Invalid Warrant Forced Entry

TisInNeedOfHelp24

BarelySentientAI said:

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

molerat said:

The warrant clearly states it is to enter the premises, it does not mention the premises rented by, the respondent at the top is pretty much irrelevant.  The entry to the premises was perfectly legal and there is no point going down that route.  Your beef is with the supplier who gained a warrant of entry over a month after they were aware a new tenant had moved in.  Unfortunately with these incompetent energy suppliers the left hand does not talk to the right.  You need to raise a complaint with them and take it to the ombudsman if necessary, they will likely give you £200 to go away.  The newspapers may also like the story, no mentions of illegal though, just incompetent.

Thanks for that. The application was brought by the company that forced entry, presumably on behalf of the energy company. Does that change anything? The energy company are now saying it's all a bit strange and they have finding it difficult to get to the bottom of it.  The person I spoke to last almost suggested the company who forced entry went off on their own bat with this. They offered £100 that phone call.

It does - and treat the 'almost suggestion' from a random CS person as meaning nothing.

Supplier had an unrecovered debt or concern of tampering etc. and could not gain access, told a 3rd party to obtain warrant and proceed with necessary works/inspections.  Now it's off the suppliers list, they have nothing more to do with it.  Change of tenant doesn't necessarily overwrite their concerns or previous debt, so would not be an automatic trigger to change the instructions to the 3rd party.

3rd party goes through the legal process, gets warrant, acts on warrant.  They do not (and many would say should not) have contact with the tenant, occupant, landlord, homeowner etc.  They have no idea if someone has moved out or moved in, and it is essentially irrelevant to them anyway.  Only if their instructions changed would they fail to proceed.

Both parts perfectly legal, supported by the Electricity Act and the Licence Conditions.  Ombudsman might chuck you a few quid, but there are no massive errors here and you haven't suffered a significant loss that needs to be put right, so no precedent for an award over the usual £50 - £150 "shut up and go away" payment.

I'm with the same supplier, who originally told me the error was when they signed me up, someone didn't remove outstanding warrants. However, I now see the warrant was issued on August 9, 5 weeks after I moved in and signed up with the supplier on July 1. They had put a block on electricity supply which they lifted when I moved in - there was no electricity in the house before I signed up. I just find it extraordinary this may be all legal.

Reed_Richards

Maybe you need to take legal advice, not just advice from a bunch of people online who may or may not know what they are talking about (myself included).

TisInNeedOfHelp24

MattMattMattUK said:

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

MP1995 said:

The right of entry details the address so that's legal imo.

It is a shame the process could have not been stopped and the meters inspected at your convenience and that is the part which I believe you can seek some compensation from the energy supplier.

Even though it is in someone else's name? Who hasn't lived here for almost a year? They've offered me £75 which I've not accepted.

As has been said multiple times, the name is irrelevant, the address is what matters. 

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

i'll be contacting the police to update them re the warrant.

Why? The warrant is perfectly valid, the police have already told you they are not interested as the warrant is valid. What purpose do you think it serves to take up more police time contacting them?

Police didn't say that. They said as the company say they have a valid warrant they'll accept that and that once I got the warrant I could call them back.

t0rt0ise

You can, and should, delete that earlier post yourself.

Hit the dots by your post and you get the option to edit or delete.

TisInNeedOfHelp24

t0rt0ise said:

You can, and should, delete that earlier post yourself.

Hit the dots by your post and you get the option to edit or delete.

Hi, thanks for that, I can't see any dots to edit / delete though?

MP1995

t0rt0ise said:

You can, and should, delete that earlier post yourself.

Hit the dots by your post and you get the option to edit or delete.

This is a newbie they have to wait a while or it can be reported for containing personal info and the mods can delete it.

MeteredOut

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

molerat said:

The warrant clearly states it is to enter the premises, it does not mention the premises rented by, the respondent at the top is pretty much irrelevant.  The entry to the premises was perfectly legal and there is no point going down that route.  Your beef is with the supplier who gained a warrant of entry over a month after they were aware a new tenant had moved in.  Unfortunately with these incompetent energy suppliers the left hand does not talk to the right.  You need to raise a complaint with them and take it to the ombudsman if necessary, they will likely give you £200 to go away.  The newspapers may also like the story, no mentions of illegal though, just incompetent.

Thanks for that. The application was brought by the company that forced entry, presumably on behalf of the energy company. Does that change anything? The energy company are now saying it's all a bit strange and they have finding it difficult to get to the bottom of it.  The person I spoke to last almost suggested the company who forced entry went off on their own bat with this. They offered £100 that phone call.

It does - and treat the 'almost suggestion' from a random CS person as meaning nothing.

Supplier had an unrecovered debt or concern of tampering etc. and could not gain access, told a 3rd party to obtain warrant and proceed with necessary works/inspections.  Now it's off the suppliers list, they have nothing more to do with it.  Change of tenant doesn't necessarily overwrite their concerns or previous debt, so would not be an automatic trigger to change the instructions to the 3rd party.

3rd party goes through the legal process, gets warrant, acts on warrant.  They do not (and many would say should not) have contact with the tenant, occupant, landlord, homeowner etc.  They have no idea if someone has moved out or moved in, and it is essentially irrelevant to them anyway.  Only if their instructions changed would they fail to proceed.

Both parts perfectly legal, supported by the Electricity Act and the Licence Conditions.  Ombudsman might chuck you a few quid, but there are no massive errors here and you haven't suffered a significant loss that needs to be put right, so no precedent for an award over the usual £50 - £150 "shut up and go away" payment.

I'm with the same supplier, who originally told me the error was when they signed me up, someone didn't remove outstanding warrants. However, I now see the warrant was issued on August 9, 5 weeks after I moved in and signed up with the supplier on July 1. They had put a block on electricity supply which they lifted when I moved in - there was no electricity in the house before I signed up. I just find it extraordinary this may be all legal.

Mistakes are not illegal. It's clear that the supplier messed up here, but going after the people who executed the warrant is not going to get you anywhere.

Push your complaint with the supplier for more compensation, and if that does not work, go to the Ombudsman.

MP1995

Which leads to the question how much do you want?

EssexHebridean

MP1995 said:

t0rt0ise said:

You can, and should, delete that earlier post yourself.

Hit the dots by your post and you get the option to edit or delete.

This is a newbie they have to wait a while or it can be reported for containing personal info and the mods can delete it.

It was reported almost immediately after the OP said that they too had requested removal yesterday - I suspect by several people due to the nature of the information it contained. 

MattMattMattUK

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:

molerat said:

The warrant clearly states it is to enter the premises, it does not mention the premises rented by, the respondent at the top is pretty much irrelevant.  The entry to the premises was perfectly legal and there is no point going down that route.  Your beef is with the supplier who gained a warrant of entry over a month after they were aware a new tenant had moved in.  Unfortunately with these incompetent energy suppliers the left hand does not talk to the right.  You need to raise a complaint with them and take it to the ombudsman if necessary, they will likely give you £200 to go away.  The newspapers may also like the story, no mentions of illegal though, just incompetent.

Thanks for that. The application was brought by the company that forced entry, presumably on behalf of the energy company. Does that change anything?

No.

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:
The energy company are now saying it's all a bit strange and they have finding it difficult to get to the bottom of it. 

Someone in customer services is unlikely to have the full picture, certainly not relating to debt recovery and they will not be able to discuss the previous account holder's debt with you as that is against data protection rules. 

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:
The person I spoke to last almost suggested the company who forced entry went off on their own bat with this. 

The third party will have only acted upon what they were told, eg. suspected meter tampering, gain access and verify meter/disconnect supply if tampered. Customer services will not have proper visibility of what debt recovery or revenue security are doing.

TisInNeedOfHelp24 said:
They offered £100 that phone call.

When they put it in writing, take the money.