Help! British Gas....

Teewee

Hi, This is the first tie that I have used tis site, however I have a massive concern with my new electricity meter, I'm hoping somebody can help....
On July 14th I had a new electricity meter fitted, I really didnt want this, you know what its like, somebody starts fiddleling and things go wrong, I have lived here for 6 years and was told if I didnt get it chnaged they would get a warrent to enter my house and pt a new one in - a little harsh!
So I had the new meter fitted, I wasnt here the day that they fitted it, however it worked so I never checked it, in Sept I had a estimated bill reading from 0 - 346 I'm busy like everybody else, didnt check it or check it when it was installed as my estimated bills are usually spot on. Next ill comes Jan 2010, says estimated @ 1042 not unreasonable about £90 same as usual so paid it, for some reason I dediced to check the meter today, it shows a WHOPPING reading of 18, 678!!! I have called british gas and they have said, oh thats going to breat the bank! Theres only two people in my house, nothing has chnaged,no new appliances, all bulbs n energy saving. I dont know what do do, Bristish gas have asked me to monitor the readings each week and come bac to them, however we all know haow difficult these big energy companies are and I am so worried that I am going to get a bill that is probally worth the entire value of my house. Is it possible that thismay not have been zeroed at the time of install, how can I prove this? Help please :-)

Premier_2

Someone must have been at the property when the new meter was installed - the supplier wouldn't install it otherwise (unless they had a court order, which they obviously didn't)

They should have given that person a card with the old and new meter readings on - they don't always start from zero

Failing that, all you can do is take regular readings & submit these to the supplier who will work out what has gone wrong.
Either the meter is faulty, or the start reading is wrong, either way, they'll probably end up using estimated usages based on proper/accurate readings

DVardysShadow

Teewee wrote: »

Hi, This is the first tie that I have used tis site, however I have a massive concern with my new electricity meter, I'm hoping somebody can help....
On July 14th I had a new electricity meter fitted, I really didnt want this, you know what its like, somebody starts fiddleling and things go wrong, I have lived here for 6 years and was told if I didnt get it chnaged they would get a warrent to enter my house and pt a new one in - a little harsh!
So I had the new meter fitted, I wasnt here the day that they fitted it, however it worked so I never checked it, in Sept I had a estimated bill reading from 0 - 346 I'm busy like everybody else, didnt check it or check it when it was installed as my estimated bills are usually spot on. Next ill comes Jan 2010, says estimated @ 1042 not unreasonable about £90 same as usual so paid it, for some reason I dediced to check the meter today, it shows a WHOPPING reading of 18, 678!!! I have called british gas and they have said, oh thats going to breat the bank! Theres only two people in my house, nothing has chnaged,no new appliances, all bulbs n energy saving. I dont know what do do, Bristish gas have asked me to monitor the readings each week and come bac to them, however we all know haow difficult these big energy companies are and I am so worried that I am going to get a bill that is probally worth the entire value of my house. Is it possible that thismay not have been zeroed at the time of install, how can I prove this? Help please :-)

There are 4 occasions when you must take an interest in your meter, read it for yourself and keep a record

1. When you move in
2. When an old meter is taken out
3. When a new meter is put in
4. When you move out

Most problems with meter readings are OK in that you what you lose this month you will gain next month. But if the meter is not read correctly on any of the 4 occasions listed, what you lose will be someone else's gain.

It is a bit late now to help you prove that the new meter was not zeroed, so you will have to go along with Premier's suggestion, take readings and come out with an estimate.