Electricity Meter confirmed Faulty - advice please

ZippyZippy

hellooo everyone... newbie here posting looking for a little advice

well since i got my electric monitor ive been obsessed with reducing our bills! also we spent this afternoon calling all direct debits and changing them to 4th of month so we can keep track and get out of the muddle we are in finally!

our electric and gas is quarterly so i told mrzippy to call and pay them as they were due and then ask to do a monthly direct debit so we know where we are instead of getting the scary quarterly bill surprise!! so we would pay £xxx a month and even if we had underestimated the bill wouldnt be half as bad as they have been!!

anyways she said our bill of £140 was estimated and i straight away shook my head at mrzippy as the man was here to read the meters last week (they had a gas reading but not the electric which is weird as i know he took the reading as i was laughing with him as he was scrambling over stuff in our garage lol) so mrzippy went and gave her a reading and suddenly our bill is £481!!!!! i could have cried!! he was chatting saying it cant be because in jan we over paid and march we had no bill because of the over payment and were £25 in cred this quarter and then suddenly huge bill... so he went and read the meter again to check he had done it right and then she comments that our night reading has changed and it shouldnt have done and the meter is faulty!!

they are fitting a new one next week and have immediatly wiped this bill and we wont pay anything until we are on a new meter

BUT.... how long has our meter been out??? i dont suppose we will ever know ,....i bet we have been over paying for a long long time

something definatly isnt right!!!

november bill - the meter reading was estimated at say 7000 - i paid in full

january bill i submitted a meter reading and it was 7000 (so really i had paid up to that already in novemeber on their estimated if that makes sense? but didnt notice at the time ) paid bill in full 2 x by accident because i was a bit late and got a red letter so paid again!! eek

march - estimated bill apparently ...because of paying the bill 2 x in jan i was in credit and still had £25 credit left over after the march bill

june - bill comes in and they take off £25 credit estimated again but i know definatly the man took the readings...but once we give a reading we suddenly owe the £481 find out meter is running wrong so they have wiped it

the whole thing doesnt look right does it???

many thanks for any replys / advice on wether i should leave it at that or try and persue it further

ZiPpY x

specialsparky

Hi Mrs Zippy, ask your supplier to provide you with a complete breakdown from the closing meter readings when your meter is exchanged. Make sure you record the final reading on the old meter and the opening reading on the new meter and keep those safe. Also ask the engineer to give you the meter serial numbers of the old and new meters.
It will take some time to register your new meter on your suppliers system and this is where it can go wrong and this is why I say keep the readings and there serial number. Give them a month and then check and see if they have all the new details set up and ask them to provide a statement of charges and reads from your old meter.
You can name the supplier on here as there are company reps who can help you personally with your problem

Good luck and I hope this helps, thanks are welcome

Premier_2

ZippyZippy wrote: »

...they are fitting a new one next week and have immediatly wiped this bill and we wont pay anything until we are on a new meter ...

..we suddenly owe the £481 find out meter is running wrong so they have wiped it

...

As long as you have this in writing, there shouldn't be anything to worry about

undaunted

Premier wrote: »

As long as you have this in writing, there shouldn't be anything to worry about

I think the poster is querying just how long they may have had a problem / been over charged for.

I can only suggest that when the new meter is installed you take regular readings and then compare it with old bills (either dig them out or if necessary request copies) If there is any significant difference looking back you can put your case to the company & if then necessary the nergy ombudsman. If there is little historical difference it would probably imply some recent fault occured

ZippyZippy

Thankyou all so much for replying and being so welcoming

i had no idea about how long things might take after the new meter is installed so i will make sure i get those readings and serial numbers that have been advised (company is british gas/elect btw)

i do worry that this could have been going on for a long time but i dont understand all these numbers on the bills ...ive checked back at all my online bills with them and posted the usage below just incase anyone here can see if there has been a problem for a long time... unfortunatly a lot of these look like they are estimated but i think something has gone on there as i know 100% the other week we had a reading taken yet the bill came through estimated anyways

here is my big jumble of numbers! i really dont understand any of it!





Bill period: 20 Feb to 29 Sep 2008
Total cost: £769.65
Total electricity usage: 7250 units

20 Feb 2008 - estimated 54979
02 Apr 2008 - actual 55329 We read your meter
= 350.0 kWh used over 43 days
20 Feb 2008 - estimated 7967
02 Apr 2008 - actual 9657 We read your meter
= 1690.0 kWh used over 43 days
03 Apr 2008 - actual 0 We read your meter
29 Jul 2008 - estimated 815
= 815.0 kWh used over 118 days
03 Apr 2008 - actual 0 We read your meter
29 Jul 2008 - estimated 2547
= 2547.0 kWh used over 118 days
Usage charge First 221 kWh x 22.512 p = £49.75
Next 5181 kWh x 9.650 p = £499.97
30 Jul 2008 - estimated 815
29 Sep 2008 - actual 1263 You gave us your meter reading
= 448.0 kWh used over 62 days
30 Jul 2008 - estimated 2547
29 Sep 2008 - actual 3947 You gave us your meter reading
= 1400.0 kWh used over 62 days
Usage charge First 85 kWh x 24.171 p = £20.55
Next 1763 kWh x 11.309 p = £199.38

Total cost of electricity used £769.65

__________________________________________________________

Bill period: 30 Sep to 04 Dec 2008
30 Sep 2008 - actual 1263 You gave us your meter reading
04 Dec 2008 - actual 1686 We read your meter
= 423.0 kWh used over 66 days
30 Sep 2008 - actual 3947 You gave us your meter reading
04 Dec 2008 - actual 5750 We read your meter
= 1803.0 kWh used over 66 days
Usage charge First 90 kWh x 24.171 p = £21.75
Next 2136 kWh x 11.309 p = £241.56

Total cost of electricity used £263.31

____________________________________________________________
Bill period: 05 Dec to 17 Mar 2009

05 Dec 2008 - actual 1686 We read your meter
17 Mar 2009 - estimated 2388
= 702.0 kWh used over 103 days
05 Dec 2008 - actual 5750 We read your meter
17 Mar 2009 - estimated 8742
= 2992.0 kWh used over 103 days
Usage charge First 141 kWh x 24.171 p = £34.08
Next 3553 kWh x 11.309 p = £401.81

Total cost of electricity used £435.89

______________________________________________________________

Bill period: 18 Mar to 19 May 2009

18 Mar 2009 - estimated 2388
06 May 2009 - estimated 2786
= 398.0 kWh used over 50 days
18 Mar 2009 - estimated 8742
06 May 2009 - estimated 9987
= 1245.0 kWh used over 50 days
Usage charge First 68 kWh x 24.171 p = £16.44
Next 1575 kWh x 11.309 p = £178.12
07 May 2009 - estimated 2786
19 May 2009 - estimated 2880
= 94.0 kWh used over 13 days
07 May 2009 - estimated 9987
19 May 2009 - estimated 10279
= 292.0 kWh used over 13 days
Usage charge First 18 kWh x 22.661 p = £4.08
Next 368 kWh x 9.799 p = £36.06

Total cost of electricity used £234.70

_________________________________________________________________

Bill period: 20 May to 15 Sep 2009

20 May 2009 - estimated 2880
15 Sep 2009 - estimated 3700
= 820.0 kWh used over 119 days
20 May 2009 - estimated 10279
15 Sep 2009 - estimated 12842
= 2563.0 kWh used over 119 days
Usage charge First 163 kWh x 22.661 p = £36.94
Next 3220 kWh x 9.799 p = £315.53

Total cost of electricity used £352.47

___________________________________________________________________

Bill period: 16 Sep to 19 Nov 2009

16 Sep 2009 - estimated 3700
19 Nov 2009 - estimated 4078
= 378.0 kWh used over 65 days
16 Sep 2009 - estimated 12842
19 Nov 2009 - estimated 14452
= 1610.0 kWh used over 65 days
Usage charge First 89 kWh x 22.661 p = £20.17
Next 1899 kWh x 9.799 p = £186.08

Total cost of electricity used £206.25


____________________________________________________________________

Bill period: 20 Nov to 17 Mar 2010

We used the Day and Night readings you gave us of 4078 and 14452
on 22 Jan 2010 to help us estimate your total consumption.

20 Nov 2009 - estimated 4078
17 Mar 2010 - estimated 4444
= 366.0 kWh used over 118 days
20 Nov 2009 - estimated 14452
17 Mar 2010 - estimated 15784
= 1332.0 kWh used over 118 days
Usage charge First 162 kWh x 22.661 p = £36.71
Next 1536 kWh x 9.799 p = £150.51

Total cost of electricity used £187.22

_______________________________________________________________________

Bill period: 18 Mar to 29 Jun 2010

18 Mar 2010 - estimated 4444
29 Jun 2010 - actual 5592 You gave us your meter reading
= 1148.0 kWh used over 104 days
18 Mar 2010 - estimated 15784
29 Jun 2010 - actual 19364 You gave us your meter reading
= 3580.0 kWh used over 104 days
Usage charge First 142 kWh x 22.661 p = £32.18
Next 4586 kWh x 9.799 p = £449.38
Total cost of electricity used £481.56

ive popped in bold the 2009 reading that they estimated which i paid and then the exact same reading which i gave for the following bill which i paid again... i dont really understand how i paid the first one and if the reading was the same on the 2nd one why i had to pay it again as surely i paid that the bill before and it says estimated even tho it says i gave them a reading aswell lol? i know its probably really obvious but im a complete bimbo with all these figures!!

ZiPpY x

specialsparky

Mrs Zippy,
I have only had a quick look but BG seem to understimate you all the time and when they catch up that is when you get a shock on the bill. I think you need to be on a online tariff with a supplier wher you supply the readings, they send you an email to remind you. That way you will always be billed to an accuarate read. All suppliers will reduce the amount of actual reads as they look for ways to save money.
I am on Eon's Fix on Line v.08 and I give them reads when they ask for them and receive accurate bills to view on line 24 hrs later. It helps with controlling your consumption as well when you realise how much you have spent.
I have had an On line account with Eon for over a year now and managed to reduce my DD payments by 25% and I am sure it down to actual and accurate bills allowing them to calculate my monthly DD payments.
Good luck and I hope this helps

ZippyZippy

thankyou again ive had a look now at the online tariffs you mentioned and see there is a tariff with british gas called energy smart that you submit your own monthly meter reading online, by SMS or using our iPhone app so no excuse for having an estimated and shocker of a bill! i think that will suit us much better than the current system we are on so im going to ask them to change us to that as soon as the new meter is fitted

ZiPpY x

Cardew

Wow I am confused!

Prior to 02 April 2008 you had an Economy 7 meter(with day and night readings) but the totals from each meter were added together and you paid on a normal 24/7 tariff - a normal procedure.

However when they changed your meter they fitted another Economy 7 meter(both readings at zero) and carried on as before - with gas why did they not fit a normal meter?

What I cannot understand is why you state in your first post that the meter reader apparently said the night meter should not have have moved:

she comments that our night reading has changed and it shouldnt have done and the meter is faulty!!

In fact apart from a lot of estimated bills last year, I can't see where there is a problem. Both your meter readings have increased steadily for over 2 years and you are using around 20% of your electricity at night(normal if you have gas) However you are using a lot of electricity(over 10,000kWh pa).

So on what grounds have they said the meter is faulty? Are you sure they are not just coming to fit a 'normal' meter
with just one reading?

ZippyZippy

Ive checked with my husband and he says that the reason they changed the meter the first time was because they wanted to swop it over to a digital one

and they have said this meter is faulty because the night time reading was during the daytime aswell as the daytime one (if that makes sense?) which is why they are wanting to change it again...ive no idea if they are putting in the same one again or not tho

ZiPpY x

ZippyZippy

Ive checked with my husband and he says that the reason they changed the meter the first time was because they wanted to swop it over to a digital one

and they have said this meter is faulty because the night time reading was during the daytime aswell as the daytime one (if that makes sense?) which is why they are wanting to change it again...ive no idea if they are putting in the same one again or not tho

ZiPpY x

GYOB

I've had a quick look at the figures above and looked specifically at the period 18 March 2009 -> 19 June 2010 and did a very quick unit per day caluclation. This can give a good indication as to whether there are any problems with the meter. These figures are based on estimated readings to actual readings and give some interesting figures. The first set of figures (R1) are coming out as 6.85 units per day and this is about accurate. The second set of figures (R2) come out as 22.69 units per day. Assuming that the first sets of figures you list in each billing period is your day rate and the second set of figures is your night rate, then you will have benefited financially for having the bulk of your unsage during the night rate.

I must admit I am struggling to see anything above that indicates the meter is indeed faulty.

How is your property heated? Do you have Gas Central Heating or are you using some form of electric heathing?