Residential Tenancy Advice - Power off / meter screen broken
Discussion
I have just taken possession back from a tenent of a house.
The electric meter, which is internal and the type with a LCD screen is broken.
By broken i mean the screen has been hit in a way that it no longer displays anything. Unsure if can even display things badly as...
The teneant has informed me, she has contacted her electricity supplier to notify them that the meter is broken, as well as having them turn the power off.
So on this date i have had her sign a form to acknowldege the broken meter as no reading can be taken.
I have texted etc and referanced the broken meter.
Her supplier was Scottish power, as such when they are next available i will contact them such that i can have power hopefully reinstated and address the Broken meter!
As i would like to think they will be aware etc.
The reasons for this might be the feeling they had a little grow room etc!!!. As evident by the cupboard full of screw holes etc. A small hole cut into the plasterboard etc to allow access to the eaves in the roof space. As well as ducting and fans in the skip outside.
Ultimatley i arnt that bothered about the small scale damage internally to the structure by this apparent small scale enterprise.
So my questions are:
How long are we looking at before its likely we will have power restored?
As i have in writting etc that the meter is broken i assume that will fall into her responsibility?
Is guess its likely that a new meter is required before power goes on, as logically it cannot record what power would be consummed.
As such the power in the house cannot be checked as lights etc do not work.
I do not have another tenent going into the property , but am hoping to fully renovate it.
As such without power i cant do that. Although flexible its an inconveniance.
I feel its reasonable to withold the bond until the meter situation is resolved, and i have power restored.
So best to inform her of this ASAP? or wait until i can speak to scottish power on monday when they open?
Any advice would be appreciated
The electric meter, which is internal and the type with a LCD screen is broken.
By broken i mean the screen has been hit in a way that it no longer displays anything. Unsure if can even display things badly as...
The teneant has informed me, she has contacted her electricity supplier to notify them that the meter is broken, as well as having them turn the power off.
So on this date i have had her sign a form to acknowldege the broken meter as no reading can be taken.
I have texted etc and referanced the broken meter.
Her supplier was Scottish power, as such when they are next available i will contact them such that i can have power hopefully reinstated and address the Broken meter!
As i would like to think they will be aware etc.
The reasons for this might be the feeling they had a little grow room etc!!!. As evident by the cupboard full of screw holes etc. A small hole cut into the plasterboard etc to allow access to the eaves in the roof space. As well as ducting and fans in the skip outside.
Ultimatley i arnt that bothered about the small scale damage internally to the structure by this apparent small scale enterprise.
So my questions are:
How long are we looking at before its likely we will have power restored?
As i have in writting etc that the meter is broken i assume that will fall into her responsibility?
Is guess its likely that a new meter is required before power goes on, as logically it cannot record what power would be consummed.
As such the power in the house cannot be checked as lights etc do not work.
I do not have another tenent going into the property , but am hoping to fully renovate it.
As such without power i cant do that. Although flexible its an inconveniance.
I feel its reasonable to withold the bond until the meter situation is resolved, and i have power restored.
So best to inform her of this ASAP? or wait until i can speak to scottish power on monday when they open?
Any advice would be appreciated
Hi Thanks for the reply
I fully agree
To clarify, the "grow" was in an upstairs eaves space.
Pretty evident when you poke your head in etc. But to any one fixing / replacing a meter downstairs it would go un-noticed unless attention was brought to it.
Tenancy was all above board , and we have a paperwork trail etc.
When i stated i wasnt bothered about the damage , i meant to the plasterboard etc. Not the actual meter which is definitaley an issue.
Plasterboard etc will all be getting removed as we are taking the whole roof off to extend.
I will definitely make it known that the meter is cleary damaged and how i suspect it may have happened to whoever i speak to at SP.
I have no idea what the cost would be to replace the meter, but as thats the tenents responsibility im not that fussed.
The bond or part off will simply be eaten into to account for any inconveniance in sorting this issue out. And accounting for time the house is without power.
As 2many states according to whats fair and reasonable etc.
Im sure the tenent wont want to get into the legalities of any damage and how it occured!
I fully agree
To clarify, the "grow" was in an upstairs eaves space.
Pretty evident when you poke your head in etc. But to any one fixing / replacing a meter downstairs it would go un-noticed unless attention was brought to it.
Tenancy was all above board , and we have a paperwork trail etc.
When i stated i wasnt bothered about the damage , i meant to the plasterboard etc. Not the actual meter which is definitaley an issue.
Plasterboard etc will all be getting removed as we are taking the whole roof off to extend.
I will definitely make it known that the meter is cleary damaged and how i suspect it may have happened to whoever i speak to at SP.
I have no idea what the cost would be to replace the meter, but as thats the tenents responsibility im not that fussed.
The bond or part off will simply be eaten into to account for any inconveniance in sorting this issue out. And accounting for time the house is without power.
As 2many states according to whats fair and reasonable etc.
Im sure the tenent wont want to get into the legalities of any damage and how it occured!
I will update here just in case someone in the future has a similar scenario.
I spoke to someone at Scottish Power.
They have created a new account in my name. Such that they can issue me with a token meter key. This may allow me to add credit to the meter.
They also contacted Northen Power who own the actual meter to request a replacement.
SP stated the meter will be replaced like for like.
After 14 days of being their customer I can request the meter replaced to a non token version.
Seems a little wasteful changing meter twice, but happy to go along with the scenario for now.
SP took an intrest in the screen on the meter being broken, and asked if I felt it had been tampered with. As well as if I felt the screen was broken intentially.
As such he requested a call back to arrange the initial Meter swap tomorrow rather than the usual 10 to 15 days.
I get the impression they will have a good look at the meter!
They also asked for the tenents forwarding address.
Coincidentally the tenent rang asking when they are getting their bond back.
I explained that SP will be contacting me tomorrow, and that untill I'm assurred their is no additional direct exspense to me I won't release the bond.
She claimed she didn't know when the screen was broken, and it wasn't her.
That left me intrigued as to how she managed to transfer her account without giving her own meter reading. As well as how any readings were taken in the last 12 months.
But that storey may become more intresting.
Will update further when I know more
I spoke to someone at Scottish Power.
They have created a new account in my name. Such that they can issue me with a token meter key. This may allow me to add credit to the meter.
They also contacted Northen Power who own the actual meter to request a replacement.
SP stated the meter will be replaced like for like.
After 14 days of being their customer I can request the meter replaced to a non token version.
Seems a little wasteful changing meter twice, but happy to go along with the scenario for now.
SP took an intrest in the screen on the meter being broken, and asked if I felt it had been tampered with. As well as if I felt the screen was broken intentially.
As such he requested a call back to arrange the initial Meter swap tomorrow rather than the usual 10 to 15 days.
I get the impression they will have a good look at the meter!
They also asked for the tenents forwarding address.
Coincidentally the tenent rang asking when they are getting their bond back.
I explained that SP will be contacting me tomorrow, and that untill I'm assurred their is no additional direct exspense to me I won't release the bond.
She claimed she didn't know when the screen was broken, and it wasn't her.
That left me intrigued as to how she managed to transfer her account without giving her own meter reading. As well as how any readings were taken in the last 12 months.
But that storey may become more intresting.
Will update further when I know more
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