Broken Gas Meter, High Bill, No way to get a reading

DavieBob

Hi,

I currently share a flat and our recent gas bill seemed high at £267. It was based on an estimate due to no meter reading.

The problem was when the man came to read the meter earlier this year he noted that it wasn't working (digital readout displayed nothing). Npower then asked again for a reading and we told them we couldn't provide it as it there was nothing on the wee screen, they said they would send out someone to check it in 2-3 weeks and in the meantime sent us the estimated bill.

The bill arrived end of last week and someone came round to look at the meter today. They could not revive it and have replaced it with an older dial system. The problem I have is the bill as we now have a new reset meter where do we stand if we believe our bill is too high as there is no way of getting a reading for the time period?

Also don't know if this is relevant, but the serial number for the gas meter they have today replaced was not the same as the one they thought we had.

Any help on this would be hugely appreciated as due to financial worries it was attempted to actually use less gas this year

Many thanks

kjsmith7

Hello - I would contact them regarding the fact that you think there is a discrepancy with the serial number for the removed meter - this could make a difference. Also, they will very likely take two readings from your new meter to extrapolate what the final meter reading would have been on the meter they removed. I would contact them to discuss this - bear in mind that your consumption might be higher now than in Summer!

spiro

How long ago was you last bill that was based on actual reads?

How long was it between the reader discovering the meter was unreadable and them replacing it?

Knowing both of these facts may help haggle with your supplier.