Wrong Meter/serial no

gez1989

I moved into my flat last month, outside there is a row of 6 different gas meters and i didnt know which one was for which flat. So to be safe I contacted Transco (National Grid) to check what serial number the meter for the flat was. I found it and gave my supplyer the opening reading.

I month later i noticed that my reading has not changed (the flat below is unoccupied) and that a different meter is the actual one in use for my flat.

So i assume the meter registered to my flat is actually belonging to an unoccupied flat, and someone else is actually paying for my gas, if not the people who move in to the unoccupied flat are going to have a huge bill!

If I was to leave the situation as it is, who would be liable for this mistake?
If I was to inform my supplyer of such a problem, from what point will i be billed, since this problem may have been undetected for years and there is no way of telling what was my actual meter reading upon moving in?

DaveMacD

Had something similar years ago. Despite the company having someone out to read the meter, they failed to notice when they themselves replaced the meter (apparently these things have to be refurbished on a regular basis) that the serial numbers of the meters had changed. I only spotted it when a HUGE bill came in, which we disputed. When I checked the readings, there were huge discrepancies, so I also checked the serial numbers, which were also different. Called up to complain, snotty young girl on the other end of the phone gave it the whole "you are wrong, we are right, and we want the bill paid" routine. Ended up sending a cheque for what I calculated we owed, and if they wanted any more, they could whistle, since they could not prove when they made the mistake, nor in fact retrieve any info on the meter we had. I should probably point out that we were leaving to a different supplier though, so we were not likely to be threatened with disconnection

It's probably best to let them know, unless you plan on moving house or supplier in the near future. I would suggest that it is their problem re. liability though.