Utilities in a bit of a pickle

glider3560

I moved into a new flat last week and the letting agent (managed property) said the electricity was Eon and gas was British Gas.

The agent called the flat "hall floor flat" and said it corresponded as "flat 1" on the meters - so she read these. Once she had gone, I noticed that my flat was in fact "flat 2" (buzzer on door was labelled flat 2 and light on meter followed with my usage). I called her up and she took the correct readings from me.

Anyway, I've moved some stuff in but am not going back to live there for another week and a half so I called the electricity supplier from my current home and they said they didn't supply the property but instead it was EDF. So I called EDF and set up the electricity account. All fine.

Then tried calling British Gas to setup the gas. They also said that EDF supply the gas. So back onto EDF. The man said they do supply the gas but there is an account in someone else's name (not previous tenant) and that the meter number doesn't correspond to the national gas database. He suggested that I find out the meter serial number and then get back to them before I setup an account.

What do people think about this? Could the previous tenant have been paying for someone else's gas? Or could someone else be paying for my gas? I can't get the meter number for 1.5 weeks so am worrying a bit that there will be a huge amount of hassle.

I'm also wishing to change supplier but I can't do this until the account is setup and I have the supply number.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi glider3560,

Meters in flats can be very confusing, and you will often hear stories of meters being labelled incorrectly and not matching the actual address. These cases can be very confusing and difficult to explain, so apologies in advance.

It can be very difficult to identify which is the correct meter, but it can be done by doing a test.

You’ll need to use appliances to burn energy in order to get the meter dials whizzing round, this (unless someone in another flat is consuming loads) will identify your meters. Document the meter serial numbers from the meters, and then contact the ‘suspected supplier’ for the electricity or in the case of the gas the National Grid on 0870 608 1524, this will confirm the supplier and the meter number (MPR)it is registered against.

The MPR (supply number) and MSN (serial) must match for the gas, the supply number and the MSN for the electricity should also match.

If they don’t match, there may be a crossed meter issue, the supplier of the supply numbers need to correct this.

If the MSN and the supply numbers match, you’ll know who should be your supplier and it will be a case of making these parties aware of when you moved in and ensuring that the address details are correct and your meters labelled correctly for future reference.

The problem may be that your meters (suspected meters) are correct but the address details are causing confusion. As long as you identify the MSN and then the supply number from that the address issue will be highlighted and can be easily amended.

If you have the correct supply numbers you’ll be able to speak to the relevant supplier and say “my meter is xxxxxxxxx and it’s for flat 2” and the supplier may say “yes we supply that meter but for flat 3”, essentially the supply number will highlight any address discrepancies there maybe.

Any Q's give me a shout.

Brian.

glider3560

Thanks Brian - an excellent post.

I know for certain that my electricity meter is the one I read (switched everything off and the light stopped flashing, switched things back on and it started flashing again). That account is setup now, but it is just the gas that was giving EDF problems. Will have to wait until I get back on Saturday to check the MSN.

Ideally, I wanted this to be sorted asap so that I could switch to Eon to avoid being ripped off by EDF.

lemontart

the mprn number identifies the property to the supplier not the meter, have a note of the serial number and give this to the agent at national grid, they cannot search by it but they can use it to confirm they are giving you the correct details

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi glider3560,

Thanks for the kind words.

It’s very awkward trying to sort things like this when you’re away, and unfortunately it’s impossible to sort without having all the information to hand. Even having either of the suppliers send someone out will usually take a week or two to arrange.

Essentially, this is not your fault ad you have taken steps to sort this, so when the issue is corrected and the correct supplier sets up correct accounts etc I’d expect you to be offered assistance with regards to the bills/balances remaining.

Brian

glider3560

A quick update: phoned EDF today as I could finally get access to the meter (some builder put a pole for scaffolding right in front of my meter cupboard!)

It turns out that the meter for flat 2 is actually the meter for flat 3, and vice versa. The dials on the flat 3 meter only turn when I've got my gas on. Also, the cut off valve attached to flat 3's meter switches off my gas.

EDF took the meter serial number and meter reading. The man said he would arrange for the meters to be switched round on their system. He said that people had been giving the correct readings (i.e. the previous tenant in my flat was reading flat 3's meter) but no-one had changed the serial number on their system.

Anyway, at least it is all sorted now and I'm just waiting for EDF to confirm all this in writing before I go and initiate the transfer to E.On (I want it to be as smooth as possible!)

Ken68

Hi Glider....Somebody ought to be paying you for the inconvenience of sorting the matter.
You need to be Mr Angry for a while.

glider3560

Another update on the situation, if someone could provide me with some advice.

Whilst on the phone to EDF, I asked for the MPRN. I gave this to E.On earlier in the week to initiate a transfer to them.

I've received my first bill from EDF, albeit for less than £2. They have used the correct meter readings that I have provided but the bill shows the meter serial number for Flat 3 (I'm in Flat 2).

Obviously the person who I spoke to at EDF never actually swapped the meters round on their system. I've paid that bill as I don't want any problem there, but I'm now worried that the gas won't transfer to E.On correctly or that I'll have problems in the future.

Expecting them not to sort it out, I recorded the last call that I made to EDF before the account was set-up. The man's comment was "I'll set that up, I just need to get the meters resolved" then "OK, I'll get that and everything sorted for you".

I'm considering writing a letter to EDF, so that I have a record of everything that is said. What do I need to ask for? Ideally I'd like someone to come out so I can prove which meter is mine. I don't really want to switch to E.On to "go wrong" as I'm relying on the £62 cashback (which has already tracked on a cashback site) to make the deal "worth it".

I've also received a bill for the period in-between myself and the previous tenant. This was £38 - which is absolutely ridiculous for a period when the property is empty. Anyway, I've passed that onto the letting agents who said they'll pay it anyway, even though it is a little dear. It would appear that the opening reading on this bill was the the incorrect meter, but the closing reading was the one I gave (i.e. the correct meter but not the one EDF have on their system).

I'm absolutely fed up with this palaver now and hope that it can be sorted out quickly and easily, without any hassle or financial loss to me.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi glider3560,

If the problem has not been sorted at the EDF end there is a chance that when the transfer was initiated the wrong meter details could come across to E.ON as well.

You’re right to be concerned. During the transfer the information about your MPRN and MSN and lots of other details are sent via third parties, so there is potential that the information is wrong across the board.

Depending on the stage of the transfer, E.ON may have the metering information through; if they have we can tell you/confirm the details with you and see if they are correct.

If it’s early in the transfer though, we might not have received the metering details so we won’t be able to confirm them for you yet, it is definitely worth checking this though.

If we end up having the same problem because we ‘take on’ the same metering set up, we will have to raise a dispute and correct our details as well. This should be easier as the meter reading agency and the other third parties should have already been corrected when EDF resolve the issue.

Brian

glider3560

It has now been about 5 weeks since I last posted on this thread.

In this time, I wrote a letter to EDF in an attempt to ensure that they've actually done something. I cancelled the switch to E.On as this would have just caused complications.

On receipt of my letter, a lady at EDF called me and said that it had already been noted on their system (yeah right!) Anyway, she went through a few details with me (like checking the serial number and meter readings). She also said that the other flat's supplier has a backlog of crossed meter requests so it would take "a long time" to get the problem sorted.

A few days later, EDF sent a postcard in the post asking for my meter's serial number, meter location and current reading. This didn't seem to do anything other than generate a bill which still has the incorrect serial number.

Anyway, I've checked my account today and nothing has happened yet. The account is still showing Flat 3's serial number.

Is it too early to be chasing up EDF again? I can make quite a substantial saving by switching to another company, but at the moment I'm stuck with EDF.

I'm also worried that the credit I'm building up on this account (by paying by direct debit) may never find itself onto the new account they set up with the correct reading. Is there any cause for concern here?

Premier_2

There is no cause for concern regarding the money you are paying currently by DD being used to credit your account correctly ... eventually.

However, you don't appear to be getting anywhere fast resolving the cross billing issue.
I would suggest you escalate the issue to a complaint with the supplier.

http://www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/customer-services/making-a-complaint.shtml