Circumstances when a gas/electricity company may enter your home

An employee of a gas or electricity company may enter your home in any of  the following circumstances :

  • You agree to let the official enter
  • A magistrate has given the official a warrant authorising the official to enter
  • There is an emergency and the official has reason to believe that there is danger to life or property.
A gas or electricity board employee/representative is entitled to ask to enter your home, or to apply to a magistrate for a warrant, in order to :
  • Inspect, substitute or re-install a meter (including a pre-payment meter)
  • Add, alter or repair supply lines or pipes and other fittings
  • Remove from a pre-payment meter money or tokens belonging to the supplier
  • Inspect any other fittings
  • Disconnect the supply or remove a meter or other fittings in certain circumstances.
In order to obtain a warrant, the official must show that :
  • You have been given at least twenty-four hours' notice (except in certain circumstances where at least 2 or 5 days or up to a week may be required)
  • He or she has asked to be admitted and you have refused
  • The premises are unoccupied.
Entry must be at a reasonable time and the official must leave the house as secure against trespassers as it was when he or she arrived and make good any damage caused.
 
It is a criminal offence to intentionally obstruct a person who has a warrant or who asks to be admitted in an emergency.  The maximum penalty is a fine on level 3 (currently £1000).  It is not an offence to refuse to let the official enter if there is no emergency and the official does not have a warrant.
 
 
 
 

Disclaimer

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the legal information contained on “YouandYourRights” is accurate, it does not constitute legal advice tailored to your individual circumstances. If you act on it, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk. Neither the Proprietor nor Dean Dunham can assume responsibility and do not accept liability for any damage or loss which may arise as a result of your reliance upon it.

 

 

Last updated: 1 November 2011

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