EDF ignored my insistance there was a leak

goldmister

Hi

My first post so be gentle!

I was on a normal gas meter but due to spiralling costs was forced to either a) pay the outstanding bill in full (around £1000)
or
b) Have a pre payment meter installed
Needless to say, I didnt have a grand sitting around so had the prepayment meter installed (which of course they charge you for -£250 -and add to your debt)

Early this year I noticed that I was getting through an awful lot of gas and I contacted EDF telling them I thought something was wrong. I asked them to check and also asked that they send someone out to check for leaks.
They ignored all of my references to sending someone out and just argued about the amount owing.

STILL WITH ME? GOOD, THANK YOU!

Today my landlord arranged for a gas check himself only to find that the cooker was leaking and from the readings on the "gas checker thing" it must have been leaking for sometime.
It has been disconnected so Im without one but thats by the by...

Is there anything I can do or say to EDF?
This surely must have been the reason my bills were getting higher and higher.

I did a test and turned off every gas appliance one night, and by the morning, according to the pre pay meter the money had gone. I had no credit and no gas so I knew there was something wrong.

Im just wondering how to complain/ask for compensation or at least a reduction of my debt.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your patience
Glen

AJ1982

If its a problem with your cooker, then unless EDF maintain it, surely its out of their hands. Maybe ur LL needs a slap for providing a hazzardous appliance...

Elexpert

Hi Glen,

Sorry to hear about youre problems!

Not sure if this would be seen as EDF's fault though? Surely it should be your landlord compensating you for a leaky cooker?

As far as the law is concerned a supplier is only responsible for the supply up to and including the meter. Anything further than that is the owners responsibility. E.g. If the meter/mains pipeline before the meter was leaking then you may have a case.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Cardew

Agree with the above - your landlord needs to compensate you not EDF.However I doubt that a leak that you had to discover with a gas detector, will be responsible for a great deal of 'lost' gas.A gas leak big enough to cost serious money would be smelt - or you wouldn't have a house left!!By the way are you sure you were charged £250 for a pre-pay meter???

owain.davies

Agree with the other posters that it is your LLs fault! If you smell gas you should ring the gas emergency number - not your energy company

Sirbendy

Indeed...I could smell gas outside one day, and the old prepay meter was being a bit of a money eater, so I thought "leak" and got Transco out to check it over...they were out in 2 hours, did the full battery of tests, tightened a few things up, and even checked my cooker and boiler for me.

Problem sorted, and I've since had the meter changed out for a quantum - seems good so far.

As to appliance issues..it's landlords responsibility. We have everything checked over by the gas engineer every 12 months on his behalf. I can see he's been doing it for a few years by the record that I've been left by the last tenants.

Its one of the things I really like about PAYG meters..you can monitor the things really closely. I check mine 2-3 times a week with the electric one. If I find an unexpected credit use, then I can investigate and locate it easily.