Can the electricity company cut me off in winter if I have children by forcing a prepayment meter I cant afford?

[Staraker]

A friend of mine has a 3 bed semi ..Her quarterly bill was £800..I think people forget how expensive Gas/Elec is ..when you cant keep track ..I only put my heating on after 4pm and leave on till 8pm..Its not on high and I use £40 a wk..So you can see even not abusing it its still expensive ..we would rather put thick jumpers on than give them our money

 

Really?! We have a draughty old 3-bedroom Edwardian house, designed to have multiple coal fires burning all day long, so we have to have the heating on pretty much 24/7 between late Autumn and early Spring, but we're still only paying £100 a month DD for gas/electric.

[LaughingGirl]

The variations in bills on this thread are a lesson in and of themselves. It's all very strange.

[westfield]

All very mse lol. If the poster has lots of debts there are options such as BR or a DRO. Then there is http://www.turn2us.org who may be able to help.

[LaughingGirl]

All very mse lol. If the poster has lots of debts there are options such as BR or a DRO. Then there is http://www.turn2us.org who may be able to help.

 

Lol, 'tis a bit MSE, yes. Coming back to the original topic, I still think the OP should query that bill, then come back here for help with any debts.

[westfield]

I agree about the bill. When i first moved into my flat my usage seemed very high so i queried it. They changed the meter and amazingly my bills dropped. 4k is a huge amount of arrears. Maybe it was built up of years of estimated readings. Some history would help.

[Johnny121]

My meter is in my niebours building.

 

I havnt paid my electricity bill for about 5 years.Nor have I contacted them for 5 years. I owe 4000 pounds.

 

They are on the verge of taking me to court.

 

Do they actually have to take me to court to cut off my electricity or to install a meter?

 

 

 

The debt collector that works for E-On / their recovery side, has been thumping extremely loudly on my door and caused damage to my lock, he has also sent a letter to my niebours saying he needs to see my meter/the meters because of "safety reasons" at exactly the same time he came around to see me. I suspect that means when he gains access to her property and my meter in her property for "safety" reasons he is gonna turn off my electricity or install a meter. Can he do that legally? Will he act illegally and switch me off anyway to try and get money from me/ make me desperate when my electricity goes off?

 

 

 

 

Ive been in contact to arrange to pay a bit off my debt and my bill, but I havnt paid anything yet, I really dont trust them with my card details im afraid that if I give them my card details they will "accidently" on purpose overcharge me, or charge me and then cut me off anyway or install a meter anyway. Do the baliffs even get the message in time when youve paid they E-on phone guy? I get the impression they dont talk to each other very efficiently like theres a delay at best or at worst the message dosnt get through to the debt collectors perhaps this happens "accidently" as well?

 

 

 

My neibour dosnt want me to have a pre payment meter in her property quite understandably. But I think they would just fit one in anyway or cut me off anyway while lying to her that they need to check the meters for "safety".

 

 

 

So can they cut me off or do they have to take me to court first? Or do they just need to get a warrant and can cut it off without me knowing it had gone to court? Will they just cut me off anyway because they break/bend the rules all the time?

 

Many thanks for your help!

Edited November 29, 2012 by Johnny121

[LaughingGirl]

Hello again, I think you've already got a thread about this haven't you?

 

First of all - blimey O'Reilly, how the heck have you managed to get away with not paying them for five years??!! I missed two payments and they were in like a shot! I seriously doubt that there's any way for you to avoid a pre-payment meter at this point, I'm afraid.

 

This is going to be quite complicated, I think. They would need a warrant to gain entry to her property to fit the meter unless it's on an exterior wall (outside of the building) - then they can just get on and do it. I'm really not sure how they'd be able to get a warrant for access to someone else's property in this instance, either.

 

However, this obviously presents a problem in terms of you accessing the meter as I'm sure she doesn't want you banging on the door every time you want to put credit it on.

 

I suspect that they may have to re-site the meter to somewhere you have access to, but how they'd go about this I'm not clear on.

 

What sort of building do you live in? Is it a house converted to flats?

[ims21]

Two threads merged...please just keep to one thread for this issue.

[Johnny121]

Hi thanks, the meter is in her property, it would be expensive for them to put the meter in my property and they would have to take me to court as well as I dont give permission for it to be installed in mine, my neibour dosnt want a pre payment meter in hers although they dont know that, I dont know what they can / cant do.

[Johnny121]

Two threads merged...please just keep to one thread for this issue.

 

Its a different question please return it to a separate question, or I wont get any responses. Thanks.

[ims21]

Its all about the same issue...£4,000 owing, pre-payment meter, what can they do etc.

 

The reason to keep it all in the same thread is that those who can advise get the full picture.

[LaughingGirl]

Hi thanks, the meter is in her property, it would be expensive for them to put the meter in my property and they would have to take me to court as well as I dont give permission for it to be installed in mine, my neibour dosnt want a pre payment meter in hers although they dont know that, I dont know what they can / cant do.

 

Well, they can only gain entry to her property without her consent with a valid warrant. I don't personally see how they could achieve this as she doesn't owe them any money.

 

There is no reason why they can't go to court to gain access to your property to fit a meter though - and if they do that, they will add the costs to your bill. If I'm honest, I don't see them being refused a warrant at this stage. Five years with no payment is a long time - much as I dislike energy companies, it's not unreasonable of them to expect you to start paying some of it off and to pay for your energy going forward.

 

My honest opinion is that you're going to need to look at voluntarily allowing them to fit a meter in your own property.

[Johnny121]

Well, they can only gain entry to her property without her consent with a valid warrant. I don't personally see how they could achieve this as she doesn't owe them any money.

 

There is no reason why they can't go to court to gain access to your property to fit a meter though - and if they do that, they will add the costs to your bill. If I'm honest, I don't see them being refused a warrant at this stage. Five years with no payment is a long time - much as I dislike energy companies, it's not unreasonable of them to expect you to start paying some of it off and to pay for your energy going forward.

 

Yea im willing to pay what I owe, its not ok for them to act illegally tho, and I want to know my rights and their rights. What they can or cant do.

 

Thing is she has to let them it some point so they can service the meters etc, so she cant just refuse to let them in (although she is at the moment to help me) and even though she dosnt want a meter, they might fit one anyway without asking for her consent. They might just disconnect me as well.

[BazzaS]

Man up and accept you are going to have to pay for your electricity usage : both ongoing & for the last 5 years worth!

get the pre-payment meter fitted by agreement to avoid extra costs, and agree a repayment regime that is realistic with them.

 

Alternatively, should we all say "Can I have 5 years free electricity too, please? And then say "I'm not going to pay anything towards what I owe, I still expect free energy"?

 

Utilities are a priority debt ...... Were you expecting to never have to pay? What were you hoping for when they finally realised you weren't paying?

Edited November 29, 2012 by BazzaS

[LaughingGirl]

Right, hang on a sec...I've just noticed that you've said you haven't contacted them for five years - have they contacted you in that time? Or have they just sent you an estimated bill for five years usage?

[Johnny121]

They kept sending me letters, I didnt read them, mostly bills and please pay your bills letters. Yes theve been sending me letters for sure. The bill has been going up steadily I think, this probably isnt a one off estimate.

[LaughingGirl]

OK, I see. I'm still gobsmacked they let it go this long, but perhaps the meter access issue has been giving them a headache.

 

Well, in answer to your question/s, yes - they will be able to get a warrant to enter your property to install a meter. I can't see any way that it would be refused with arrears of that size.

 

In answer to whether they can access your neighbours property to install a meter for your use, in my opinion only, no they can't. However, from personal experience, if they require access to her property for their (usually) bi-annual safety checks, if she continually refuses them access, they can get a warrant for access to perform them. Whether it would be legal to change the meter attached to your property at the same time...at the end of the day, it's their equipment, so I think they would be in their rights to do so.

 

Basically, in summary:

 

If you make them wait to get a warrant, they will do so and they will thump you for warrant fees and very likely the costs of relocating the meter.

 

If you give them access to fit a meter voluntarily, they will do so free of charge.

 

If for some reason they do manage to get a warrant for your neighbours address, it's going to put you in a very uncomfortable position - unless your neighbour is in for most of the day, she could come home to find that her door has been opened by a locksmith, some chaps from E-On have been wandering round her house and the only way you can turn your lights on is by banging her door to stick credit on the meter. I'm sorry to say that if I were her - no matter how much I liked you - I would not be happy about this situation.

 

My genuine opinion is that you're going to have to bite the bullet and let them in, or this could get messy and cause you grief with your neighbour.

[Johnny121]

I just want to know if they can cut me off or install a meter via my niebours property, without going to court first!? Is that possible/ legal/ likely? Yes or no? Thats all I want to know.

[skintandfat]

I have a 5 bedroom (4 bedroom plus study) and am £130 per month for both gas and electric (total)

 

I did alterations to the house a few years ago and took the opportunity to put in extra insualtion- cost £200 and well worth it, paid for the cost in the first few months.

MY gas consumption actually dropped after I did the insulation, even though I had added 50% to the square footage of the house

 

Forgot to add my central heating is always on- it runs 24/7 and is controlled by the hall thermostat.

[skintandfat]

I just want to know if they can cut me off or install a meter via my niebours property, without going to court first!? Is that possible/ legal/ likely? Yes or no? Thats all I want to know.

 

No this isn't usual- if your supply is from next door (common in older houses) they could remove the fuse to your house from there if you didn't let them in - only with a court order

 

They can't legally backdate your bill more than a year- if they have fluffed up you are only liable for the last 12 months

[LaughingGirl]

They haven't fluffed up though. he just hasn't paid.

 

No, jonny. they can't do anything to your supply without a court order.

[huggy41]

but they can go to court and get it very quickly and when they do they will act very very fast to recoup what you owe and probably reduce the cost of electicity for the rest of us.

 

some people realy take the **** on here.

[Johnny121]

Are you saying I should move flat to another electricity company, not tell e-on where ive gone, and not read my new letters for the new electricity company for another 5 years? Which electricity company are you with?

[zydeco]

Are you saying I should move flat to another electricity company, not tell e-on where ive gone, and not read my new letters for the new electricity company for another 5 years? Which electricity company are you with?

It seems to have worked for you up till now.

 

If your meter is in your neighbours property perhaps you're paying for their electric as well??

[huggy41]

i have a feeling that this site is not for you .you seem to want to get out of paying for a service that you have had and used for 5 years you say you have kids.

i would question your ability to look after them as you seem to be putting them in danger of hardship by your lack of understanding of paying for electricity .

i will flag this up for site team as this is either a wind up or you do not deserve to be left in charge of kids.