i dont think a meter reader had come within that month only because when the officer came i would have thought why have they come to read the meter again. it was out of the blue no letters no warning no meetings etc. we had had a bill and we paid it twice! i paid it then my husband paid it too! we thought never mind we in credit will come handy for next bill little did we know we were going to be presented with a bill to cover all bills

Hey! yes their meter readers have been coming for the past 4 years! if there was something wrong they would have said something? AT LAST!!! someone agrees with me! yes the evidence has been broken if not tampered with!! he was not a meter reader he was a revenue protection officer in a tie, suit and a flash car! he had people with him to take the meter and reconnect so what was he doing with the meter for 20 -30 mins on his own? i think he did it too but bg don't believe me.

Hi. Thanks. we moved into the property 4 years ago we bought it off an old couple he was a technician at the local college. since we have been there we have always had meter readers come in and take readings, very rarely we send them readings sometimes they would send me estimates. we have never denied them access to the meter. this is what i cannot understand if there was a problem the meter readers would have guessed right? would you wait 4 years to investigate if you thought someone was stealing from you? it does not make sense

Hi. Thanks. Like i said before i am still waiting for the police to visit so that i can tell them my side of the story. the meter was not tested in London but in Bristol by Scienco Ltd? Supposed to be independent? Nothing has ever happened before, at my previous address i was with bg no problems when i moved here they were supplying gas and i just stayed with them. I have never been in any kind of trouble with anyone in my life! i got a minimal 1 A4 sided report from scienco "initial examination: the ministry seal was non-standard and had no border and a badly impressed manufacture's number". "Conclusions: in my opinion this meter has been fitted with a non standard ministry seal to enable it to be removed and replaced, allowing free access to the index mechanism. The scratching on the index mount bracket is indicative of the index being repeatably removed and refitted". my husband found the bg guy with a screwdriver messing with the meter when he asked what he was doing he said checking it! it was not sealed in front of us. yes i think it might have been faulty because there is no way on earth it has been tampered with not by us anyway! i really have no trust in bg anymore i just want it all sorting as it is so stressful, whatever door i knock on no one can help. let me know more about the law u mentioned if you can that will be useful thanks again

Hiya! Thankyou . I will send for that request first thing mon am. I will also see if i can locate the reading before we moved in. Sorry for sounding a bit thick but what department in the council? I actually work for my local council as a social worker, my managers are aware of this 'problem' and have given me their support. I will also contact my MP too. Thanks again

Hi. This is my first post, my story is a long one therfore i will try and highlight bits for you to get the picture in May 2010 a 'man' from BG knooked on our door and asked to see our meter, we opened the garage for him and left him to look at it! 20-30 mins later he was still there so i asked my husband to see whats happening as meter readers do not take that long taking readings? my husband came back inside laughing that he is from the revenue team and they are accusing us of meter tampering the BG guy said he was going to take our meter to be tested in bristal we said go ahead we'v got nothing to hide previous to this no letters or contact from BG, we moved into the property in Dec 2006 the meter was not sealed in front of us and they put a different meter on 2 weeks later we received a letter from BG saying we have been stealing gas and that the meter has been tampered with there are scratches at the back of the meter and the index seal has been replaced? the bill they gave us was £3, 500 calculated over the 4 years we have been there and looking at our neighboring properties size etc and their bills i wrote to the chairman, the revenue protection team to explain that we both work full time, once we are back we spend a lot of time at my parents who provide us with childcare, the only time we use gas is when we put central heating on for 2 hours in the night and an hour in the morning, our shower is electric, our cooker is electric how can our bills be so high but they do not listen. it is now Dec they took our meter away in July when i refused to pay their made up bill, they said the police will be over as we have been accused of theft no police has yet arrived, i receive a letter every few weeks to say pay or we will take you to court but nothing happens, i get a phone call every week form debt collectors threating me to pay or else but again at a standstill now it is very cold we do not have any hot water or heating we have electric heaters but it is so cold, my youngest child is 9 months old she cannot maintain her body heat and i am so scared she's going to get poorly. my electricity is with n power i asked them if they could take over the gas a while ago they said not until you pay BG, I am desperate now, i have tried everyone, consumer focus they said because BG have got evidence they cannot help, the ombudsman refused to get involved as it is a police matter even though police haven't even been! a week ago i emailed the ombudsman again and they have said to complain to BG and then they will look into it, i'm worried we all going to freeze to death by the time this is sorted! If anyone has any advice i will really appreciate it.