Utility Warehouse just broke into my house

[shining Light]

Here is my take on the situation as I see it.

 

The previous tenant had been receiving letters etc from UW and had more than likely been given a date for the final action to take place if he/she didn't pay their dues. (To get to the stage mentioned by the OP generally takes quites some time, it doesn't happen in a few weeks).

 

The previous tenant moved out (did a runner) and possibly didn't even tell the L/L.

 

New tenant moves in but doesn't contact UW to register his details.

 

The "enforcement day" arrives and the company working on behalf of UW enforce the Warrant unaware a new tenant has moved in.

 

result

 

One unhappy new tenant and one happy old tenant ( he left having had free gas/electric probably for many months), and one unhappy company because they lost a lot of money.

 

I could be wrong but this is probably close to what happened.

 

Probably if UW had taken action sooner this would all have been sorted out before the OP moved in, and had he informed them he had moved in, the Warrant action could have been stopped.

 

An unfortunate chain of events but if the OP sends his Tenancy agreement to UW as requested he can hopely get things sorted out to his satisfaction.

[shining Light]

The company instructed by UW to enforce the warrant would have made a visit (as confirmed by the OP) and if nobody was home, they would leave a letter. Why did the OP not respond to this letter?

 

Like I previously stated, this action would take a while to get to the "enforcement" stage so I guess that as far as UW were aware, the previous tenant/debtor was still there (not having been advised otherwise) but ignoring all efforts to sort out the problem.

 

To say there is no obligation on a new occupant to inform the utility company of a change of occupant is crazy, how many of the problems mentioned on this forum were as a result of a new occupier not bothering to tell anyone?That said, if the OP can prove he was totally unaware of this problem with the previous tenant he may have a case for not paying the extra charge. However, if he had any knowledge at all then all then this whole saga could have been avoided simply by speaking to the UW before the warrant was enforced.

[shining Light]

surfer01 you are right, ther is no obligation to open a letter addressed to the previous occupier but when suddenly receiving an official looking hand delivered letter with no postage stamp, almost everyone will open it and usually they will call the company who left it to let them know there are new occupants there.

 

Probably UW didn't visit in February, more than likely it would have been a 3rd party company and if that was the case then UW would act on information provided by them.

 

I am a distributor but I have only tried to offer possible explanations as to why this whole thing happened, I am not "blindly" defending the company.

[shining Light]

Actually not almost everyone - as it is illegal to open mail not addressed to you !

The right thing to do is send the official letter back to sender with, if you want, a not known at this address on the envelope.

You are wrong! In a previous life I was a Bailiff and it happened all the time. Besides, how could the occupier return the letter without opening it to see who it was from?? Also, if the previous occupant had left before the OP moved in then he probably didn't even know their name and would be perfectly within his rights to open the letter to ensure nothing "dodgy" was going on, after all, a hand delivered letter from a friend wouldn't have the whole address on it (just his first name probably) so it would be a course for concern, same applies if addressed to "the occupier).

 

Zazen.waaior and kiptower, thanks for your responses, good to see.

 

Pelham9 regarding some of your comments:

 

a) UW broke into the OP's property without the OP being present and changed locks and meters. Legal action

 

b) They did this on the basis of a warrant that must have been obtained unlawfully without the OP ensuring that he had a right to defend.

Warrant would have been obtained legally against the previous tenant and because nobody had contacted UW to notify them of a change of occupancy the action went ahead.

 

Having worked for 2 different companies in the past delivering notifications and enforcing warrants and from my experience I think I can say with certainty a letter would have been left.

 

It was certainly not uncommon for an occupier to lie as to their identity or to deny having seen a letter that I know was delivered because I had delivered it! (And no, I am not saying the OP is lying before you decide to jump on that comment).

 

However, things happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps the OP binned the letter without reading it thinking it was "junk mail" who knows, but it is a very one sided view to instantly say the company is at fault and that is that!! The legal process has to be followed and no company is going to willingly or knowingly bypass it.

 

 

Edited July 18, 2010 by shining Light

[shining Light]

A bailiff that is now a distributor for a [problem] company. That says it all!

Nothing but stupid, pointless insults to all....Bailiffs, UW, and me!

 

I offer possible explanations to the OPs original enquiry based on a little personal knowledge and experience and all you can do is throw in totally unnecessary and pointless insults!!

 

I think this just shows you up for the ignorant person you obviously are!

[shining Light]

There is at least one person on this thread who has admiited elsewhere that he is an agent for UW. His posts cannot be accepted as unbiassed.

Could that be me I wonder? Edited July 18, 2010 by shining Light

[shining Light]

surfer01 said

 

At least I know a hell of a lot more about the electric supplier business than yourself as on occasions you have offered incorrect advice or made incorrect statements one notably that UW have an electric supplier's licence when they don't! There are others but I coudn't be borthered digging them up now.

I took this list below directly from the Ofgem website. I don't pretend to know much about energy licenses but it does say "licensed electricity suppliers" offering ....

 

 

Confirmed list of licensed electricity suppliers offering FITs (FIT Licensees) - List is in alphabetical order.

 

British Gas

Ecotricity

EDF Energy

EnDCo

E.ON

first:utility

Garsington Energy

Good Energy

 

Npower

Opus Energy

Scottish and Southern Energy (encompassing Scottish Hydro, SWALEC, Southern Electric & Atlantic)

Scottish Power

Smartest Energy

Tradelink

Utility Warehouse (Electricity Plus Supply Limited)

 

[shining Light]

Okay so now they have a licence

 

I don't want to go on about things like this because it doesn't really have anything to do with the original post, but it is important to clarify things which can mislead others.

 

UW actually aquired their gas/electricity licenses about 8 yrs ago (I can't remember when exactly). The arrangement with Npower came later after they had already aquired them.

 

I don't like bad service either, be it UW, BT, B.Gas, Barclays Bank etc etc.

Despite a couple of comments on here to the contrary I do not have a biased view of UW..yes, I am a distributor but if I feel they are wrong I will say so (it did happen with one of my customers a couple of years back).

 

Personally I have no complaints regarding their services/prices, I have been with them for about 8 yrs, very happy and have never had a major issue.

 

The the majority of my customers are also happy (I speak to them every 4-5 mths to check everything is OK and they all have my email address should they have a problem they can't understand/resolve). Many have been customers for between 5 and 8 yrs now.

 

Hopefully the OP will get his problem resolved very quickly and I wish him well (sincerely) whoever he moves to.

[shining Light]

Blomquist, I don't know if you have already done this but I would suggest doing the following.

 

Send a letter by "recorded delivery" addressed to the "complaints dept" and lay out your complaint.

 

List the date you moved in etc (include copy of tenancy agreement even if you have already sent it) and tell them you were completely unaware of any problem prior to the enforcement of the warrant and that as a new tenant you are happy to pay your bill but not any charges relating to the previous tenant including the warrant action.

 

Tell them you expect a reply within 14 days (put down the date) or you will take the matter further.

 

This way your complaint should hopefully get to the right person rather than speaking to a different CSA every time you call in.

[shining Light]

Why have you not visited the magistrate court and sorted this?

Good question? If you don't want to do that then why not do as I suggested before?

 

Send a letter by "recorded delivery" addressed to the "complaints dept" and lay out your complaint.

 

List the date you moved in etc (include copy of tenancy agreement even if you have already sent it) and tell them you were completely unaware of any problem prior to the enforcement of the warrant and that as a new tenant you are happy to pay your bill but not any charges relating to the previous tenant including the warrant action.

 

Tell them you expect a reply within 14 days (put down the date) or you will take the matter further.

 

This way your complaint should hopefully get to the right person rather than speaking to a different CSA every time you call in.

 

I have used this method over the years with various companies and always managed to get some sort of solution to my problem.

[shining Light]

The stakes are so high that I would expect any utility to say that someone was sent round to deliver a letter informing of the hearing. You just cannot trust them especially where staff reputations and hence jobs are at stake.

I don't think any Utility company is going to deliberately mislead the court simply to enforce a Warrant, like you said, there is too much at stake. The procedures are in place to protect both the consumer and the company issuing the warrant.

 

In most cases, if something is done incorrectly it will usually come to light. If the 3rd party company acting on behalf of the utility company falsified the documentation relating to the action taken by them, they would lose all credibility and a lot of clients/money.

[shining Light]

Why on earth is this thread been drag up again.

Simple common sense if your moving in or out of a rented flat,or buying/selling,is for the tenant/buyer to contact a utility supplier and not leave it up to some else/3rd party......

 

We not had the whole truth from the person who started this thread and they got caught out using gas and electric for free...

 

He/she moved in January 2010

 

Did nothing until

 

July 2010 when they fitted pre-payments meter's

 

resulting in

 

Paying for court cost and gas and electric used for 7 months..

 

End of...

 

[shining Light]

Hi Blomquist, please to hear you have resolved everything now.