british gas threatening court action

[dandielion]

my gas meter has not been officially read for a good few years.

 

I have paid every single bill they have ever sent me and I pay them promptly.

 

They sent me a letter last week that I had to sign for which said that they would be applying for a court order to get access to my property to see the meter for safety reasons.

 

can they do this and how can they justify that it is for safety reasons when the person who will come in will not be a corgi registered gas fitter

and is therefore surely not qualified to know whether it is safe or not because it will be a meter reading guy that comes around

and my experience of these men in the past has been terrible .

 

They have all been bully boys who knock on the door as if they're trying to break it down

and I've had 2 of them that have stood on the back lawn for ages staring up at the windows to see if I'm in

or sometimes they'll pretend they've gone away and I'll look out of the front door keyhole to see them sitting on the wall opposite the front door waiting for me.

 

I find this very intimidating and it makes me really angry.

 

I have extreme ocd and I can't let anyone in the house, isn't there some way around this?

 

Couldn't I take a video of my gas meter live on my mobile phone and they could see it that way.

 

Surely that will give them as much information as they would get themselves if they came in.

 

Because even if they did come in they wouldn't be touching the meter and they could just wait outside whilst I took the video

and then I could hand over the video or phone to them.

 

I can't emphasize how life destroying it would be for me to let one of these bully boys into my flat.

 

My psychologist has already phoned them and gotten the court action stopped and they phoned me today to arrange access which I still can't and won't give them.

 

Surely there's got to be some other way than having one of those intimidating guys that try to break my door down

and are very unpleasant when, on the few occasions that I have gotten the door I've had to refuse them access.

[dx100uk]

sadly by law they [the gas company] are compelled to check the safety of every meter in the land once every 2yrs

 

so you REALLY need to let them in.

 

dx

[dandielion]

I can't let that happen I'm afraid.

 

What safety checks do they carry out then that make it so important that they get in.

 

ocd isn't an illness that will just stop existing because the law of the land says so.

 

if they have to come in then I'll have to move and then I will sue for emotional distress.

 

Not many people understand the lengths that ocd sufferers go to in order to prevent their worst nightmares happening.

 

If my only option is to let them in then it will have to go to court

 

and I'll use the time it takes to find another place to stay-where the gas meter is outside.

 

I just hoped for a better solution other than to just let them in.

[dx100uk]

its for your safety nothing to do with them dictating it must be done for 'their' benefit.

 

it is written in statute that they must do it. they hve to carry out what the law states.

 

simple task its nothing lengthy nor intrusive.

 

are you private or council where you are?

 

dx

[Consumer dude]

I do have sympathy for your plight as I have OCD myself. Could you not have someone with you when they come to vist. As the situation stands one way or another they will be coming in. It would be better to get it out of the way as soon as possible as it really is is about safety and nothing else. For the sake of your health it is best not to

fight it out but it is your choice..

Edited September 7, 2013 by Consumer dude

[Sparks_]

Is there no way you could allow them access to just the meter? It is for your saftey, what if due to its age the meter has started leaking or giving wrong readings? Could you not state they could come in, when you have support worker with you, and just check the meter, not allowed to touch anything else? How do you manage if you need repairs doing?

[45002]

I can't let that happen I'm afraid.

 

What safety checks do they carry out then that make it so important that they get in.

 

ocd isn't an illness that will just stop existing because the law of the land says so.

 

if they have to come in then I'll have to move and then I will sue for emotional distress.

 

Not many people understand the lengths that ocd sufferers go to in order to prevent their worst nightmares happening.

 

If my only option is to let them in then it will have to go to court

 

and I'll use the time it takes to find another place to stay-where the gas meter is outside.

 

I just hoped for a better solution other than to just let them in.

 

The engineers they use are registered gas fitters .

 

Can you not ask a friend or family member to be with you when BG come around or you go out and let a friend or family member to show BG to the meter.

 

Gas and Electric suppliers Have a legal right to inspect there meters with a Warrant,they would use locksmiths to gain entry and will call or sometimes have the police with them to stop any breach of the peace.

 

I think if you continue to stop them and they gain entry using a warrant you could end up paying for there legal cost and so on !

Edited September 7, 2013 by 45002

[dandielion]

thanks for the suggestions everyone.

 

Whenever repairs need done I thankfully live with an electrician who's able to fix anything

as his job requires him to fix machines that break down and fault-find in a glass making factory

and he always fixes the gas boiler when we have problems and he has a friend who is a gas fitter

who can get parts he needs if he can't find parts online so I'm lucky that way.

 

The flat is owned by us but the previous flat I lived in was owned by a housing association

and I had to abandon it and all of my furniture because of the chaos created by gas men putting in a new boiler

and I couldn't cope with living there anymore.

 

I felt that my one sanctuary away from the world had been violated by unsympathetic inconsiderate gas fitters.

 

I would like to be able to have someone else here at the time, but I really don't let anyone into the flat - not family, friends or anyone.

 

My partner will be in the bedroom whilst its going on but there's nothing he can do to help.

 

I know that bg only care about their customers' safety in so much as they don't want to be blamed or sued if something goes wrong

with a faulty meter and someone gets hurt.

 

If there was something wrong with the meter then my partner would know.

 

He would certainly know more than the meter reader who'll be coming in to "check the safety" of the meter.

 

I can't be the only person with mental health issues in this situation and I was just hoping that there was another solution that wasn't as invasive.

[dx100uk]

there is no 'job' that needs to be done.

 

under the gas act they must do it

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2451/contents/made

 

please understand, it is not 'them' that are being nasty

its the LAW that says they must inspect a meter better than once every 24mts.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

it is really no big deal

 

in out 2 mins done

 

dx