This blog post is an edited transcript of a video done by Girshwin on Youtube. 

Why would a landlord buy a Metro Prepaid MET004 Split Sub Meter? If a landlord wants to lock up the electric sub meter on their property and only give the tenant access to the keypad to prevent tampering with the sub meter. The tenant will still be able to buy their Metro Codes from any PayPoint location.

Restricting access to an electric sub meter removes the opportunity for unscrupulous tenants to add wiring that by-passes the landlord meter allowing them to use power without paying for it. The majority of tenants do the right thing and pay for the power they use but unfortunately there will always be exceptions. To assist landlords Metro Prepaid has launched the MET004, a wired communication split meter, that allows the landlord meter to be secured in an access controlled environment with only a keypad installed in the flat to enable communication with the meter.

Estimates suggest the UK loses hundreds of millions in electricity theft each year. Experienced landlords know to include revenue protection measures like payments monitoring, paired with meter installation inspections where there is a shortfall in the money they collect, when compared to the money they must pay, to the energy supplier.

Partial meter by-passes, which allow some usage to be metered, can be hard to detect. Experts agree that making landlord meters inaccessible is the most robust solution and placing the meter outside of the flat or room restricts that access to the wiring going into or coming out of the meter. This virtually eliminates the opportunity for tenants to install a crude and potentially dangerous by-pass using a kitchen fork or added wiring. 

Metro Prepaid’s MET004 meters are available from most electrical wholesalers.