Electric bill excessive . where do i go for help
Comments
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As I understand it, this is a multi rate meter designed for business use; it records 8 different rates plus a total.
Because it's a meter designed for high using business, that is why it has 6 digits (as opposed to 4 or 5 that a domestic meter would have)
This does not include digits that record parts of a unit.
From the manual.
... although it also says it is only capable of displaying a maximum of 2 decimal points.The Total kWh register range is 000000.000 - 999999.999 kWh
I don't think the dispay is showing any fractions of a unit i.e there is no decimal point in the readout.
There can be so many possible problems here. The OP has no access to the property any more, and without any regular reads, it's impossible to say:
(a) if the meter is accurate (it probably is)
(b) if there is anyone else drawing electricity that is going through that meter (its a bodged conversion, bodged not least as it retained the old meter so who knows what else was bodged?)
(c) The OP's son did not take a meter reading at the start, so there is no guarantee it was correct. It could be, rather than plain fraud, that whoever took the reading did not take the TOT reading (as shown in the photo as the final reading) but rather a reading from one of the registries ... or possibly from the reactive power display as opposed to the active power as this business meter is capable of displaying both.
As there was a supplier reading take approx 1 month after the start of the rental, my hunch (and that is all it can be in these circumstances) is that someone else is drawing electricity that is going through that meter. Or that there was a heavy drawing appliance left on that the OP's son was unaware of (e.g. an electric fire on in the loft), as the bill shows a usage of almost 1000 kWh in 1 summer month.
Lessons to be learnt here:
1. Always take a meter reading when you move into a property, and give that reading to the supplier (and discuss a suitable tariff to avoid the expensive varible rate defult tariff they will otherwise put you on)
2. Take regular meter readings. This should alert you early to abnormal usage and allow you to investigate where necessary.0 -
I'd certainly want to try to rule out two of those phases actually supplying other properties in the conversion, or continuing to supply part of the farm.0
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... If only we had picture of the number of wires going into the meter! (and perhaps more importantly the wires coming out and where they were going)
Or even if the picture of the meter we do have was in focus, it might help us
The full description of the meter overview that victor2 posted in part says
(my highlighting)The meter is a whole current credit meter, capable of measuring kWh and kVArh type approved to IEC1036: 1996 class 1.0 for kWh and IEC1268: 1996 class 2.0 for kVArh. The Meter has 3 measuring elements capable of being configured as 3 phase 4 wire, 3 phase 3 wire, 2 wires of 3 phases, 1 wire of 2 phases or single phase of 3 wires. There are 8 kWh registers and 8 kVArh registers controlled by up to 16 time switches using internal RTC. A LCD display’s all the meter’s data and phase condition.
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The bill is likely to be accurate. The readings fall perfectly in line - the June 2015 and July 2015 readings follow on and the photo of the meter confirms the July 2016 is correct.
The issue here is that the meter is probably supplying appliances other than the appliances within the two bedroom dwelling. The scenario makes perfect sense - a farmbuilding conversion and the meter is a non-domestic meter.
I cannot see how its possible for a non-commerical customer to use 22203 kWh over 357 days in a dwelling that has two bedrooms and a gas supply (so presumably no electrical heating). If the dwelling only has the normal electrical appliances and no electric heating its almost impossible to use an average of 62 kWh per day.
Only explanations for this bill could be:
-electric heating;
-meter is attached to appliances not within your sons property;
-the meter is faulty although this is generally rare;
-there is actually another electricity meter for your sons dwelling and this is the wrong meter; or
-the dwelling had a jacuzzi or a floodlit astroturf pitch in the backyard
This could be something worth discussing and investigating directly with the landlord.0 -
But with no decimal point do you give the first five or last 5?!!!
If there was a decimal point it would be the first 5 digits. The meter is a business meter so I would read it as Npower have with all six digits.
As a check though its worth switching all electricity off and run something like a 2.2 kwh iron or a 1 kwh electric fire only and check what the last digit does.. 15 minutes of the iron would use 5.5 tenths, or 15 minutes of the electric fire the last digit would move by 2.5 . That test would prove if the last digit is recording 10 ths of a unit.
To check if anything else is connected to this business meter switch everything off and see if the index moves.
If the last digit is tenths then it fits in with the OPs usage of less than the average user around 2200 kwh a year. 22300 kwh a year is a business or very big cannabis farm ! or a faulty meter of course .
Domestic meters are nearly always 5 digits, never 4 but occasionally 6 if the wrong meter has been fitted or if its an ex small business.Solar panel meters I see have 6 digits but they have a hard to see decimal point after the 5th digit which causes lots of mis reads
Its important to find out what the 6 th digit is recording, is it recording 10 ths of a unit, or 1 unit ? rule that out first because the yearly consumption is correct if it is 10 ths of a unit only. If it is not then switching all your appliances off, and if it continues to advance, that will prove that other appliances are switched in to that meter.0 -
Finally had a call back from npower regarding the excessive bill and they say they have looked into it again and been to check the meters etc but the bill is correct !
average usage 57 units per day !
They have offered a payment plan for this but i feel i still cannot accept that this can possibly be right ... Any ideas where to go next for independant advice ?0 -
The problem is not the bill as that would seem accurate and the person deemed responsible has been correctly billed. But what does appear to have happened is that your son has been stitched up by the landlord to pay the bill for the whole farm site. What other premises are on the site ? How did your son set up the account ? The property and landlord / letting agent is where you need to start your investigation.0
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There are other properties near and i think one backs on to it ,
My son never set up the account , as far as i know the letting agent must have given the name to npower and consequently my son never set up any payment direct debits or anything which is why the bill is for such a long period ( i only took over the bills near the end of his tenancy )
I realise that this is a big error on his part but i was not aware at the time.
I may try and contact the energy ombudsman and see if they can help as i dont think the landlord will be much help as he has always left things to the agent.
Thankyou for your suggestions0 -
I wouldn't say stitched up but this is definitely a 3 phase meter (from the photo) and I suspect feeds the farm and possibly other things too.The problem is not the bill as that would seem accurate and the person deemed responsible has been correctly billed. But what does appear to have happened is that your son has been stitched up by the landlord to pay the bill for the whole farm site. What other premises are on the site ? How did your son set up the account ? The property and landlord / letting agent is where you need to start your investigation.
Might be an idea if the OP could post a picture of the whole area of the meter, cut out and possibly distribution boards/consumer units.
To be fair I don't think (although I genuinely don't know) that the ombudsman would find in your favour as the bill is correct.0 -
suethedriver wrote: »Finally had a call back from npower regarding the excessive bill and they say they have looked into it again and been to check the meters etc but the bill is correct !
average usage 57 units per day !
They have offered a payment plan for this but i feel i still cannot accept that this can possibly be right ... Any ideas where to go next for independant advice ?
When they went to check the meters what exactly did they do? Did they do a test and trace or did they simply just visit the property to check the meter serial numbers? I will not be surprised if its the latter unless they somehow managed to get the new occupier to agree to a site visit and allow it to do the test.
I still consider the best way to try and resolve this is to speak to the landlord if possible.
Its a really difficult situation and demonstrates why giving regular readings and receiving regular accurate bills is so important.
The bill is based on accurate meter readings so it is accurate unless the meter is faulty. Again, no longer being at the property will make it difficult to arrange a meter accuracy test as it would require the new occupier's permission. A faulty meter is also rare and unlikely.
This leaves the other scenario which is that the meter is attached to other appliances that are not within your sons property - I consider this likely if your son definitely didn't have electric heating appliances or grew cannabis but that means talking to the landlord.
Furthermore, even if it transpires that the meter is attached to other appliances that are not within your sons property then it still may end up as a third party dispute that npower cannot get involved in. The same goes with someone tapping into the supply.
Unfortunately, all these scenarios should have been investigated about a year ago. Questioning the bills after leaving the property is going to be a difficult task in most cases. To prevent this from happening in the future, give meter readings every quarter and this will bring high bills into question a lot earlier.0
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