Scottish power illegal entry to property

t0rt0ise

Maybe the court case went through before the tenants left and they only just enforced it.  Ask the court. Is there debt on the meter? If you say which meter it is someone here will know how to check for debt.

Scot_39

As above maybe not illegal - just not executed in real time.

There was a post recently when another supplier entered without leaving a warrant just a letter saying had one.

Related to previous tennants suspected tampering iirc.

But a landlord in that thread said it was a not irregular occurrance due to delays.

Supplier applies for warrant against previous tennant, gets warrant, meter subcontractor executes warrant - maybe months.

And normally if debt not tampering etc - it can take months if not longer to jump through hoops to even get to stage supplier asks for warrant.

Complain to supplier - if has been notified of change of tennancy / occupation - the OP in that thread - new tennant - was given £100+ compensation iirc.

molerat

Look on the bright side, it was SP using a locksmith rather than the boys in blue with their big red universal key.

SAC2334

How would you know as a landlord that your tenant(s) had not bypassed the meter(s) and it was in a dangerous condition ? Bypassed meter can be  hard to spot.
Scottish Power are not likely to pay out for a warrant and a locksmithj unless they were sure the meter(s) had  been bypassed .I used to work for them and they were the supplier who would not get a warrent unless it was certain they needed it .
Your property would not be insured if illegal tampering of meters had caused explosions or fires in your property 

mmmmikey

As said above there are a number of perfectly legitimate explanations for this and it stands to reason that the law would allow SP access to their meter in a vacant property as long as the appropriate process is followed. It's entirely possible that SP have done everything by the book. Although I can understand your concern to be perfectly honest I think you've jumped the gun a bit with the referal to the Police and the formal complaint (although to be equally honest I probably would have been so wound up that I might well have done the same thing). So IMHO best to give SP the opportunity to explain themselves before doing anything else.

EssexHebridean

I think we really need the OP to come back and clarify things here, otherwise we’re just speculating really. 

MP1995

Most of our rentals have had smart meters fitted either for Tenants to get cheaper energy or when they fail to pay and smart prepay is activated.

It matters not a single jot to us as landlords. 

Infact it makes our rentals even more attractive to the right rental people and not those that see an old analogue meter they think they can bypass and then burn down the whole block.

Win win in my books.

Swipe

Maybe the tenant let them in to change the meter just prior to leaving and the OP isn't aware of that? Ask SP when the installation date was or check the date on the sticker/card left by the installer.