electric meter went blank

tess34cat

hi, I pay my bill quarterly, recently my hot water and heating packed up, after several days I found it was the fault of the timer, and my meter was blank, they have now put in a new one, and I rang my electric company to find out how they are going to bill me, they said they will estimate it, I was wondering if I have to pay, as once before I was with a different supplier and the meter went backwards, and they said I didnt have to pay anything. thanks
:A

Mrs_Thrify

Hi Tess, you were lucky last time! I would think as you have used the electric it would be fair to pay for it.

SailorSam

I wish i could find a supplier who had meters going backwards,i'd stick with them no matter how high their tariff..
As regards your estimate i think all you could do if it was higher than you expected is to tell them you don't agree, they've no proof, so may reduce it. Don't worry about it until the bill comes, it may be lower than you think.

dogshome

Hi tess34cat - Your problem is that you don't know what the readings were at the moment the meter went kaput - Your suppliers problem is that they don't know either.
However you do know the day it failed and the date it was replaced, so you can accurately calculate the 'dead' period.

Hopefully you were in this flat at this time last year, so you can look at a past bill and find out how many Kw you were using a day at this time of year, and from that estimate what you used in the dead period.- If your suppliers estimate is higher, then use your figures to get the estimate adjusted

Now if you were not in the flat this time last year you will have to accept the suppliers estimate, but, WRITE to the supplier advising that your acceptance is given on the basis that it will be re-calculated according to your useage over the same period next year.
Good Luck