Looks like I'm off to the Magistrate's Court
Discussion
Received a letter indicating my utility supplier has applied for a Warrant of Entry in order to undertake gas meter safety inspection. There's a hearing date at a Magistrate's Court and the letter says that any damage they cause to my property to ensure access will be my liability.
The meter inspection is a function that our utility supplier has subcontracted to a third party. They attended our property unannounced and attempted to inspect the meter without success...not surprising as this is in fact a holiday home and there is no-one there most of the time.
When we found their calling card we phoned them back to arrange a visit, only to be told that they didn't have an agent in our area and they would call us back. We called them at least 5 times subsequently to try to arrange the inspection, but they could not arrange one and never once called us back.
Visiting the property at Easter we find their notice for the Warrant for Entry on the doormat. They've managed to send the letter to the utility supply address not the account billing address so it's already 6 weeks old.
We've phoned the meter inspection company today, who agree they can see from their records that we've shown willingness to comply with the inspection and have made lots of efforts to contact them, but their customer service person says the Warrant action is still active and they can't stop it.
Fortunately my wife has kept very good records of all the conversations shes had with them, though the evidence is not more than hand written notes and some phone call logs. I could make a Subject Access Request to the meter inspection people, which should reveal their CRM records backing up our position, but they would have 40 days to respond to this and the hearing date is within that timeframe.
My concern here is to prevent the warrant being granted and then some heavy handed person forcibly gaining entry to my property to inspect a meter which I'm perfectly happy for them to do - if only they would pick up the phone and arrange a mutually convenient time.
So, I'll probably have to attend the hearing in order to put my case and prevent the Warrant being granted. Can anyone tell me what form the hearing might take, and what I can do/present in order for the application to be denied? Can I lay out my case in a written submission in advance? In actual fact, I haven't even received a letter from the Magistrate's Court, just from the meter inspection company - are they trying it on?
I'll have to take a day off work and do a 400 mile round trip to attend the hearing, which I'm prepared to do, but can I apply to the court to get my costs paid by the other party (if the judgement goes in my favour)?
(As an aside: the meter inspection company has a glossy website but an inspection of their Companies House records indicates that they are a tiny business that was only started in 2015. The owner/MD has had a string of similar, failed, business behind her but looks like she keeps transferring the assets from each failed business to her next startup).
The meter inspection company are saying that they can't stop the court proceedings (they're due towards the end of April) so what I'm after is some guidance on the best way to get my desired outcome i.e. Warrant of Entry application denied. The irony is that we've told them on numerous occasions that we have no problem with the inspection taking place - the problem is that the inspection company doesn't have an agent in our area to actually do it!
The meter inspection is a function that our utility supplier has subcontracted to a third party. They attended our property unannounced and attempted to inspect the meter without success...not surprising as this is in fact a holiday home and there is no-one there most of the time.
When we found their calling card we phoned them back to arrange a visit, only to be told that they didn't have an agent in our area and they would call us back. We called them at least 5 times subsequently to try to arrange the inspection, but they could not arrange one and never once called us back.
Visiting the property at Easter we find their notice for the Warrant for Entry on the doormat. They've managed to send the letter to the utility supply address not the account billing address so it's already 6 weeks old.
We've phoned the meter inspection company today, who agree they can see from their records that we've shown willingness to comply with the inspection and have made lots of efforts to contact them, but their customer service person says the Warrant action is still active and they can't stop it.
Fortunately my wife has kept very good records of all the conversations shes had with them, though the evidence is not more than hand written notes and some phone call logs. I could make a Subject Access Request to the meter inspection people, which should reveal their CRM records backing up our position, but they would have 40 days to respond to this and the hearing date is within that timeframe.
My concern here is to prevent the warrant being granted and then some heavy handed person forcibly gaining entry to my property to inspect a meter which I'm perfectly happy for them to do - if only they would pick up the phone and arrange a mutually convenient time.
So, I'll probably have to attend the hearing in order to put my case and prevent the Warrant being granted. Can anyone tell me what form the hearing might take, and what I can do/present in order for the application to be denied? Can I lay out my case in a written submission in advance? In actual fact, I haven't even received a letter from the Magistrate's Court, just from the meter inspection company - are they trying it on?
I'll have to take a day off work and do a 400 mile round trip to attend the hearing, which I'm prepared to do, but can I apply to the court to get my costs paid by the other party (if the judgement goes in my favour)?
(As an aside: the meter inspection company has a glossy website but an inspection of their Companies House records indicates that they are a tiny business that was only started in 2015. The owner/MD has had a string of similar, failed, business behind her but looks like she keeps transferring the assets from each failed business to her next startup).
The meter inspection company are saying that they can't stop the court proceedings (they're due towards the end of April) so what I'm after is some guidance on the best way to get my desired outcome i.e. Warrant of Entry application denied. The irony is that we've told them on numerous occasions that we have no problem with the inspection taking place - the problem is that the inspection company doesn't have an agent in our area to actually do it!
I had one of these.
I turned up at court and explained that the utility company had missed two appointments (they had).
The court usher arranged for me to speak to the warrant bloke, not in court but in a private room, who was very nice and simply took my details, crossed me off the list, and sent the whole thing back to the utility company.
He said this often happens and the court date is a good way to get both parties speaking to each other.
I'd advise turning up and doing the same thing. If they do make you actually appear before the court, just explain the situation honestly...magistrates are not ogres, they are ordinary people and are not going to try and screw you.
I turned up at court and explained that the utility company had missed two appointments (they had).
The court usher arranged for me to speak to the warrant bloke, not in court but in a private room, who was very nice and simply took my details, crossed me off the list, and sent the whole thing back to the utility company.
He said this often happens and the court date is a good way to get both parties speaking to each other.
I'd advise turning up and doing the same thing. If they do make you actually appear before the court, just explain the situation honestly...magistrates are not ogres, they are ordinary people and are not going to try and screw you.
Edited by zarjaz1991 on Sunday 3rd April 11:53
I think you will find if the utility company went about it properly none of this would happen.(They all are hopeless).
We had a letter from the meter inspection company telling us after repeated visits,unanswered calling cards,etc etc we must phone immediately to arrange a visit to carry out this important gas safety check.Nobody has been to our home and no calling cards have ever been left,this letter was first contact.
Phoned them up,arranged this vital "gas safety inspection".A young lad called this morning,punched a few digits into a little hand held thing and left?? must have taken him all of five minutes.
By the way our gas meter is 13 years old according to the label on it.When do they have to be replaced?
We had a letter from the meter inspection company telling us after repeated visits,unanswered calling cards,etc etc we must phone immediately to arrange a visit to carry out this important gas safety check.Nobody has been to our home and no calling cards have ever been left,this letter was first contact.
Phoned them up,arranged this vital "gas safety inspection".A young lad called this morning,punched a few digits into a little hand held thing and left?? must have taken him all of five minutes.
By the way our gas meter is 13 years old according to the label on it.When do they have to be replaced?
Apply to have the case transferred to your local court. Make it clear to the utility people that you will be looking for your costs, and they will be substantial as you will be represented. Suggest that they withdraw the case (which they can do at any time) and make a sensible appointment with you for a time that suits you. So after work one day...
t, but at least there was a local office everywhere so you could go and swear at them in person.I take it you'd given the utility company a correspondence address so they coukd actually get hold of you if they ever needed to? Things like fulfilling their legal obligation to inspect a meter every 2 years for instance? I'm not saying they're blame free, but it's amazing how many property owners don't help themselves (OP - you may have done in which case please don't take the comment personally).
JonV8V said:
I take it you'd given the utility company a correspondence address so they coukd actually get hold of you if they ever needed to? Things like fulfilling their legal obligation to inspect a meter every 2 years for instance? I'm not saying they're blame free, but it's amazing how many property owners don't help themselves (OP - you may have done in which case please don't take the comment personally).
Of course.They have everything they need to perform this function - and we've called them 6 times to arrange the visit - but they (the meter inspection contractors) are incapable of organising anything. We've not only done what we can to help ourselves, we've gone to great lengths to help them, but they are beyond it.
I've subsequently emailed customer services and the MD at the meter inspection company and customer services at the utility company outlining the situation but given their utter incompetence so far I have no faith in any constructive outcome.
Following advice in this thread, I'm going to seek to have the court hearing local to me and then seek to have the warrant rejected. Doing a bit of reading, there are a number of legal opinions that seeking a Warrant of Entry for something like this is not only a colossal sledgehammer/nut approach but also (as has been previously mentioned) a resource soak on the magistrates courts.
All so easily resolved if the meter inspection company was being run on such a shoestring and they actually picked up the phone to arrange the visit.
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