has my gas been disconnected legally ?
Phil J asked:
i entered into an iva that started on june 5th 2007so all my debts were consolidated and anything owed up to this date is included in my iva. my gas supplier bes have taken my gas meter because they state bills i owed in march and april are included in the iva but mays consumption isnt as they sent my bill on june 8th.my iva supervisor have said this is an illegal act i have asked them to help me on the legal side but they say this isnt their field. i need to know if this is an illegal act as cab dont know and some solicitors i have rang say it is not their field either i want to take bes to court to get my meter put back and try and reclaim on electric bills which are now huge as we run a pub i also have young children who are suffering.bes say they want £1600 to put meter back £360 for bill this is double any bill i have had in 6years. £600 for dissconnection this includes baliff locksmith court attendance and engineer.£600 to put back in when they only need engineer please help.
i entered into an iva that started on june 5th 2007so all my debts were consolidated and anything owed up to this date is included in my iva. my gas supplier bes have taken my gas meter because they state bills i owed in march and april are included in the iva but mays consumption isnt as they sent my bill on june 8th.my iva supervisor have said this is an illegal act i have asked them to help me on the legal side but they say this isnt their field. i need to know if this is an illegal act as cab dont know and some solicitors i have rang say it is not their field either i want to take bes to court to get my meter put back and try and reclaim on electric bills which are now huge as we run a pub i also have young children who are suffering.bes say they want £1600 to put meter back £360 for bill this is double any bill i have had in 6years. £600 for dissconnection this includes baliff locksmith court attendance and engineer.£600 to put back in when they only need engineer please help.
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Comments on has my gas been disconnected legally ? »
The answer is to stop spending money you don’t have and pay your bills on time!
if u didnt pay ur bills, then yes. but if u did, ring them up.
Find the address of OFGAS and contact them, your case requires specialised knowledge
you have a contract with your IVA SUPPLIER they should be competent enough to sort this out, this should have been done at the outset of the taking out of the iva.
yes the disconnection of supply is completely legal this as been done to ensure you pay your future bills BUT your IVA SUPPLIER should have informed you this may happen the costs you have now been lumbered with are the fault of the iva supplier if they had done the job correctly in the first instance.
you say you hav young children if they are under the age of five your gas supplier as certain rules to abide by before disconnection. but these rules only apply to households and as you ay you live in a pub so this will be classed as trade premises so the rules may not apply.
on the face of it it looks like you will have to pay the charges before you get the gas back on, you may have legal recourse on your IVA supplier for any extra costs that have been imposed if they are proved to have been negligent in the setting up of your IVA
Only you and your IVA supervisor will know whether the gas bill for May was calculated and taken into account with the arrangement. You need to ask your supervisor, was it or wasn’t it?
In any case, you still have to pay normally for your gas from June onwards, it’s now November. The line is drawn when the IVA is set up, any debts you incur after that are still your normal responsibility. I’d guess the gas supplier is fed up with you not paying any bills and they’ve, not unreasonably, disconnected you. It is their meter and they’re entitled to remove it.
They are no longer allowed to cut of your gas. if you don’t pay the bill all they can do is fit a meter.
This sounds totally ridiculous to me – the debt should exist from the time you used the services, not whenever they finally decide to bill you for them!
There is a really good website called The Motley Fool, and they have discussion boards where you can post questions and people will answer them.
They have a “legal issues” board, and a “Dealing with Debt” board where there are several IVA specialists.
I suggest you repost this question on both of those boards, as the advice there is usually very high quality. If they cannot help you, they will probably be able to tell you who to contact next.
I am posting links to both discussion boards.
Good luck!
PS In the meantime, are you able to switch suppliers?