Keeping your Neighbours Warm!

Anne3333

Thought I would share this interesting story with you all.
My daughter moved into her first rented flat a few months ago and took the reading from her electricity meter, after gaining access to the communal cupboard by the concierge. She has no gas within the property.
She has been paying the landlord monthly and it has been an eyeopener how expensive it is to be independent!!! The second month she seriously cut back her usage, but it appeared to make no difference to the HUGE bills.
However last weekend, she rang to say that all the electricity in the flat had turned off. After checking the fuse box, which had not cut out and checking with neighbours, who all had electricity, she didnt have a clue what was wrong.
She spent the weekend with candlelight, no heating and cold showers, until she finally managed to get hold of the landlord who promised to send an electrician round. The electrician arrived Tuesday and told her with a smirk on his face that she needed to PUT SOME MONEY IN THE METER!!!
One would find that amusing, except for the fact that she is not on a prepaid meter. It turned out that when the apartments were built a few years ago, the meters were incorrectly numbered. Her flat had in fact been paying for the neighbours heating and vice versa. It only came to light when her neighbour, failing to pay her rental, was put onto a prepayment meter by her landlord. She had paid a small amount of money into it and then let it run out, hence my daughter's electricity was cut.
I have tried to bring up my daughter to be neighbourly, but paying for someone elses warmth was not what I had in mind!

Cardew

Wrong meter labeling(including water meters) is a very common in blocks of flats - particularly with conversions.

spiro

If the meters are used by the Loandlord's supplier to bill him then you need to get him to contact his supplier(s) and report that there are 'crossed meters' in the property. The supplier will probably need to send round a meter would to check which meter belong to which property and get it sorted out.

Anne3333

Thanks for your comments, it is shocking to think this is a common problem and that it has been going on for some years before being spotted. Thankfully, the electricity company have admitted liability and are refunding all payments, so it will be a warm Christmas for my daughter this year!