Is my electricity being stolen?

[danburns]

That's a private card meter metering the flat's usage. I'd ask the letting agent where the cards come from...
You can't top one of those up at a shop, and the money doesn't go to the electricity company.

I've had these in a couple of rented industrial units where it's easier for the landlord to sell cards to all tenants rather than reading sub meters every so often and billing people. The landlord then puts in all a pot for when he gets the electric bill - which the electric board generate by reading his meter (rather than the 30+ sub meters on site)

In theory, you should be getting the money from the sale of the cards. It is possible to see how much has been put on the meter (since installed) but if you have only recently moved in downstairs, you couldn't claim the full amount back from the letting agent (assuming that's where the cards have come from).

 

[Steve]

The electricity supplier presumably should repay you all the flat tenants have paid.

Contact them - the ones who send your bill and the ones who charge for the flat.
Are there company names on the meters?

If it was they who installed it, they did it wrongly (assuming I/we are right).

Do any suppliers still issue cards anymore? I thought they were all keys. Which tells me this should be a private metering setup. Ie the flat tenant pays the shop for the electric. But obviously nobody has told the shop owner this. Nor the flat tenant. The electric board may not want to know in this case.

Does the meter state on it who it belongs to? Should be fairly prominent. If it doesn't then its a private meter.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Ah. So maybe nothing untoward.

The letting agent/landlord may have a big pile of money waiting for your Mum to remind them whose it is.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Do any suppliers still issue cards anymore? I thought they were all keys.

Some do for gas but they would be top-up cards (like the keys); not disposable ones.

 

[nabby68]

That's a private card meter metering the flat's usage. I'd ask the letting agent where the cards come from...
You can't top one of those up at a shop, and the money doesn't go to the electricity company.

I've had these in a couple of rented industrial units where it's easier for the landlord to sell cards to all tenants rather than reading sub meters every so often and billing people. The landlord then puts in all a pot for when he gets the electric bill - which the electric board generate by reading his meter (rather than the 30+ sub meters on site)

In theory, you should be getting the money from the sale of the cards. It is possible to see how much has been put on the meter (since installed) but if you have only recently moved in downstairs, you couldn't claim the full amount back from the letting agent (assuming that's where the cards have come from).

So would this be theft?

 

[nabby68]

Ah. So maybe nothing untoward.

The letting agent/landlord may have a big pile of money waiting for your Mum to remind them whose it is.

Sounds untoward to me. No stack of money waiting for us unfortunatley

 

[JohnW2]

Sounds untoward to me. No stack of money waiting for us unfortunatley

If all are assumptions are correct, someone must be getting all the money coming from the sale/topping up of the cards. I would think that your first conversation about that should be with the letting agent.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Iggifer]

Is that main switch/isolator in a communal area? Sure I read that. If not, I'd be turning MY supply off at night. Will soon get resolved!

 

[nabby68]

Sounds untoward to me. No stack of money waiting for us unfortunatley

If all are assumptions are correct, someone must be getting all the money coming from the sale/topping up of the cards. I would think that your first conversation about that should be with the letting agent.

Kind Regards, John

Will be speaking to letting agent soon!

 

[nabby68]

Is that main switch/isolator in a communal area? Sure I read that. If not, I'd be turning MY supply off at night. Will soon get resolved!

Not in communal area. People have moved out of flat above so unfortunatley turning off at night will have no effect

 

[Iggifer]

For now, no. But once someone else moves in it will

 

[nabby68]

I've asked Scottish Power to come out tommorrow to check the safety aspects of the installation

 

[Steve]

Any news?

 

[nabby68]

Sorry for the late update.
Scottish Power came out and said it wasn't unsafe but said it wasn't right and it was a metering issue so they couldn't get involved any further.
Spoke to Landlord who basically admitted his "scam" and said he was always going to tell us but never got round to it. So he's offered to reimburse us. So that's where the issue has become difficult. There was a stack of over 80 cards left by the previous tenant which the landlord said he charged her £5 each for and he says that's all the cards he gave her since we arrived. So he offered £420 as compensation. It's difficult to try and estimate what we have been ripped off for, so I asked for 2 months rent free (£1000) for the fact that he would never have told us unless we found out and he'd had 16 months to come clean.He initially agreed to the £1000 but then spoke to his business partner and then withdrew the offer back to £420.
I spoke to the letting agents who we are supposed to go to for any issues and incidentally the son of the landlord is employed by!, who were very unsympathetic and agreed that we should accept the £420. So I said that I was going to get the supply to the flat above disconnected at which point the letting agent said that would be illegal!
Can you believe it!
So we said we would all meet on Monday to sort it out.
Incidentally spoke to police who confirmed nothing criminal had been done.

 

[bernardgreen]

Spoke to Landlord who basically admitted his "scam" and said he was always going to tell us but never got round to it. So he's offered to reimburse us.

An offer to re-imburse is effectively an admission of negligence or intentional mal practise.

Incidentally spoke to police who confirmed nothing criminal had been done.

To me this looks like a case of fradulent abstraction of electricity which the landlord was aware of and yet did nothing to stop it and did not inform that you were paying for electricity used by another person(s). It moght be the landlord intended to deceive you for the benefit of the tenant in the flat. That is criminal. Possibly theft by deception

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/theft_act_offences/#a05 ( Criminal Prosecution Service )

Electricity is not property within the meaning of section 4 Theft Act 1968 (Low v Blease [1975] Crim L.R. 513) and cannot therefore be stolen. When electricity is used without due authority, or dishonestly wasted or diverted, prosecutors should charge the offence of abstracting electricity contrary to section 13 Theft Act 1968

Contact Ofgen and get their legal opinion on the matter.