Friends getting free gas should I report them

FlaatusGoat

I have some friends who have regularly bragged about their free gas. Yes its true, their dwelling was built in the early '00's with storage heaters as the standard spec. They ripped those out and connected it to the gas mains. After the work was completed they reported the installation to the local energy board. There was never had any action or follow up. To be honest, I have no reason to doubt their story. At first it was a shrug moment and a weird anomaly but now they're openly floating it.

Now it's starting to get to me with the current energy crisis. And for the sake of I and all the other MSE's who are watching their smart meters and seeing £5,10,30+ per day to heat their home should I report them?

Their place is at a constant 22c, single glazed windows, no attempt to draft proof anything, poor insulation. None of that matters. The boiler is just going non-stop and they only ever had electricity bills. It's lovely in there. My house? Not so much.

baser999

From a safety point alone I’d have thought it would have been necessary for gas board to have been involved from the outset. Who connected up their gas supply? If it wasn’t the gas board perhaps it would be wise to inform them, for safety reasons alone?

[Deleted User]

You'll get a flood of two types of comment here now - neither useful for you unfortunately.

There will be a bunch of "you're a traitor if you tell, they are only sticking it to the man, power to the people..." countered by "won't you think of the children, everything is so unfair, there are people near me using food banks..."

Just look at the thread about turning on Christmas lights for some examples.

In the end, though, only you can decide.  Their use isn't going to be stopping anyone else having gas, and isn't responsible for the price, but of course it is theft.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

do they have as gas meter, if so who connected that?

[Deleted User]

Perhaps 'people you know' would be a better description? True friends don't judge each other.

SAC2334

I would take their story that they self connected to mains gas with a pinch of salt..I don t believe that . That takes some doing.

 Much more likely they had a gas connection already installed with a meter  as many Eco 7 heating occupiers already have and have 
substituted  the genuine meter for an auction site  meter .  It is very very easy to buy one  and anyone can see how many G4 gas meters are sold  on the auction site .

Pity I m not still employed as a meter reader and you could message me but OP can send off the address  to British Gas central RPU who deal with suspected gas tampers .
There is another website you can anonymously report this which I will look up and find its name which deals  with Revenue Protection .
That website is called UKRPA and that is the first place I d visit and getting it reported. They deal with gas and electricity theft.
If the OP does not want to report just message me with address and post code. I ll gladly make the report. I used to do it every week 

On the UKRPA website there is a simple form to fill in which takes a minute or two to complete

Astria

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

do they have as gas meter, if so who connected that?

I also used to know someone in a similar boat, but they purchased a property at auction which was connected to the gas main, they reported that they had just moved into the address and was told:

"There's no gas at that address"

"Yes there is, we are using it."

"We don't have any records of it, we'll have to note it down as an installation"

6 months later, no difference, thinking they could sued for fraud/obtaining gas without permission, submitted a complaint,

6 months later, knock on the door, with diggers to install a gas main. Told there was actually a gas pipe already installed. Confused, they left.

Eventually, nearly 2 years after the first communication, they now actually have a working gas meter.

(It was working before, but they couldn't find any records of past readings, so started from scratch with a new meter)

Andy499

Can they afford gas? 

If you report them, will they join the millions that are sat freezing in their own house?

Personally, id let them be warm and happy, with enough money to heat and eat.

Mstty

Sometimes you just get lucky.

So I am told lol

maisie_cat

My concern would be that a potentially dodgy gas connection could lead to an explosion at some point. Do they have near neighbours? Because it's not just their home that could be affected.

FlaatusGoat

Andy499 said:

Can they afford gas? 

If you report them, will they join the millions that are sat freezing in their own house?

Personally, id let them be warm and happy, with enough money to heat and eat.

They are OAP's so I'm inclined to leave it be.