help accused of stealing electricity by scottish power

[thekrankie]

Hi

I have had my flat for a year I have a pre pay meter. A month ago I came home to find my meter had been changed a letter said to contact scottish power as my meter had been tampered with. I did so and was told there was no problem my meter has just been changed and I would be sent out a new key.

Then today I get a letter saying they were adding a £230 for electricity I had stolen. I contacted thier revenue department and spoke with someone. She said the engineer had changed my meter and made a report that the supply had been bypassed and I was being billed for the esimated electricity I had stolen. They estimated it right back to when I moved in.

I asked why werent the police called as I have no knowledge of it being bypassed. She said we dont do that we just change the meter and bill you for the electricity you have stolen. I said I hadnt stolen any electricity.

She says their engineers report says I have..end of. I said hang on you come out change my meter, dont tell me anything at the time, dont give me any evidence other than our engineer made a report, and on that you accuse me of theft and add £££ to my account. Yes was the answer but you can appeal against it if you want.

There was no manager to speak to and she said to write in with an appeal.

How do I stand here I feel Ive been stitched up. I spoke to my housing assn and they dont get involved in disputes with power companies. She did suggest that perhaps the previous tennant had by passed the supply and reconnected it before I moved in and suggested I ask them to check before I moved in.

 

I am going to write in but the attitude I got when I rang I cant see it doing much.

 

How do I stand has any one else had similar happen.

 

I have just applied to another supplier to take over my supply because I dont want to pay this money, its already onmy key to be taken. Will a change be possible or will whats happened cause problems.

 

Thanks Im really concerned and confused

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Do you have the proof of what you paid onto the key/card of your old meter,receipts etc?

 

Did you take meter reading on entering the flat and have they given you reading on old meter?

 

Did you notify them you were using the meter or was it just continued on from another tenant using the meter?

 

 

I know nowt more than what others learn on here, but just thought these questions may help 'those in the know' to help you xx

[thekrankie]

Hi

When I first moved in they reset the key. At the begining of this year they sent me an estimated bill asking for payment. I contacted them and they said there was no record of me paying any money on the key account. After being passed on a few times my payments were found and I gave them meter readings and the amounts I had paid were correct to the readings so the estimate request was dropped. Then in june I came home to find the meter had been changed.

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Are all the meters in the same place as in my old flat had three meters side by side on same floor. You see it is possible another tenant was wired to your meter fraudulantly. Have they put it in writing it was definately your flat bypassing it and not possibly another flat?

[watchinginvestigation2011]

By the way their are some great advisors who use this site who work in the industry, so keep looking in for replies

[thekrankie]

Hi

The meters are in a communal hallway but in cupboards by each door.

The original letter stuck in the cupboard when the meter was changed just said the meter had been tampered with.

The letter today starts with

United Utilities Revenue Protection Service acting on behalf of your electricity supplier Scottish Power, carried out an inspection of the metering and associated equipment on the 6/6/11. There findings were as follows

Metering equipment bypassed

 

These irregularities mean that the quantity of electricity registered on the meter was less than you were in fact consuming. U URPS hasnow made a calculation of the shorfall, hence the attached bill.

Additional charges of £327 have been debited to your account and be repaid through your prepayment meter.

 

There ia another latter laying out the charge and that they could have disconnected the supply if they had wanted but decieded not to.

[dx100uk]

this is disgusting

 

judge jury and executioner!!

 

we have scpttish power on board here at cag

give them a few days

if they have not responded i'd be writing a very strong letter to the CEO and contacting OFGEM

 

ruddy cheek.

 

PROVE IT WAS YOU NOT JUST ASSUME

 

dx

[thekrankie]

Hang on ive just read th eletter again and i think its saying £320 for the engineer costs and £327.75 for estimated use so thats £652.75 I think they want

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Hang on ive just read th eletter again and i think its saying £320 for the engineer costs and £327.75 for estimated use so thats £652.75 I think they want

 

OMG do fight it as dx1oouk says. Get them to prove it was you xx

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Heres another idea that might be way off the mark, but any way, are you aware of any major works being done on the property prior to you moving in? If council probably not relevant but if private it has not been unheard of a builder of whoever to bypass the meter to save on costs and then restore it if you know what I mean. Could be case of forgot to restore it.

 

As said could be way off the mark, but if can show large works were carried out, it can be reasonable this was a poss cause.

 

Is the flat private or council?

[thekrankie]

Thanks

but how do I fight it, theyve decieded already Ive stolen it quoting the engineer report, theyve already added it to my account so as soon as I put money on my key they start taking it. From another thread Ive read I cant change supplier when theres a debt so they have got me over a barrell, if I want electricity I have to pay it.

I nkow nothing about electric and meters but I would have thought the actual meter would have shown that electric was being used through it everyday, but I havent even got that anymore as they changed it. So they have an engineer saying I stole it and theres nothing I can do in responce..

[thekrankie]

Hi its a housing assn... ive been told it was empty for quite a while before I moved in. The previous tennant never paid water rates etc and I get bills for them all the time in all differant names.

[watchinginvestigation2011]

This is where the scottish power rep can help and hopefully will post. It is the weekend so hopefully they will have read this monday at latest.

 

So try to relax over the weekend as easy as it is to say that and keep your head in here to see what appears.

 

I mean even from common sence I would think if someone is going to bypass a meter they are going to go the whole hog. You have been paying them and would have known there was a risk of a meter reader reporting a poss problem, so again common sence says it can be seen you prehaps had not got a clue that there was a problem.

 

Lets hope they see sence and help you xx

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Hi its a housing assn... ive been told it was empty for quite a while before I moved in. The previous tennant never paid water rates etc and I get bills for them all the time in all differant names.

 

See empty for quite a while private or not means they cannot rule out a third party did it and took advantage of itxx

[thekrankie]

thanks for your replys.

Things like this always seem to happen to me...i will try not to stress to much an keep an eye on here.

thanks again

[dx100uk]

just sit tight

 

we'll get it sorted when they come on line

 

if you wish to pm the rep

you are more than welcome

 

dx

[thekrankie]

PM'd the rep but no respnce as yet. Couldnt avoid stressing about this so my third night without proper sleep, hopefully I will hear something later today

[davehsug]

Hi there. Were you putting plenty of credit on the meter, as much as you would expect? It's quite common for bypassed meters to be discovered by an incoming occupier, but obviously it's much easier to spot for a PP customer as they have much more contact with their meter than a credit customer.

Did you take a reading when you moved in? It used to be common on old token meters for people to buy a small amount of credit regularly to avoid suspiscion, but obviously that's much more difficult with key meters, as the read goes back every time & the credit would just build up on the meter. If you can show that you are using the same amount now as you were before the meter was changed, that would go in your favour.

Do you know if they are saying the meter was still bypassed at the time it was changed, or that there were signs that it had been & then the bypass removed before you moved in? (& this would be very obvious to the specialist engineers who do this sort of work).

Lastly, you will probably find a very hard attitude from people you deal with in their Revenue Protection team. They are used to dealing with some pretty nasty people & will have "heard it all before". So you may have a hard time, but stick with it, gather as much evidence/information as you can & keep trying. Good luck!

[thekrankie]

Just to let you all know the Scottish Power rep has got this sorted for me...

 

Thanks

 

Ok point taken

From the imformation I supplied the SP rep he looked into it for me.

It appears it was obvious that it was the previous tennant but the Revenue people had not bothered to look into that and instead blamed me as the current account holder.

If the SP rep had not taken this on for me I do not know if I would have been able to get the Revenue people to look into it further.

So for anybody in a similar situation who reads the thread I would suggest speaking with the reps.

 

Thanks to anyone that took an intrest in my problem, what did we do before the internet.

Edited July 13, 2011 by thekrankie

[dx100uk]

ok

it would be nice if a resume was posted for future readers

 

it is all very well it being sorted

 

but many people come here to read and are afraid to post.

 

leaving a thread with a one liner helps no-one

 

cag is for EVERYONE

 

dx

[thekrankie]

Ok point taken

From the imformation I supplied the SP rep he looked into it for me.

It appears it was obvious that it was the previous tennant but the Revenue people had not bothered to look into that and instead blamed me as the current account holder.

If the SP rep had not taken this on for me I do not know if I would have been able to get the Revenue people to look into it further.

So for anybody in a similar situation who reads the thread I would suggest speaking with the reps.

 

Thanks to anyone that took an interest in my problem, what did we do before the internet.

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Glad to hear you are okay xx