How much compensation is reasonable here?

TELLIT01

LegalNim said:

What is reasonable compensation to expect here? I can't find anything online about entering a property without a legal warrant except for police, which obviously isn't the case here.

From my in-depth understanding of the rules, gleaned entirely from 'Call the Bailiff' and similar programmes, I'm pretty sure you are correct.  They can force entry to commercial property but not into private homes.  They have to be allowed in by the occupant.  As you weren't there you clearly couldn't do that.  Once you can show the date purchase of the property was completed, there should be no liability for any charges prior to that date.

eskbanker

I'm no expert but it seems that warrants of entry can be granted under the Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954, although in any case, challenging the legality of the action would seem to be a somewhat lower priority than reversing its effects....

Aylesbury_Duck

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Surely your home insurance is the best course of action here, especially if you have legal cover. 

Definitely a no, no!
Why should the insurance pay/etc and IOP risk a rise in premiums
OP did the right thing A-sap it was the supplier's fault.

OP, get you out-of-pocket costs and the extra stress/insult offer of 50 quid is increased to 200 at least.

I'm no fan of compo and if they had admitted fault or said they'd check and then come back to you asap and so it out and then 50 quid, thats fine but they did not.

Mistakes happen and this was one of those but how they are dealing with it is wrong.


Good luck

I didn't mean OP should claim on their insurance, but their insurer should be able to advise on possible resolutions, particularly if legal expenses are included.  Accessing legal cover advice doesn't risk premium increases.

I've never understood this fear of contacting insurers.  People pay hundreds - sometimes thousands - each year for buildings/cover/car insurance.  Not making use of the facilities in the policy seems daft.  I get the reluctance to claim, of course.

You clearly stated that "insurance is the first line of contact." Why, what for, the wrongdoers should sort it out no reason for OP to water their time with the insurance at this stage as the company that made the mistake is no fly by night.

Now you are talking about the reasons for contacting insurance. Yeah, but not in OP's case not at this stage as I'm confident it will be sorted.

Ok, so your advice is for the OP to spend their time sorting out what seems to be a fairly complicated, multi-faceted problem, when they're a new parent in a new house that was without central heating, hot water or easy access to their own home, they're on an inconvenient and expensive electricity tariff for the next couple of months and are currently £1,000 out of pocket...

...rather than speak to their insurer to see if there's anything they can do to help expedite the outstanding matters or lever a suitable compensation amount.

I understand, but disagree.

LegalNim

Thanks for the responses so far. There's no real point getting legal experts involved at this stage but we do have legal cover on our insurance if we do get to that point. It would be held against us in court if we tried to pursue this through litigation without having gone through the internal complaints and the ombudsman first.

They had no legal right to enter the property. Their warrant was granted under the Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954 and the Electricity Act 1989. However, the EA 1989 Sch 6 s.2(2)(a) says they cannot enter if the debt is in "genuine dispute". The debt came into genuine dispute when we contacted them on the Monday to inform them that we were new owners and did not recognise the debt. We used a pre-prepared script of exactly what needed to be said to invalidate the warrant. They also did not follow the law in a number of other aspects (they can't disconnect power if children under 5 are in the property, they can't put a PAYG meter in if it's inaccessible to the occupant etc). Their entry to the property was as illegal as if I broke into their offices. 

Yes - we recorded the meter readings and submitted them. We're trying to do everything in writing but, conveniently, they won't accept anything in writing (even though their website says they do and ofgem says they have to). They conveniently have "no record" of many of our calls. Unfortunately for them, we do have a record of them. 

I cannot employ an electrician to touch or move the meter. The meter is the property of the energy company. Moving it is a criminal offence. I have no ability to make them do anything at all. 

I'm really looking for a figure on how much I could expect for compensation for illegally entering my home and causing damage (the damage was not necessary to change the meter - meters were by the front door but damage was caused in the kitchen at the rear of the property because they "have to check every room in case there's a dead body".

sheramber

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Surely your home insurance is the best course of action here, especially if you have legal cover. 

Definitely a no, no!
Why should the insurance pay/etc and IOP risk a rise in premiums
OP did the right thing A-sap it was the supplier's fault.

OP, get you out-of-pocket costs and the extra stress/insult offer of 50 quid is increased to 200 at least.

I'm no fan of compo and if they had admitted fault or said they'd check and then come back to you asap and so it out and then 50 quid, thats fine but they did not.

Mistakes happen and this was one of those but how they are dealing with it is wrong.


Good luck

I didn't mean OP should claim on their insurance, but their insurer should be able to advise on possible resolutions, particularly if legal expenses are included.  Accessing legal cover advice doesn't risk premium increases.

I've never understood this fear of contacting insurers.  People pay hundreds - sometimes thousands - each year for buildings/cover/car insurance.  Not making use of the facilities in the policy seems daft.  I get the reluctance to claim, of course.

You clearly stated that "insurance is the first line of contact." Why, what for, the wrongdoers should sort it out no reason for OP to water their time with the insurance at this stage as the company that made the mistake is no fly by night.

Now you are talking about the reasons for contacting insurance. Yeah, but not in OP's case not at this stage as I'm confident it will be sorted.

What makes you so confident?

It took 4 years for them to sort out my sister's electricity account after it was discovered that the wrong meter hqa been installed in her house when it was built- it was registered to someone  else so was registering that person usage , not hers.

diystarter7

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Surely your home insurance is the best course of action here, especially if you have legal cover. 

Definitely a no, no!
Why should the insurance pay/etc and IOP risk a rise in premiums
OP did the right thing A-sap it was the supplier's fault.

OP, get you out-of-pocket costs and the extra stress/insult offer of 50 quid is increased to 200 at least.

I'm no fan of compo and if they had admitted fault or said they'd check and then come back to you asap and so it out and then 50 quid, thats fine but they did not.

Mistakes happen and this was one of those but how they are dealing with it is wrong.


Good luck

I didn't mean OP should claim on their insurance, but their insurer should be able to advise on possible resolutions, particularly if legal expenses are included.  Accessing legal cover advice doesn't risk premium increases.

I've never understood this fear of contacting insurers.  People pay hundreds - sometimes thousands - each year for buildings/cover/car insurance.  Not making use of the facilities in the policy seems daft.  I get the reluctance to claim, of course.

You clearly stated that "insurance is the first line of contact." Why, what for, the wrongdoers should sort it out no reason for OP to water their time with the insurance at this stage as the company that made the mistake is no fly by night.

Now you are talking about the reasons for contacting insurance. Yeah, but not in OP's case not at this stage as I'm confident it will be sorted.

Ok, so your advice is for the OP to spend their time sorting out what seems to be a fairly complicated, multi-faceted problem, 

Like the millions of posts on this site mate, its NOT "advice" but always a recommendation or an opinion

Best news of all, the OP is on the same thinking terms as me and others here IE not worth going to the insurance ATM :.

The rest is in my previous posts.

Take care, and enjoy your evening.

sheramber

is it better to ask advice from a load os strangers on a forum than consult a qualified advisor on what her options are?

screech_78

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Surely your home insurance is the best course of action here, especially if you have legal cover. 

Definitely a no, no!
Why should the insurance pay/etc and IOP risk a rise in premiums
OP did the right thing A-sap it was the supplier's fault.

OP, get you out-of-pocket costs and the extra stress/insult offer of 50 quid is increased to 200 at least.

I'm no fan of compo and if they had admitted fault or said they'd check and then come back to you asap and so it out and then 50 quid, thats fine but they did not.

Mistakes happen and this was one of those but how they are dealing with it is wrong.


Good luck

I didn't mean OP should claim on their insurance, but their insurer should be able to advise on possible resolutions, particularly if legal expenses are included.  Accessing legal cover advice doesn't risk premium increases.

I've never understood this fear of contacting insurers.  People pay hundreds - sometimes thousands - each year for buildings/cover/car insurance.  Not making use of the facilities in the policy seems daft.  I get the reluctance to claim, of course.

You clearly stated that "insurance is the first line of contact." Why, what for, the wrongdoers should sort it out no reason for OP to water their time with the insurance at this stage as the company that made the mistake is no fly by night.

Now you are talking about the reasons for contacting insurance. Yeah, but not in OP's case not at this stage as I'm confident it will be sorted.

Ok, so your advice is for the OP to spend their time sorting out what seems to be a fairly complicated, multi-faceted problem, 

Like the millions of posts on this site mate, its NOT "advice" but always a recommendation or an opinion

Best news of all, the OP is on the same thinking terms as me and others here IE not worth going to the insurance ATM :.

The rest is in my previous posts.

Take care, and enjoy your evening.

Considering the amount involved, advising someone to use the legal cover on their home insurance is absolutely good advice. I’ve used it on mine before. No rise in premiums. 

Aylesbury_Duck

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

diystarter7 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Surely your home insurance is the best course of action here, especially if you have legal cover. 

Definitely a no, no!
Why should the insurance pay/etc and IOP risk a rise in premiums
OP did the right thing A-sap it was the supplier's fault.

OP, get you out-of-pocket costs and the extra stress/insult offer of 50 quid is increased to 200 at least.

I'm no fan of compo and if they had admitted fault or said they'd check and then come back to you asap and so it out and then 50 quid, thats fine but they did not.

Mistakes happen and this was one of those but how they are dealing with it is wrong.


Good luck

I didn't mean OP should claim on their insurance, but their insurer should be able to advise on possible resolutions, particularly if legal expenses are included.  Accessing legal cover advice doesn't risk premium increases.

I've never understood this fear of contacting insurers.  People pay hundreds - sometimes thousands - each year for buildings/cover/car insurance.  Not making use of the facilities in the policy seems daft.  I get the reluctance to claim, of course.

You clearly stated that "insurance is the first line of contact." Why, what for, the wrongdoers should sort it out no reason for OP to water their time with the insurance at this stage as the company that made the mistake is no fly by night.

Now you are talking about the reasons for contacting insurance. Yeah, but not in OP's case not at this stage as I'm confident it will be sorted.

Ok, so your advice is for the OP to spend their time sorting out what seems to be a fairly complicated, multi-faceted problem, 

Like the millions of posts on this site mate, its NOT "advice" but always a recommendation or an opinion

Best news of all, the OP is on the same thinking terms as me and others here IE not worth going to the insurance ATM :.

The rest is in my previous posts.

Take care, and enjoy your evening.

I'm sure the OP will be delighted that among all the hassle and cost they're experiencing, they "best news of all" is that you agree with them. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP sorry if I missed it, have you followed the energy company's official complaints procedure?