To think even if your struggling then hacking your metre for free electricity is still not on

[mpje]

NC to be anon, but I just don't think this is right at all. I kind of want to tip off someone about this theft, but I know if she gets caught she will be in a bigger mess.

It's more a WWYD?

They'll get caught soon enough without any help from anyone.

Do people really believe that people only steal because they need to and never because they just want to?

It's a pretty grim, low-yield, degrading kind of crime to do just for the he'll of it. And most of the risk (of death) is on the person rigging it. You'd have to be a bit troubled or unbalanced to pick that as your crime of choice.

I don't see how theft can fail to make things more expensive for everyone.

Anything that people sell can, and usually does have something built into the price to cover theft - companies are never going to eat into their profits to cover theft - it is passed onto the consumer.

Do people really believe that people only steal because they need to and never because they just want to?

When we're talking about electricity, its not rich people stealing for kicks, is it?

So many posters saying that it is ok to steal. Eye-opening how many people think it's ok!

Not one person has said outright that it's just ok to steal full stop. Are you reading the same thread as me? People are simply pointing out that there are grey areas and it's not as straightforward as stealing = evil human being. If stealing was necessary to feed my children or keep them warm, I would do it. Of course I would. I would do anything to make sure my children were safe. We have no way of knowing if things are desperate for the OP's friend, but it's a valid point to discuss.

On the other hand, I am seeing a lot of outright condemnation from some posters who , likewise, do not know the full story. To be honest I find it very shocking that some people are so lacking in basic human empathy for those less fortunate than themselves.

It's so sad to see how many people would report her.

The worst thing is it seems the people who are so keen to report are people in low income households.

Attacking each other won't make your situation any better.

I have my own Business and once had a women steal staff milk to take home to give to her kids. The joy that some people took in telling me about it was sickening.

Pretend all you like it's about safety but we all know it's not.

No, but if the overall revenue of the electricity company goes up because everyone is paying for the power they use, then the Directors won't demand quite as much of a price increase each year

Aw bless. Yes, that's definitely how it works. In la la land.

Shop her. It's not OK to steal electricity. Yes she may end up in big trouble, but she is the only one responsible for her situation.

Who do you think loses out here? The electricity company? As with any case of theft, be it from a shop, insurance fraud, or stealing electricity as here, the charges are passed on to the honest consumer. The big bad electricity company will not be the ones losing out.

Incidentally hacking the meter is bloody stupid as well. Does she really think the electricity company won't get suspicious as to what's going on? That she's using an unusually low amount? Once they cotton on, she'll be in massive trouble anyway.

Shop her now before she makes things even worse for herself.

The real crime is that there are people in 2017 in a developed country who can't afford to heat their homes. And while petty twats are going round reporting the gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger.

Round here there's a lot of people who pay some bloke a fiver and he does something to the key that puts £50 credit onto the meter. No tampering with electricity and he doesn't even need to enter anybody's home, so if she's doing it that way the safety concerns wouldn't apply.

I've been on benefits a few times and it can be a struggle to make the electricity last, a lot of people have pre paid meters because they are on a low income or benefits and I think it's crap that the people with the least money are made to pay higher prices for electricity and gas, I won't lie and say I wasn't tempted to get £50 quids worth of leccy for a fiver but I'd be stressed about getting caught and knew it was wrong. It's tempting thin when you've got a tenner to last and leccy is low.

One of the bloke who fiddles with the keys reckons the majority of his customers are people who can easily pay for their normal usage, people on decent incomes and own their own homes and have good cars etc.

MIL did do it once or twice, she was on benefits but managed so didn't need to do it so to speak, and she got caught a few months after, she had to pay the company the full £100 pound back, which they did by taking it off her electricity meter, meaning she did end up struggling. I'm not sure how she was caught but I'm guessing when clients have £100s worth of leccy without the company getting a penny it won't take a genius to figure it out. The receipts from pay points have warning about buying leccy this way and say you will get caught.

I think it's wrong, but do understand why people on low incomes do it. It really isn't worth it though as when they caught it's not free, they have to pay it all back.

I wouldn't report someone though, even when money is tight, me reporting them won't make me any better off, I'd rather utility companies didn't charge those with the least money the highest prices, just like id rather instead some of the working poor argued for better wages rather than complain about the benefits given to those who don't work and push for governments to cut them.

i think it would be pretty cuntish to report this if someone really cant afford their electricity. Why do sme people care more about massive multinational companies than they do about poor people

Does she really think the electricity company won't get suspicious as to what's going on? That she's using an unusually low amount?

They have an arsenal of techniques to catch fiddlers ...

Until recently I would have probably said not to shop her, at least not without talking to her first - if she's in deep financial mess then hacking the meter is a short term fix, and she'd benefit more in the long term from good debt/financial advice than she will from everyone turning a blind eye.

However, a couple of months ago a devestating fire ripped through a listed building in my town that had been turned into 8 flats, the restaurant next door, and about two or three terraced houses either side of it before it was contained. This building was surrounded by streets of terraced houses with most of those houses and flats filled with families on low incomes. One elderly resident died and quite a few were in hospital for days/weeks for smoke inhalation and many were evacuated from their homes and weren't allowed home for weeks afterwards. The cause of the fire? Someone in the terraced house next door had fiddled their electric meter, causing an electrical fire.

Accidents happen but the result was devestating - people were evacuated from their homes for weeks, having to stay in temporary accommodation or crash with friends, people were in hospital and then the fight with insurers to pay out etcetc ... all of them on the same low income as the person who caused the fire and so many of them admitted that they had either done the same or knew about it but now they'd seen how dangerous it was they'd be removing their hacks/reporting anyone who didn't so that it didn't happen again.

Jesus, how spiteful - how can you look at yourself having reported someone when you know they are struggling?

This

The weakest members of society are always the easiest to rob, the easiest to judge and easiest to catch out in their so-called crimes.

I kind of want to tip off someone about this theft, but I know if she gets caught she will be in a bigger mess.

So she's in a mess already? I question your motives OP, I don't believe they're altruistic.

Living it up on free leccy just like the good old days.

Keep your nose out and in future if you don't like someone just avoid....
Don't hover around their life trying to fuck them up and watch them suffer like a weasel.

Truly torn on this one.

I lived in a shared house where the gas was dodgy and not connected to a meter. Only none of us knew because we all assumed someone else was paying. It wasn't until the gas leak started that we began to question it. Turns out the landlord was shady as fuck. He got prosecuted.

nah you've name changed to start an ugly thread and pretend to be despicable to rile people up.

Yes stealing electricity is wrong, but in my job I see people in desperate situations. Really desperate where benefits have been cut. I have also sat in some houses in winter trying to help people where they have had no heating and its warmer outside than it is in their houses. So while I dont condone stealing leccy, I can understand it x

When we're talking about electricity, its not rich people stealing for kicks, is it?

Really? You honestly think its only people who are poor who steal electric?

I can tell you its not. RPU was my job.

Thats like saying only poor people shoplift and only shop lift things they need. Again total bollocks.

People will steal gas/electric for many reasons. Not being able to afford it actually is actually one of the smallest groups.

People do it because they think electric is a human right and they shoikdnt have to pay/to stick it to the utility companies/ because they can/ because they just dint eant to pay when there is a way round it.

But its funny how these people expect a their utility companies to send someone out to fix it within minutes, for free, when it goes tits up and they get left with no electric.

You have to be very naive to believe people only steal if they are desperate, many steal for the kick of it, because they can, it gives them more to spend elsewhere etc.

A persons income shouldn't make any difference both in stealing or reporting. Breaking the law is illegal.

If things are that bad then there's hell and advice out there, not to mention temp agencies, cleaning etc. Nobody has to resort to stealing.

melj that's awful and shows how dangerous it can be

The OP, who has since disappeared, must know a fair bit about this persons circumstances - in which case, that old saying is so damn true - keep your enemies close, keep your friends even closer. Keep ur nose out OP, yabvvvu

I didn't say they only steal when desperate, I said they aren't rich and doing it for fun. They are either poor or stupid.

Only on mumsnet...

Accidentally underpay on items in a store and you should drive 40 miles to go back to the shop and pay the difference....

Item rung up wrong - you should make sure you speak up so you pay the correct price!

Deliberately steal a utility and everybody should tie turning a blind eye and the person who wants to report it is called all manner of names! After all it's a huge corporate company who can bear the loss.

We don't even know the circumstances of the thief. Huge projections and assumptions being made!!!

Theft is theft. Putting innocent peoples safety at risk is immoral, not the OP.