What is a "related" electricity meter and how do I change it?

loadsalaughs

Hi all,

I have been told that I cant transfer to another electricity supplier because I have a "related" meter which other suppliers cant support.

THis has happened with Scottish Power who I tried to switch to. Eon, my current supplier, confirmed that many other companied cant support my meter but didn't tell me what I had to do to correct the problem. When I specifically asked what I could do to be free to move the Customer Services guy said that he didn't have any idea.

It is just a normal economy 7 meter, only about 6 or 7 years old. I had it installed by EDF because there was an economy 10 meter there before and Powergen couldn't support economy 10, so I had to get EDF to install a Economy 7 meter.

Dose anyone have any ideas as to how I can resolve this, as Eon isnt the cheapest supplier out there and I dont like the idea of being trapped.

Thanks all for any advice.

Colin

Premier_2

Your other thread here on the same subject here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3542927

Best to keep to one thread else you'll get even more confused

loadsalaughs

Thanks for pointing it out, but I have actually put two posts on purpose.
I posted twice as I wanted to make two unrelated points:

1) to point out the incompetence of scottish power admin who send emails saying all is going well only to say at the bottom of the email that one of the services has been cancelled. Then to find out the cancelled service is not the problem.

2) To ask if anyone knows what a "related" meter is and how to change it.

spiro

When you have E10 metering you have 2 Meter Point Admin Numbers (MPANs) because of the afternoon heating boost and one supplier must supply both MPANs.
Each MPAN is allocated a Meter Timeswitch Code (MTC) which indicates the metering configuration at the MPAN.
MTCs fall into 2 sub-categories: Non-related and Related MPANs.
My guess is that when EDF changed the meter from E10 to E7 they did not correctly update the MTC (from related to non-related), they may also have failed to disconnect the 2nd MPAN.
If you post the MTC from you bill I can confirm my theory, it is the 3rd, 4th and 5th digits on the top line of the S number.

Scottish_Power

Hi loadsalaughs,

I can look at this for you if you e-mail me your details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL]

From what you have said your previous meter set-up had two supply numbers (MPAN's) we can only support customers with this type of meter set up in our own area, which I presume you are not in.

If you have now moved to economy 7 then it sounds like your current supplier have not updated the tariff change correctly and the second supply number which is no longer required is still active, this should be disconnected (logically, not physically).

We will only be applying for one of the two supply numbers and due to this your current supplier will bo objecting to the transfer on the grounds that we are not applying for both of the RELATED supplies. As we are receving objections we do not cancell the transfer of the electricity as this will happen automatically.

What premier suggested about the gas not being availble on its own on the tariff agreed at the point of sale could be correct and may be the reason the gas transferred has been cancelled, alternatively it has been known for letters to occasionally hold the incorrect infromation and I will be able to confirm this for you.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

loadsalaughs

Thanks for the replies. It seems that when my E10 meter was changed to E7 in 1999 it wasn't updated on the database and was still showing as a E10 meter. It didnt get noticed because I havnt changed supplier since then.

So Eon is now going to update the datebase but I have missed the deal which I was hoping for from Scottish Power (december 2012 fixed) which was pulled a couple of weeks ago. So it looks as though I will be staying with Eon for now.

loadsalaughs

Sorry,

Please ignor the above post, I just got a call from Eon assuring me that I am in fact correctly registered on the national database with the correct meter.

I phoned Scottish Power again and the customer services lady there explained that "related" means that (for some reason) my meter type is tied to Eon and I cannot in fact leave them as a supplier. It seems that I am stuck with Eon, and no other supplier can take on my meter.

Eon though dont admit this and seem determined to dodge the point even when I ask them specifically what is going on. Dose anyone here understand why this is the case and know what I might be able to do about it?

This all sounds very strange and I would have thought broke the laws on freedom to choose supplier.

loadsalaughs

I will do, unfortunately I dont have any paper bills as I have done everything online for a while and my Eon web account is inactive till the electricity is finally reinstated from Scottish.

As soon as I can see my bills in PDF format I will post the Mpan on here. Thanks for your help.

Scottish_Power

Hi loadsalaughs,

If you e-mail me your details I will check this for you and can also speak to E-on to ensure they have everything correct at their end.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

loadsalaughs

This gets worse and worse. Scottish power have now sent me an email asking for a meter reading as they will be supplying my electricity from 26th October. But they have still cancelled my gas. They have also set up a direct debit with my bank. Very disturbing.

Graeme@scottishpower what information so you need from me to be able to look into this, please?

loadsalaughs

Ok, another update. I had a look on the scottish website where they are asking for my meter readings and they have the correct meter number (The number on label at the front of the front of the meter) and estimated readings.

So Eon are still keeping my dual fuel supply, as I made a new agreement with them based on the information from Scottish Power, but at the same time Scottish Power's emails and web site apparently think they are keeping my electricity (which they say they cant support) and cancelling my gas.

So at the moment it seems I am about to be supplied by two different companies at the same time.