Help with electricity query

Fotojenics

Is anyone able to give me some advice for my daughter. She Moved into a property and found it hard to keep up with her payments for electricity. She asked for a meter of which was put in around March 03.

A few weeks ago she had two gentlemen from her electric company call on her and take her meter away and replace it with another one. They said that this one had a fault on it and she would here from the company.

She has heard from the company to say that they suspected someone had tampered with the meter and had not been paying enough money.

After waiting a couple of weeks or so the company has now said that the meter was faulty and has been since March 05. They have since been back and looked at her appliances to estimate how much she owes them.This has resulted in her underpaying her electricity for 5 and a half years and they have now sent her a £3,500 bill.

Does she have to pay 5 and a half years worth as this is not her fault? They are already taking money from the meter to pay it back without consulting her on the amount she will pay weekly etc.

Please can someone help advise me on this - it is lot of money to pay back. I would be so greatful.

J

spiro

Are you saying she had a prepayment meter fitted in 2003?
If yes, does the property has elc only or gas and elec?
Roughly how much was she paying a year?

Fotojenics

Hi - she had a prepayment meter fitted in 2003 and she has been told for the first 2 years it was working properly and since 2005 it went wrong but this has only come to light in the last couple fo months. She lives in a tower block and does not have gas. I dont know what she was paying for her electric per year all she knows is that everytime it ran up she topped it up.

Any advise would be great - thanks

spiro

An all elec flat is going to use £1200-1500 elec per year or more based on whats been posted on this forum. It may be more if she is high up in a tower block with poor insulation and in a colder part of the country.
Because of the 'meter fault' they are now saying she has underpaid by £637 per year. This will have been based on (a) what she has paid, (b) the appliances she has and (c) any info she gave them on how long she has things on e.g. only using tumble drier once a week.
She can ask for a statement from the supplier which will detail what she has been paying and if the last 12 months doesn't show a figure like that above and especially if its a lot below then this would indicate a problem.
In terms of any 'debt recovery rate' set on the meter, this has to be set in agreement with the supplier. Before she contacts that she needs to write out a detailed incomings and outgoings so they can see what she can afford to pay. You need to bear in mind that they will normally only allow essentials as outgoings i.e. mobile phones dont count.

Doom_and_Gloom

spiro wrote: »

An all elec flat is going to use £1200-1500 elec per year or more based on whats been posted on this forum.

That may not be the case. A few years ago my partner and I were in a flat share and in the year the electricity for the flat was around £600. That was a 3 bedroom electric only flat with 5 people living there.

I'm sorry I can't help the OP with their question. I know they can only go back so many years but unfortunatly I can't remember how many. I hope someone else can help you.

dogshome

Hi fotogenics - The £3,500 bill for underpaid power use over 5.5 years is based on an ESTIMATE by the supplier, based on a GUESS as to how she uses the appliances in her flat.

The only way to to fairly judge what is owed, is to do the calculation on the amount of power she consumes in a full year, starting from the date the replacement meter was fitted.
She is entitled to a fully detailed Bill listing what power they think she used, at what dates and listing the tariff charges at those times - In 5.5 years prices have risen, so what she used in 2004 would be at a far lower cost than today.

Obviously she will owe something, but she is entitled to bargain that she should have the same amount of time to to pay the off debt, as it took to accrue - £3500/ 66 months = £53 a month

She must WRITE a letter headed Complaint in that the supplier has let this situation run unchecked for over 5 years, demanding a fully detailed bill and that the present bill be subject to adjustment when her consumption has been measured by an accurate meter after a full year.
If she can afford it she should enclose a cheque for £53, but otherwise send no money until she has had the detailed bill and the suppliers agreement to re-assess after a year.

EssJayEff

Hi there,

My first post here but I would be very upset to be told I owed 3.5k through no fault of my own. As I undestand it, the supplier
has a responsibility to inspect meters at least every two years.

Look up 'ofgem electricity supply licence' and you'll find it soon enough. Its clause 12.14

"12.14 Unless the Authority otherwise consents, the licensee must take all reasonable
steps to ensure that it inspects, at least once every two years, any Non-Half-
Hourly Meter in respect of premises at which it has at all times during that period
been the Relevant Electricity Supplier."

Write to your supplier asking..
1/ For a full breakdown of how they arrived at the £3500 estimate.
2/ Records for the period of time between when the meter was installed and when they estimate it was faulty.
3/ The reason they think it was March 05 when it went wrong.
4/ Why it was not picked up when they did their two yearly inspections as per their ofgem supply licence
5/ If they have consent not to do inspections at least once every two years when was that consent granted.

It would seem to me that they either failed to do inspections or failed to do them correctly.

undaunted

As said above this is a guesstimate. Is she the type of person who keeps receipts "forever" & has she bought some of this stuff within the 5 years.

Eg She could have bought something that consumes lots of power last year, she didn't necessarily have one / use that power in the remaining 4 years.

The electricty supplier (assuming they have been supplier for 2 years +) is also supposed to check the meter every 2 years so you may be able to argue that they hold some responsibility for the other 3

Try a look here & at the related links off it

http://cfe.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5406/~/back-billing-rules

Good luck

spiro

Re meter reading, bear in mind they only have to 'try' every 2 years (resets when you change supplier). If you are not in then the've tried. Gas is different, they have to inspect every 2 years (no CoS reset) and they go for a warrant if they can't get in.

Fotojenics

Thanks for all your help - i will get her to write them a letter containing all the things you mentioned - i will let you know how she gets on

Thanks

J

Johnny_Barnes10

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

That may not be the case. A few years ago my partner and I were in a flat share and in the year the electricity for the flat was around £600. That was a 3 bedroom electric only flat with 5 people living there.

I'm sorry I can't help the OP with their question. I know they can only go back so many years but unfortunatly I can't remember how many. I hope someone else can help you.

Sorry to barge in this thread, but I'm all elec and going through around £40 a week. 2 bed flat/apartment, no double glazing either. Thought it was too much but guess not