ESB meter recording units when main switch off

Gran Hermano

I would be more inclined to think the blame might be with the original builder - likely doing a quick fix to get the show house setup.

TheBody

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I would be more inclined to think the blame might be with the original builder - likely doing a quick fix to get the show house setup.

I agree. If it is powering something in the neighbours house, they may know nothing about it.

Cilar

ESB came today, the problem is now solved. The second cable was indeed feeding the neighboor house. The cable was directly re-surfacing into the neighboor's meter box, and connected to the main feed of their house, bypassing their meter. The neighboor house's meter box is located just less than 1 meter away from mine (behind a wooden panel) against a shared wall, so pulling a cable behind inside the wall cavity should not have been difficult. It's still a mystery as to whom has pulled that cable, a previous tenant or the builder. I am not sure whether ESB is going to investigate this.

ESB guy removed the second cable from my meter and connected the neighboors house through their meter. ESB will send a letter to my energy provider so that I get an adjustment on my bill. I do not know how the adjustment will be calculated as it was the first bill, but at least I can have my mind free over Christmas knowing I won't get another big bill! The neighboor got some issues in October to get registered with ESB when they moved in, and suspected their electricity was coming from us, but did not contact us to let us know of the problem (we noticed it when getting the huge bill 2 months later).. but that's another story...

Thanks again everybody in this thread

hufpc8w3adnk65

Where abouts roughly in the country are you? Just for future notice

2011

Cilar wrote: »

ESB will send a letter to my energy provider so that I get an adjustment on my bill.

Great news Cilar.
I am delighted that you got it sorted.

I do not know how the adjustment will be calculated as it was the first bill

Obviously can only be an estimation. If you put a reasonable proposal forward they will probably go with it. If it were me I would suggest seeing how much your neighbour uses going forward and assume that that was how much was used per month in the past.

The neighboor got some issues in October to get registered with ESB when they moved in, and suspected their electricity was coming from us, but did not contact us to let us know of the problem (we noticed it when getting the huge bill 2 months later).. but that's another story...

Very disappointing to say the least. Unfortunately they may live beside you for a very long time, so it would be best to handle this "delicately" IMHO.

Happy Christmas

TheBody

Remarkable story. Glad you got it sorted so quickly.

Masterbrewer

Obviously can only be an estimation. If you put a reasonable proposal forward they will probably go with it. If it were me I would suggest seeing how much your neighbour uses going forward and assume that that was how much was used per month in the past


I imagine that your neighbours were feeling more flahoolach with your electricity than they will be with their own. No need to worry about energy conservation when you're not paying for it and know so. Their future bills will most likely not reflect their previous use, when they thought it was free!

ted1

Good to hear the follow up story. Well done on getting to the end of it.

Bruthal

Masterbrewer wrote: »

I imagine that your neighbours were feeling more flahoolach with your electricity than they will be with their own. No need to worry about energy conservation when you're not paying for it and know so. Their future bills will most likely not reflect their previous use, when they thought it was free!

They could probably use the OPs own usage without looking at the newly metered neighbours, to get an estimate.

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

Great news Cilar.
I am delighted that you got it sorted.

Looks like experience in posting advice (and in real electrical work), paid off after all.

paulheu

Cilar wrote: »

ESB will send a letter to my energy provider so that I get an adjustment on my bill. I do not know how the adjustment will be calculated as it was the first bill, but at least I can have my mind free over

Great to hear you got this solved. From what I understand the electricity provider in general will average a number of coming bills and credit the difference.

punisher5112

Great outcome op and well spotted originally.

Well done to you and hopefully that will be the end of it and you are looked after for the previous bill.

I wish my neighbours would pay for mine ;-)

James esq

It is a good idea to get an electricity monitor ( airtricity give them out free if you change to them) I bought an OWL make on the internet (it was €58 ) after I discovered that my neighbour had tapped into my water ( yes connected into my the feed going into my tank)

Cilar

Just a few updates. My energy provider (Energia) is refusing to make an adjustement on my Dec bill.

They got this from ESB: "The ESBN side of the meter is sealed and our seals were not broken so our meter was not tampered with. The consumer panel must not have a seal on it (not legally required to have one) and so the security of that falls to the landlord or property management company."

There is no landlord, I own the house... Neighboor connection was in place before I bought. While my meter was not tampered with, the neighboor meter was tampered with to connect to my meter.

Any recommendation on who I should escalate this to? Energy regulator? Solicitor with whom I bought the house?

my3cents

Send your neighbor an invoice?

Cerco

Raise it with your solicitor. The person/company who sold you the house would appear to hold some responsibility. Either way your solicitor will advise you.

dixiefly

What is your relationship like with your neighbour? Has he offered to pay for what he used at any stage?

It is delicate and I dont think that I am best placed to advise but, if it was me, I would be making him/her aware of the estimated loss that you have incurred and that you are not being recompensed. After all, he might be assuming that you are getting your overpayment back from your provider and he feels in the clear because he didnt rig the extension up in the first place.

Cerco

I don't think it is clear who made the connection. Last thing you want is a row with your neighbour. Let someone else pursue him e.g. the builder who, imho, should be your first port of call for compensation via your solicitor.

2011

You could go to your solicitor, but this will cost you (I have no idea how much).

I am probably the wrong person to advise you, however if it were me I would consider using the small claims court.
This is very cost effective as you do not use a solicitor.
Your action would not be against the your neighbour, it would be against your energy provider because you have a contract with them and they have over charged you.
It is up to them to look for costs from a third party if this is what they decide to do, so you would not have to get involved.

The fee for making a small claim in the district court is only €25

From this link:

The Small Claims procedure is an alternative method of commencing and dealing with a civil proceeding in respect of a small claim and is provided for under the District Court (Small Claims Procedure) Rules, 1997 & 1999, as amended by Statutory Instrument No. 519 of 2009, Rules Order 53A. It is a service provided in your local District Court Office and is designed to handle consumer and business claims cheaply without involving a solicitor.
To be eligible to use the procedure as a ‘consumer’ you must have bought the goods or service for private use from someone selling them in the course of business.

I assume that you have received some sort of independent written report that would be considered highly relevant.

This may be a better forum to ask how best to proceed.

2011

Just to add to my last post, there are a number of things that you can do to apply some pressure to your energy provider such as:

1) Expressing your extream displeasure on social media.
2) Email thier customer service.
3) Make it clear to them that you will take legal action.

Carefully file away all correspondence and keep a diary.

Cilar

Thank you. I'll keep applying pressure on Energia, in particular because the ESB engineer mentioned they should readjust my bill. Surely there must be a way to readjust my bill down and adjust my neighboor's bill up to account that period in a formal and official way, so it would not cost Energia anything. I do not want to go directly to my neighboor yet to avoid the risk of starting a row.

Cerco

I fail to see how you assume your energy provider is at fault.
They billed you based on your meter reading which is the correct procedure.
The problem connection is not their responsibility.
On what basis could they bill your neighbour?
You are responsible for units used and the definitive measure of this is your meter reading. They may , as a good will gesture, re-imburse you but even this is problematic in so far as they could not determine the actual amount.
Your issue is with whoever made the connection to your neighbour's house.
Good luck with whichever course of action you decide!

2011

Cerco wrote: »

I fail to see how you assume your energy provider is at fault.
They billed you based on your meter reading which is the correct procedure.
The problem connection is not their responsibility.
On what basis could they bill your neighbour?
You are responsible for units used and the definitive measure of this is your meter reading. They may , as a good will gesture, re-imburse you but even this is problematic in so far as they could not determine the actual amount.
Your issue is with whoever made the connection to your neighbour's house.
Good luck with whichever course of action you decide!

I am not saying that you are wrong, but for a only €25 the OP can find out for sure.

I also find it hard to believe that the neighbor did not suspect that something was up.

Cerco

2011 wrote: »

I am not saying that you are wrong, but for a only €25 the OP can find out for sure.

I also find it hard to believe that the neighbor did not suspect that something was up.

I agree totally but I think the Op must know who to sue in the SCC.
I don't know how they process initial claims but they will probably advise him anyway so maybe that is the best way to go.

The neighbour could be troublesome if he was aware and took advantage but the last thing one needs is a row with a neighbour.

Cilar

I know the energy provider is not technically at fault, but they could offer to sort the situation as they can bill the neighbor for the unit used and credit me, it would not cost them anything. Solve the situation neatly for all parties. I see that as customer service. If I sue someone that would not be them. That would remove a lot of hassle, it will be nearly impossible to find out who put this cable as it might have been there for years. The house was not occupied since 2006 prior to being sold last year, and went through NAMA.

Cerco

This is a very difficult situation. I cannot see how your energy provider can bill your neighbour. They cannot prove he used a certain amount of units or indeed any units at all. He could deny all
knowledge of it.
If he is using the same supplier as you , then you could ask them how there were no usage bills going to your neighbour unless of course he was using a certain amount through the meter and supplementing it with your power.
I wonder were Nama paying his bills before you moved in.


If I were in this situation I would look for good will from the energy provider.
I doubt Nama would assist in anyway.
I would think the Energy a regulator would refer you to the Gardai to report a theft.

thadg

you are wasting your time chasing solicitors or energy providers.


the only person that owes you money is your neighbour , and by the looks of things they are not up to much either.

at the end of the day they used the electricity aswell , if they were any good or anyway decent they would have offered to pay there bit by now.

they might owe 200 or 300 or whatever half the bill was but bare in mind you will be living beside them from here on in , is it worth falling out with them over a few hundred euro.

they should have came to you by now wondering if they owe you money

CJ Haughey

Let it lie, talking from experience on this one the legal route is a dead end, solicitors will entertain the idea at the start to turn a few euro promising this and that but will come to nothing. Their reply to the op,

The ESBN side of the meter is sealed and our seals were not broken so our meter was not tampered with. The consumer panel must not have a seal on it (not legally required to have one) and so the security of that falls to the landlord or property management company.

It cannot be much clearer than that. As for going on the twitter machine, facebook or other social media posting extream displeasure i would strongly disagree with, you don't want to have a case of defamation on your hands.

2011

CJ Haughey wrote: »

As for going on the twitter machine, facebook or other social media posting extream displeasure i would strongly disagree with, you don't want to have a case of defamation on your hands.

Because the OP is telling the truth and can proove it deformation is not a concern. Have a look at the definition:

Defamation—also calumny, vilification, and traducement—is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation as well as other various kinds of defamation that retaliate against groundless criticism.

CJ Haughey

2011 wrote: »

Because the OP is telling the truth and can proove it deformation is not a concern. Have a look at the definition:

I know what the meaning of defamation is thanks, you misinterpreted my post.