Meter Tampering is illegal and dangerous

If you have evidence of a bypassed or tampered electricity meter, or suspect someone is stealing electricity, report it to Stay Energy Safe completely anonymously.

Energy theft is a crime that usually goes unnoticed. Approximately 250,000 cases of energy theft go unreported every year, putting us all in danger. Stolen energy adds around £50 a year to the paying customer’s bill, but the real cost is the danger it brings to communities.

If you suspect energy theft you can report it 100% anonymously, 24/7, 365 days a year on 0800 023 2777 or by filling out the online form.

Stay Energy Safe is an anonymous and independent service operated by the charity Crimestoppers, so you can be confident that none of your details will be captured, and your identity can remain anonymous.

If you suspect a gas leak, leave the property and call 0800 111 999 immediately.

Energy Theft. Speak Up. Stay Safe.

In a Scottish city, a son was living with his elderly, housebound mother, when a bypassed electricity meter caused an electrical fire.

The flat they shared – within a block of eight similar properties – had been fitted with a normal pre-payment electricity meter. Under significant financial pressure, the son arranged to have the meter bypassed to save money on bill payments. A fire was caused by an electrical spark, and in an extremely harrowing series of events, his mother was unable to exit the property in time. She died due to smoke inhalation before fire officers reached the scene.

The son admitted what he had done to police and was charged with causing her death. A subsequent investigation showed that families in five of the eight flats had all bypassed their meters in the same way, endangering not just their own lives and property, but those of their neighbours and any innocent visitors.

“Hundreds could have died if the blaze took hold,” said worried neighbours who spotted a third floor flat on fire at 4.30 in the afternoon in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Luckily Firefighters were on the scene in only nine minutes but already found the flat well ablaze and the communal corridor thick with smoke affecting other homes on the same floor.

At great risk to themselves, Firefighters battled past falling cables to enter the flat and extinguish the blaze before flames spread to floors above and below. Even so, one next door flat was badly damaged by smoke and a neighbour hospitalised.

“This was a serious fire and a real risk for other occupants if it had got out of control and spread,” said Ade Yule, Borough Commander of the Bedfordshire Fire Service, “And there are 14 storeys of family homes here on Wauluds Bank.”

This fire was no accident. “It was caused by someone deliberately bypassing the energy meters,” explained Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller. “People think it’s a clever idea and means they get gas and electricity for free. In fact it is extremely dangerous and puts themselves and everyone around them at serious risk.”

The family living in the flat were out when fire broke out. But most of their neighbours weren’t. They probably had no idea their meter tampering could have injured or killed so many people. “Everyone understands about wanting to save money,” said a spokesman, “But energy theft isn’t only illegal, it is highly dangerous. It costs huge amounts in fire damage and disruption, and it can easily cost lives as well.”