Dispute with an energy company

Freestyler2026

I have a dispute with E Gas and Electricity company. They have removed the meters for both gas and electricity in the property I was renting out .

It was a prepayment meter and topped up by card payments.

Tenant never set up an account in his name and accrued large debt due to bypassing the meters.

The tenancy agreement stated the tenant was responsible for the payment of the energy bills.

Energy company got court involved and seeka removed both meters after warrant of entry granted.

I did not realize until after the tenant informed me of this.

Now tenant moved out and the energy company requested me to pay £2000 to reconnect both meters.

I asked the ombudsman to look at the case. Waited 3 months and got the decision upholding the energy company stance.

Any thoughts or advice?

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Tenant never set up an account in his name and accrued large debt due to bypassing the meters.

The tenancy agreement stated the tenant was responsible for the payment of the energy bills.

Energy company got court involved and seeka removed both meters after warrant of entry granted.

I did not realize until after the tenant informed me of this.

Now tenant moved out and the energy company requested me to pay £2000 to reconnect both

Your dispute appears to be with your tenant, not with your energy company.

Did they pass your financial checks when they moved in? Did you retain their deposit when they moved out? Do you know where they now live, and have you issued a Letter Before Action?

Tagging @theartfullodger who often has useful advice regarding tenancy disputes, but isn't a regular on the Energy forum.

Baldytyke88

Ask the energy company to open a "landlord account" or a temporary void period account under your name. Request the installation of new credit (standard monthly pay) or smart meters so the property has supply for maintenance or viewings. You may need to clear the debt.

Ectophile

Is that a back bill for the energy that the tenant didn't pay, or a charge for connecting new meters? If it's the latter, there may be little you can do about it.

Freestyler2026

The former tenant passed the financial checks and right to rent checks.I do not know their new address, so cannot chase them and they don't answer the calls.

The energy company is saying that the theft occurred over a long period of time (about 2 years). The total amount of debt is over £4000. The company does not charge me all the amount as I provided tenancy agreement to them. They charge £2000 as reconnection fee, but I think it's excessive and they try to recoup some of the court costs and their warrant of entry costs.

I had a similar situation in another house I rented out and the meters were removed but the company(different one) charged £142 for installation of each meter.

They also had warrant of entry and went through the same route as E Gas and Electricity

Keep_pedalling

Think yourself lucky that bypassing the gas meter did not lead to an explosion and a destroyed property.

£1000 a meter is not unusual where the occupant has tampered with them.

I hope your tenant has not had any of their deposit back.

Baldytyke88

An energy supplier can apply for a court warrant to forcibly enter your home to change or install a prepayment meter, but only as a last resort for unpaid debt. By law, they must give you at least 28 days to pay, make 10 contact attempts, and do a welfare visit first.

You could be awkward and ask them to send you details about the above process. Did the energy company make contact with you or was the previous tenant - who was still listed as the occupant?

Since this has happened to you before, you really should have made sure it didn't happen again.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/stop-your-energy-supplier-installing-a-prepayment-meter/

Freestyler2026

The energy company went to court and got warrant of entry, but I only found out afterwards.

The former tenant informed me and I contacted the energy company. They asked for the proof that the property was rented out , which they received immediately from me.

They are not asking the former tenant to settle the bill, even though they now know their full details. Tenancy agreement stated that the tenant is responsible for payments of bills at the time the theft occurred.

The energy company did not make any contact with me. They probably were sending letters to the occupier of the property as nobody was listed on the energy account. These were thrown away as I could not find any evidence of them in the house.The only letter I have got is from Seeka from the day they removed the meters. They left it in the house.

Qyburn

An energy supplier can apply for a court warrant to forcibly enter your home to change or install a prepayment meter, but only as a last resort for unpaid debt. By law, they must give you at least 28 days to pay, make 10 contact attempts, and do a welfare visit first.

Those protections may not apply where there's meter tampering and/or energy theft.

Freestyler2026

This was not the case of installing the prepayment meter, as one has already been in place.

I understand that in cases of energy theft the energy company is protecting their revenue by applying to court for warrant of entry and removing the meters

The issue is that instead of asking the tenant who used the energy , to pay the bills owed, they turned to me as the house owner to pay reconnection fee.

They are not formally chasing me for the energy debt and have not sent any letters demanding the payment for lost energy or threatening legal action.

.

QrizB

The issue is that instead of asking the tenant who used the energy , to pay the bills owed, they turned to me as the house owner to pay reconnection fee.

As you don't currently have a supply, and a deemed contract only exists when you take a supply, it could be argued that you don't currently have any contractual relationship with E.

Have you asked any other energy companies if they could install a meter at your property?