ELECTRICITY METER FAULTY...is it my responsibility??

wilkies5

I have a meter tucked away in a kitchen cupboard. It reads two electricity rates: normal and low. Over recent meter readings it has become apparent the normal one has stopped working. I reported this when I noticed consecutive readings were identical.

EDF sent an engineer round who took one look at the meter's location, tut tutted and went away again saying he didn't have enough space to replace the meter and that I would need a 'surface box' fitted on the outside wall....in order to read the meter in the future!!
(He didn't discuss mending/replacing the faulty machine at all.)

However, it seems EDF want to charge me possibly £1250 in order to do this!! :mad:

Surely the meter (sorry...faulty meter) is THEIR responsibility?

Other meter readers have been able to read the figures and so it IS accessible to do this.

Help....any advice??

chris1973

Which came first, the meter or the cupboard?

If originally, the meter installer, willingly installed the meter in the cupboard then you may have a case, however if you, or a kitchen fitter acting on instruction ' boxed in' the meter at a later date after it was installed, and by doing so, you made access to change it difficult then i'd afraid that you are likely to have to pay to have access to it restored.

Sure the meter reliability is their responsibility, but if it was originally installed in an accessible place, and 5 years later you 'walled it in' with new fixtures and fittings which weren't their during the original meter installation, how exactly is that their fault???.

If there is an external time switch / radio tele-switch feeding the meter changeover then i'd ask for clarification on whether it was the meter which was faulty or the external timeswitch, as it may be easier for them to change this, in situ rather than the entire meter.

wilkies5

It's been like this ever since I moved here...20 years ago! It has been a bit of a standing joke amongst every meter reader who turns up....and as I change suppliers regularly, there have been quite a number! Also, the gas meter is there, as put in when the house was built in 1964 I would guess!

Who OWNS the meter, then? That is what I need to know. I don't care if they move the meter or not...I just want accurate readings!!

Thanks for your replies

jalexa

wilkies5 wrote: »

I have a meter tucked away in a kitchen cupboard.

EDF sent an engineer round who took one look at the meter's location, tut tutted and went away again saying he didn't have enough space to replace the meter and that I would need a 'surface box' fitted on the outside wall....in order to read the meter in the future!!


However, it seems EDF want to charge me possibly £1250 in order to do this!! :mad:

I don't think the problem is "reading the meter" its accessing the terminals (from the meter front) to "replace the meter".

However I think it is a massive leap, and possibly completely unreasonable to state the only solution to be "a surface box fitted on the outside wall".

Can *you* see any close by location in the cupboard which would allow the meter to be rotated 90deg? Is it practicable to remove the obstructing cupboard wall. Even if just temporarily? Or cut an access hatch?

Any possibility of posting some photographs?

wilkies5

here is the space
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3e3NS2CyJVkclAxOlxrK6lFXfC--RGdT4uda_losozY?feat=directlink

hope you can see this? Many thanks for your replies

jalexa

wilkies5 wrote: »

here is the space
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3e3NS2CyJVkclAxOlxrK6lFXfC--RGdT4uda_losozY?feat=directlink

That's great, shows the value of a photograph. Can you add another one showing a little more on the RHS.


(From that view) I would say there was plenty room to fit a replacement meter and/or radio teleswitch and whoever suggested £1250 is a "ba-hair" away from complicity to defraud.

Technically the actual work would be done by the Distribution Network Operator (or representative) not "your supplier" but your supplier is responsible to *you*.

"Set a trap" for your supplier and raise a formal complaint if you are not satisfied.

BTW I think another poster mentioned the timeclock (or teleswitch) (the black thing on the left) as possibly being the problem. That is entirely possible but doesn't change my answer.


Later edit:

A recent "favourite" of the Forum is "the face of NPower" meter fixer who appeared in Channel 4 "Undercover Boss". Worth a look (if only to see how small new meters are).

wilkies5

Hello again!

Here is another photo which shows RHS ....which I have taken all this time to work out is.....right hand side!!

Ha!

https://picasaweb.google.com/102264623595779963999/RecentlyUpdated?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMb6jtv72dmKGA&feat=directlink

Many thanks for all your comments...they are truly appreciated.

chanz4

If you get an electrician to move the tails and the other wires should be fine. The new meters are very small, but you have a very busy board.

jalexa

utility_csa wrote: »

gas is very close in that pic...

Indeed it is but you are not suggesting that the metering is faulty because the gas is very close?

The issue is not what new build regs say about separation but maintenance of an existing installation. I am not *certain* about the applicable regs, but neither do I have any confidence in a reported "£1250" to solve the metering problem.

spiro

I think the problem is that the engineer would expect totally clear access to the meter, this is obviosuly not the case here as it would appear the gas pipe is in front of it. I am guessing (not clear from photo) that all of this is in an 'empty' kitchen cupboard under the worktop - is that a correct assumption?

You can ask your supplier to send a 2nd engineer to get a 2nd opinion but at the end of the day if they deem it needs to be moved then I dont see there is much you can do. The move will consist of 3 parts, distribution company moving main intake cable to a new location outside, supplier fitting a new meter outside and your own electrician connecting meter up to your consumer unit.

The other question I would ask is are you on an E7 tariff because if not and all your consumption (24/7) is being recorded but on one register then maybe that is a way around needing the meter swapeed.

wilkies5

Thanks for your comments Jalexa. I thought, too, Spiro, that instead of replacing the meter they could put me on a tariff which picks up the information from - what is currently - the low rate. I think I should dig my heels in and insist they get a second engineer out here to look. Maybe it is the teleswitch that's the problem, but who knows?

Appreciate ALL your feedback....really reassuring!

Will wait for initial report to return from first engineer's visit...ha! It won't be a long one - and see what happens.