Crunch time- unregistered electricity meter, can you help?

inventors

well, i did what i felt was the right thing and spoke to the landlord. They told me which meter was mine and from there it was easy to find out the supplier.
I've told the landlord I'm prepared to pay for anything I owe. However, what is weird and what the landlord couldn't explain was why I wasn't given any details of readings and supplier when I moved in and why I never got a bill 'to the occupier' They had no answer when i asked them why the flat had never been billed, they just said, 'perhaps it had got mixed up with another flat.' They also couldn't give me any info on what previous tenants had done, which is strange as there should have at least been record of past start and end meter readings.

Anyway, I've flagged it. I'm still not sure what the issue is other than the meter must not have been registered properly- not just during my tenancy, but during the whole time the flat has been rented.

inventors

Premier wrote: »

Unfortunately, the 12 month back billing rule only applies if the customer has contacted the supplier and provided their name, so that an account can be set up and the customer billed.

Edit: the second link seems dead

and also to follow up on undaunted's post. Yes, i take blame for not sorting this out when i moved in (alhtough i was slightly misled by previous tenant) and i will pay for what i've used, but undaunted echoes what i've been trying to get straight- surely at some point someone must have put a name to the meter/account? Or perhaps not- maybe when the flat was converted, the first person to move in just never bothered registering. Certainly the person before me never did and told me as much- and what about the person before them? My problem is my landlord can't answer any of these questions. No one seems to know why an account was never set up.

also, in my five years, no one's ever tried to read the meter.

inventors

and does anyone know how back billed electricity is worked out? i have no start numbers, but do have readings i did recently over one month. how can i make sure a back bill is fair?

Mupette

Premier wrote: »

Tried what exactly?

Presumably called National Grid and they said no trace. They should only need the address. (although the serial number would help)


What else have you tried? Called Envoy? What did they say?

I've asked the building company who built the property (first tenant in) as they would of asked someone to come in and do the gas fitting - connect the gas pipe up, the also supplied me with who would be providing my electric, so figured they would know who was supplying the gas, called the council asked if they knew who was supplying new builds of theirs, transco, eon who were suppling the electric, they asked for details to help me trace the gas suppliers, i gave all information from the meter, they said there was missing stickers, asked the new electric suppliers too, again gave all details.

Even my neighbours didn't know who was suppling them, same boat, 3 bungalows mine is middle all built same time by same company, same landlord.

not sure what else and to what extreme i am meant to go?

Joyful

As Premier has advised have you called Envoy?
If they cannot find any details it may be that the supply is via an Independent Gas Transporter (IGT). To obtain information about Independent Gas Transporters you need to call Envoy on 0845 055 6199.


IGT meters account for many new builds and also often those that cannot be found through the usual process.

PasturesNew

Premier wrote: »

Unfortunately, the 12 month back billing rule only applies if the customer has contacted the supplier and provided their name, so that an account can be set up and the customer billed.

Edit: the second link seems dead

It works for me: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article7060053.ece

EDF Energy, one of Britain’s largest electricity suppliers, has been accused of “outrageous” conduct after claiming that a customer had fallen more than £8,500 in arrears because they incorrectly estimated his electricty consumption.

Peter Crawford, from Robertsbridge, East Sussex, was startled when he received the demand in January this year for £8,594.85 of underpayments dating back to 2003. The shock was in no small part due to the fact that his previous bill, in December, showed a £1,640 credit.

However, his shock turned to anger when he was told that his previous bills had been recalculated because EDF had not applied years of meter readings made by its own representatives.

Mr Crawford says: “When I phoned to ask for the repayment of the credit balance on our account I was told that the amount had been recalculated, and I owed EDF more than £8,500. It was a huge shock to be told that our bill had increased by £10,000 — it certainly raised the blood pressure.

Even though Mr Crawford felt aggrieved at being charged for what was EDF’s mistake, he accepted that some repayment might be necessary, although not the full six years of “underpayments”.
He pointed to the Energy Retail Association (ERA) code of practice for accurate bills, to which EDF, British Gas, E.ON and Scottish Power are all signed. The voluntary code includes a pledge to protect consumers by limiting the backdating of incorrect bills to no more than one year.

Regular Times Money readers will notice similarities with the case of Adam Laurie, which also involved EDF (“I have paid all my electricity bills, but EDF says I owe £19,000”, July 4, 2009).
Mr Laurie, from Dorset, also quoted the ERA code after being billed for arrears of more than £19,000, even though EDF admitted that it had supplied incorrect bills for seven years. The energy company backed down, only after a long fight, when Mr Laurie received the backing of the Energy Ombudsman.

In Mr Crawford’s case, the company also initially argued that the code of practice did not apply because it had sent him requests for meter readings, which it claims he did not return.
In a letter sent on February 15, EDF states: “In relation to the code of practice in this instance I would have to confirm that within the terms of this agreement EDF would be justified in billing for the period in question, and not just for the past 12 months of usage.

“Throughout the life of the account, EDF has attempted to obtain readings on a number of occasions, which have either resulted in no access, or when reads have been received that were not in line, we have sent written correspondence to the above address seeking confirmation of the current reads on the meter.”

Mr Crawford, a high-profile showbusiness lawyer, says that his meter has been read eight times by EDF representatives since he moved in to his house in 2003.

He is also certain that he sent at least one of EDF’s meter-reading requests back and had a conversation with the billing department. However, he adds that he felt little compulsion to return all of the requests as he believed EDF’s own representatives had already read his meter.

Peter Vicary-Smith, the chief executive of Which?, the consumers association, says: “It’s utterly outrageous that EDF has allowed a customer to build up such a huge debt through its own mismanagement. We think it’s a disgrace that it tried to claw back this money, despite the fact that the mistake was entirely its own.”
After Times Money contacted EDF, the energy provider agreed to apply the code of practice, and to charge for only the past 12 months’ arrears, staggering the £1,184 payments over four years. Mr Crawford has agreed to accept the offer.

Mr Crawford says that he was definitely told that EDF did not think its own readings were accurate.

The company says: “After completing a detailed investigation, it was established that the billing code of practice should be applied to the account.

“According to our records, we have not received a meter reading from Mr Crawford since May 14, 2003. Regrettably, due to human error, we had not been using the accurate readings provided by our meter readers, and Mr Crawford received this large ‘catch-up bill’ as we had been estimating incorrectly his electricity consumption.”
Even though EDF backed down, its tardiness raises questions over how the ERA code of practice is being applied.

When Times Money first highlighted problems with the code in July, Consumer Focus, the independent consumer body, said that it was working with Ofgem, the energy regulator, and ERA to clarify the code and how it should be implemented.

This will bear fruit on April 1 when an overhauled billing code is introduced. The revised code will include a fuller explanation for consumers of how it works and when it is applied.

Audrey Gallacher, an energy expert at Consumer Focus, says: “The principal problem with the current code has been the inconsistency of its application. The new code should make it clearer where the supplier is at fault and where the customer has a degree of liability.”
Separately, Which? has written to the Office of Fair Trading and Ofgem asking them to investigate whether suppliers that allow their customers to build up large debts are in breach of consumer protection regulations.

Gas bills to fall

There was a spate of price cuts by energy companies this week as suppliers responded to lower wholesale gas prices. Scottish Power said it will cut gas bills by 8 per cent from March 31. Meanwhile, EDF said that its gas bills will fall 4 per cent, amounting to about £30 a year off a typical bill, from March 26. Similiar moves have been made by npower, British Gas, E.ON and Scottish and Southern Energy.