OVO Energy & SEEKA: Energy Theft Catchers.
I’ve had burly men ring my doorbell on days — and at hours — that I wouldn’t consider astonishing or shrewd an insight if a statistician declared homes, during those days and hours, devoid of occupants. Since industrialisation took hold, most homeowners, between 9am and 5pm, are expectedly at work making a living.
Yet, I’ve found these men rapping at my door exactly between those hours. Within eight months, they’ve twice showed up unannounced, and each time startled me. Reminiscent of bluebottle flies, these thick-set men are transported through my security camera, and I watch them cluster around my cul-de-sac door, buzzing persistently for a thirty-mile answer.
They always leave behind a thin, creased home-printed letter, bearing a fading blue and red finger-wide border that echoes the logo of the company, SEEKA. A little to the right, justified at its centre, will be the generic, populated, non-recipient-specific paragraph:
“We need your help to keep your electricity supply safe.
We need to make an urgent safety inspection of the electricity supply and metering equipment in your property, on behalf of your Energy Supplier Call your Energy Supplier today.
We’ll need access to your property so please call your Energy Supplier as soon as possible.
They’ll arrange a convenient time for us to visit.
Call your Energy Supplier on:”
Upon returning home, I will find the letter that the one I saw earlier hunched over had scribbled, while the others scratched their respective groins and beards, kicked dirt, and stared at my house in all its two-level glory: a hastily written, scarcely readable penmanship of my supplier’s name, OVO Energy; accompanied by their telephone number, which I assume is also that of OVO Energy.
The already printed words — the generic part — bleed at their tips and ends. The amber ink, possibly red (I’m unsure), ‘We need your help to keep your energy supply safe,’ blotted across the page like a piece from a tie-dye workshop for infants.
Who is SEEKA?
An online search of SEEKA (A part of Mgroup services) reveals they are an “End-to-end revenue protection service,” company.The term ‘revenue protection’ is a department, a role in a corporation, or an entity created to protect revenue — meaning, its sole purpose is to prevent company losses, by plugging profit holes.
Who are revenue protection officers?
The ticket inspectors who haunt the train aisles are known as “revenue protection officers,” as are those who lurk at turnstiles at train stations, eager to take down the names and addresses of anyone yielding an invalid train ticket, too, protect the earnings of train companies like EMR and Thameslink.
And so, the men who have twice visited my property, ostensibly to check the safety of my electric meter, have omitted a fundamental aspect of their enterprise — they seek out energy thieves; they think I am stealing electricity.
My online research has led me to articles about individuals entering unsuspecting homes and disconnecting meters or forcibly changing prepaid meters to top-up meters. Scam artists have committed burglaries under the same pretense. Naturally, I am concerned and reluctant to let anyone in my home, especially a group of men claiming to represent my energy supplier, OVO Energy.
Energy Theft Spike.
In September 2023, BBC reported a spike in energy theft, brought on by the energy price hike. People are now risking their lives for a warm and lighted home. In the cold West, the pursuit of warmth and light is as innate as eating — and breathing. If someone needs to steal heat and light, they certainly need them the most.
Today, I received a letter delivered by the postman. I know this because I saw him on my security camera, delivering it along with other letters. The OVO-green letterhead declared, ‘We need to check the safety of your meters.’ It’s a three-page letter, stating, ‘We’re now applying for a Rights of Entry Warrant to access your meter(s).’ The letter urges me to call OVO Energy to arrange a visit or choose a local court for the hearing.
After years of OVO Energy pleading ignorance of SEEKA’s appointment, this letter, the first of its kind, serves as confirmation of OVO Energy appointing SEEKA as energy theft inspectors.
This is all gross, befuddling and unnecessary. I fail to see why I need to call OVO Energy, as it only adds another unnecessary task to my interminable to-do list. If OVO Energy suspects that I am affecting their revenue, I, in turn, accuse them of detracting from my revenue — my time.
I am not in arrears, nor have I been in arrears. I live alone in a large house and travel often; so, my energy usage, compared to similar properties, is less — hence the insecurity of OVO Energy.
OVO Energy’s behaviour and tactics are inexcusable, as are those of other energy suppliers who hire SEEKA or similar revenue protection firms to knock on unsuspecting customers’ doors. While I do not consider myself a vulnerable person, I can’t help but pity those who find themselves confronted by SEEKA’s strongmen appearing at doors unannounced.
