Cs that requires you to submit reading twice a year,

Gerry1

Why did they need to break in to the flat when the meter was outside?

Flying_Demon

spiro said:

You say your meter has not been read for some time but how often did you submit meter readings? Most suppliers have something in their T&Cs that requires you to submit reading twice a year,

I could not submit my own meter readings as I was living a considerable distance from it at the time and also had mobility issues following an operation that prevented me travelling to it.  The power company were all made aware of this and requested to send a meter reading on numerous occasions during 2021 but ignored these requests.

Flying_Demon

Gerry1 said:

Why did they need to break in to the flat when the meter was outside?

… no idea!

Flying_Demon

welshmoneylover said:

Of course they acted correctly, it is not the energy companies fault if the OP didn’t check the mail ; legally they have to write to the address if they are chasing debt.

But there was no debt to chase.  They basically made up a figure without any proof to obtain the entry warrant. 

MattMattMattUK

Flying_Demon said:

spiro said:

You say your meter has not been read for some time but how often did you submit meter readings? Most suppliers have something in their T&Cs that requires you to submit reading twice a year,

I could not submit my own meter readings as I was living a considerable distance from it at the time and also had mobility issues following an operation that prevented me travelling to it. 

Whilst the energy provider should have not taken the route that they did, a huge part of the problem seems to be the lack of a mail redirect being place, which would have meant you received both their letters as well as the letters from the court, as well as the fact that you did not submit any meter readings yourself (as per the contract, you will be required to submit either one or two meter readings per year).

Flying_Demon said:
The power company were all made aware of this and requested to send a meter reading on numerous occasions during 2021 but ignored these requests.

When you say "requested to send a meter reading on numerous occasions during 2021 but ignored these requests", do you mean you ignored their requests, that they "ignored" your request that they send someone to the property (they are not required to do that), both, something different? 
 
I don't think that this has been handled well, but they do seem to be trying to put it right and it does seem to have been caused by a rather messy set of circumstances, I am can really see it not being worth the effort to turn it into some kind of crusade, or trying to get much compensation out of them, as they will likely offer a reasonable "gesture of goodwill" at the end of this all anyway. 

MattMattMattUK

Flying_Demon said:

Gerry1 said:

Why did they need to break in to the flat when the meter was outside?

… no idea!

Was the meter somewhere that they legally could not access, eg. a locked cupboard, which meant that they would also be unable to gain a meter read without someone providing access, or was it in one of those fiberglass boxes they stick to the outside of the building? 

Flying_Demon

MattMattMattUK said:

Flying_Demon said:

spiro said:

You say your meter has not been read for some time but how often did you submit meter readings? Most suppliers have something in their T&Cs that requires you to submit reading twice a year,

I could not submit my own meter readings as I was living a considerable distance from it at the time and also had mobility issues following an operation that prevented me travelling to it. 

Whilst the energy provider should have not taken the route that they did, a huge part of the problem seems to be the lack of a mail redirect being place, which would have meant you received both their letters as well as the letters from the court, as well as the fact that you did not submit any meter readings yourself (as per the contract, you will be required to submit either one or two meter readings per year).

Flying_Demon said:
The power company were all made aware of this and requested to send a meter reading on numerous occasions during 2021 but ignored these requests.

When you say "requested to send a meter reading on numerous occasions during 2021 but ignored these requests", do you mean you ignored their requests, that they "ignored" your request that they send someone to the property (they are not required to do that), both, something different? 
 
I don't think that this has been handled well, but they do seem to be trying to put it right and it does seem to have been caused by a rather messy set of circumstances, I am can really see it not being worth the effort to turn it into some kind of crusade, or trying to get much compensation out of them, as they will likely offer a reasonable "gesture of goodwill" at the end of this all anyway. 

Thanks, I requested on numerous occasions that the power company send someone to read the meter at the property because of my mobility issues and living alone there was no one else who could do this on my behalf.  The meter is located in a communal area and is not locked.