A Leeds mum says she cannot pay for electricity after bailiffs turned up with a warrant to make the old meter in the house safe.
Melissa Phillips, 20 says she has been left with only a couple of weeks' worth of electricity after having issues with her energy supplier and bailiffs appearing at her home. Melissa, who lives in Wortley said she and her children have really struggled throughout the ordeal, which began on February 6.
The single mum-of-two noticed a number of vans parked outside on her street, thinking it was just an everyday thing and someone was in trouble. However, after she sat her son down for breakfast and went upstairs to check on her daughter, bailiffs knocked on her door.
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She claims the bailiffs had been sent by SSE OVO, her electricity company after they noticed an unpaid debt at the home, OVO denies this and has said engineers were sent to check the meter, not collect a debt. Melissa, who had only moved into the property recently says the debt is not hers, and after proving this with her tenancy agreement, she claims the bailiffs left but informed West Yorkshire Police that she had left the children home alone.
Melissa denied this, saying she was upstairs at the time. Melissa says that her old meter was removed and replaced with a pre-payment meter - also known as 'pay as you go meters'. No debt collection activity took place at the property, it was due to an unsafe meter, which OVO say they explained to Ms Phillips.
Just weeks later, the energy firm returned and changed the pre-payment meters to smart meters, but Melissa claims that SSE OVO has told her she is not on smart meters, rendering her unable to top up her fuel.
She told LeedsLive: “The bailiffs were here for a debt with a warranty to seize assets but the debt wasn’t mine, I showed them the tenancy agreement, then SSE agreed that if they put in pay-as-you-go meters, they wouldn’t have to 'retrieve assets'.
“Then I put a complaint into SSE and it took them a week because I kept getting hung up on.
“They came out to take out the pre-payment meters, but then they set up smart meters and I cannot top up my electricity.
“The pre-payment was installed because that was the only agreement they made to not seize assets, but I showed them my tenancy agreement to show the debt wasn’t mine."
Throughout all of this, Melissa says her son, who has high-functioning autism, has really struggled and doesn't want the same thing to happen to other families.
She added: "My son is struggling, he has always struggled with people and loud noises, the loud knocks from the bailiffs really scared him.
“He had to be pulled out of nursery because I couldn’t leave the house take him.
“They put £30 credit on the meters to turn them on but still won’t come back out to fix the meters.
"I just don’t want other people to struggle the way they made me struggle, no human being should ever be put through that many problems for something that is not theirs, being a single mum of two kids is hard enough, never mind having all that show up on your doorstep.
“It is my first home, first experience with an electric company, trying to get help about has been ridiculous."
In November the DNO were contacted by police who attended the property under warrant for a suspected cannabis factory, discovering the meter had been bypassed. As the meter is the responsibility of the supplier, they requested an engineer attends to make the meter safe, at this time, the accounts were in the name of the resident at the time - not Ms Phillips.
In December 2022 and in January 2023 we were unable to gain access to make the meter safe. They attended again in February, with an engineer from Seeka who are metering engineers, not debt collectors
When they arrived they again were unable access the property but could see young unaccompanied children in the living room of the house. As there were still real safety concerns regarding the meter they requested the Police attend to ensure the safety of the children inside.
The mum says SSE OVO put £30 on the pre-payment meters before but she cannot top them up again now they've been swapped to smart meters and is worried what will happen when the credit runs out.
An OVO spokesperson said: “In November the DNO (area electricity distributor) was contacted by the Police who attended the property and discovered the electricity meter had been bypassed. As this is a theft of electricity, a warrant was obtained to make the meter safe. This warrant has nothing to do with debt but everything to do with safety.
"When Miss Phillips moved into the property, the meter was still unsafe due to the previous resident’s activity. Ms Phillips provided access to her property in February and an explanation was provided - confirming the visit was nothing to do with debt. She asked to have a pay as you go meter installed and followed up asking for a smart pay as you go meter instead. This has now been changed as per her request.”
West Yorkshire Police have been contacted for comment.
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