ENERGY FRAUD … do I report ?

[bto35]

Hi. I’m really torn on this and not sure what to do if anything . Someone close to me has a business that uses a lot of gas and electricity of which with the rising costs are now thousands in debt .

They mentioned some time ago about knowing someone who could cap the gas meter for a fee . This would slow down the gas meter and produce a much lower bill but wouldn’t close it off completely.

the person close to me was previously paying about £550-600 a month in Gas and I’ve seen their last two direct debits have now dropped to under £100 a month for gas ( no way this is accurate ) they told me they didn’t get the gas capped because they couldn’t afford what they guy wanted paid to do it but it’s clear looking at the recent drop compared to the last 6 months that they have indeed done something to the gas .

Im annoyed because I too like all of us are paying a lot to even heat our homes and here is someone on purpose committing fraud and I believe it could be dangerous as this is a commercial business surrounded by flats above .

Do I report it or ignore it

Would they even take a report seriously ? Has anyone ever had to report for energy fraud ?

The OP mentioned in their very first post they were worried it could be dangerous for the flats above.

Like others I cannot believe how many people are saying not to report and taking about only "grassing" in cases of abuse. You seemingly don't give a shit how dangerous tampering with gas can be? Don't care that it could cause an explosion or carbon monoxide leak and actually kill people? You genuinely think its better to be sticking it to the energy company than reporting something dangerous that could result in deaths?

Id report for either reason on its own.

Threads like these and the ones about benefit fraud just show how prevalent this stuff is out there. Look at the number of people falling over themselves to justify fraud. It’s because all the people defending it are at it themselves. Defrauding the system, businesses, taxpayers ins some way.

All these criminal types on Mumsnet talking of not grassing people up. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Do you also fiddle your taxes too?

What a pathetic bunch of losers you are.

Of course you need to report this. His actions are potentially extremely reckless and highly dangerous.

Corgi registered gas engineers are trained to fully cap a pipe, i.e. stop any gas getting through. It can't work as OP describes of just partially closing the pipe with a cap, because an engineer would turn down the gas pressure for that effect and at that point the business actually use less gas too. What's another option, some gas through the meter and other gas bypassing? Well nobody is trained through Corgi in how to send some gas around the meter while letting some other gas through, that would be a highly complex pipe network with different pressure valves. So someone's super smart to define this structure, but you think they work for £60/hr as a gas engineer? No dear.

It isn't safe, report it. If they have just started using less gas then no harm done.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeslough_explosion

you don't mess with gas. some awful responses on here.

None of your businesses.

Energy companies in the UK are simply ripping us off at the moment and the government did nothing to keep prices at a reasonable level like other countries did.

@bto35 I don't know why you mentioned their monthly income. Unfortunately you are seeing one side of the equation.

£20,000 before expenses is an empty statement and you clearly don't knows the in's and out's of their business.

Saying about capping and doing it are two different things. Do you think your resentment and bitterness towards your friend about what they may or may not earn has made you jump to conclusions?

Hello wanted to clarify some things -

There is no grant or plan to pay less hence the debuts falling to less than £100.00 for a food outlet .

Capping gas pipes IS still a thing . The person who offered this does it all over the local area and further afield and his rate is £1000 to do it .

The gas hasn’t been paid for 5 months hence the current date and the amount of debt ( over £5,000 in 5 ish months ) so I can see why they have done this because of the rising debt and no way to pay it / cope .

I am worried due to loads of tenants upstairs and around either side of the building . Yes there are staff also working there and customers who come inside .

This!!!

For the safety aspect alone I would. Not where the business owner lives so probably won't be them or their family that gets blown up as they go about their lives eh?
And so many thickos around mn these days.

I had tried to quote a pp, but failed.

It was saying to report as fiddling with gas can have serious consequences. E.g. the recent explosion where the little boy died.

How do you cap the gas supply and still get a gas supply anyway?

Or do you mean bypassing the meter?

Naaah I’d leave this one. It’s wrong, but doesn’t affect you or society. Benefit fraud is another matter.

I will if the building blows up

I would report it for safety reasons

Yeah I was wondering this. In my mind, if the gas is capped there is no gas supply to the property and then needs to be professionally un capped to have gas again.

If you are genuinely concerned about the occupants of the building then report it already. What's the dilemma.

If safety was your primary concern, you would have reported it already. You haven’t because that’s not your primary concern.

You’ve come on to vent about your financial issues, bitch about your friend paying less and use the safety aspect to give yourself the moral high ground.

If there is a safety incident you won’t have that moral high ground.

There’s a pair of you in it.

Like others I cannot believe how many people are saying not to report and taking about only "grassing" in cases of abuse. You seemingly don't give a shit how dangerous tampering with gas can be? Don't care that it could cause an explosion or carbon monoxide leak and actually kill people? You genuinely think its better to be sticking it to the energy company than reporting something dangerous that could result in deaths?

This absolutely needs reporting from a safety point of view but gas leaks don’t cause carbon monoxide poisoning, you need a faulty appliance for that.

Having worked in the energy business for a few decades, the supplier will 100 know that usage has dropped significantly and they'll raise an investigation. I used to be part of that team. They'll check the business is still running and is a commercial building still. They'll do an inspection of the meter and then they'll report to the police and your friend will be in a whole heap of trouble with the law, not to mention the extra cost they'll be charged for replacing the meter, sealing off the damage this dodgy guy has done and then backdating the usage. They could also face prison sentence for fraud

It's serous stuff and energy companies will prosecute for this.

Whether you should report them? Probably because there is a real time safety issue for members of the public when people mess about with gas pipes. They aren't designed to be semi cut off so he'll have had to mess about with things that should be left alone. Buy your friend will be caught out either way.

What an absolutely hideous sentiment "I'm struggling, so I want everyone around me to struggle too. I want to report my friend, of a victimless crime, out of petty spite. Even though it won't benefit me at all. I'm choosing to side with the energy companies, who are creating energy poverty of millions, against my friend, who may be struggling with the cost of living crisis".

Oh, and reporting on friends and neighbours has worked so well historically 🙄

If you report this and get found out, it will make make your life difficult as many people won't trust you or want to be friends with you, which will serve you right.

@bto35

That’s my own dilemma . I do worry about the safety of the person who has capped it . He does it for a lot of people so he’s known / experienced but there are people living above and neighbouring shops

PLEASE report the man who is doing this to the police, he’s the one who putting other peoples lives in danger. If you report the business person and the man who’s calling, at the same time the police will hopefully be able to stop him.

So the business is using 550 gas a month and paying 100? And you think that doesn't effect anyone else?

If one business does it, is that OK?

How about 20, 30, 500 businesses or individuals doing it? Does that still make it ok?