Tenant bypassed meter. British gas want to charge me

[syedshah]

Hi guys, need some advice please.

My tenant stayed for 15 months and left my poperty at the end of May 09.
I have an AST to prove he was living there, as well housing benefit records to prove he was living there.

After he left, I noticed the elctric meter had been bypassed with a looped wire.

I informed the police and they will be prosecuting him soon.

British Gas say that the meter is no longer safe and needs to be replaced and even though they acknowledge i wasnt living there (and it wasnt me who wired the meter), they are still saying I am liable for the £640 cost of replacing the meter. BG also confirmed the meter had been bypassed since January.

I think they are trying it on, so i need to confirm if what they are saying is true.

(meanwhile i am in the processs of changing my supplier to NPower)

[davidjohnbutton]

Ask them what British law makes you personally liable for the criminal acts of another person in whose name the supply presumably was???

[Editor]

I would say that if the supply was in the name of the tenant then clearly the tenant is contractually responsible and BG should pursue the tenant for the damage.
However, this is a HB tenant and therefore the supply is likely to be in the landlord's name.
Here the liability is with the contacting party (landlord) even though the tenant commited a criminal act - one of the hazards of being a HB landlord.
A criminal conviction would help prove the landlord's case for civil damages against this tenant.
Could BG be persuaded to replace the meter FOC? Meters are replaced from time to time, so presumably, depending on when the meter was last replaced, a reasonable solution would be a "contribution" to the cost, only.

[syedshah]

Thank you David and Editor, your advice is much appreciated.

Editor - Yes my tenant was HB. However the supply was changed to his name when he moved in, and has stayed in his name since. Would this change the situation, what would your new stance/advice be on this please?