British Gas - Meter Stopped

andyw1987

Upon checking out meter to give British Gas our latest reading to estimate out gas bill, it appears that it was the same as the previous reading.

British Gas are fitting a new meter, however I am wondering how they are going to work out our new bill? We were paying the amount estimated last year at some point. And we are now in credit on our account.

I am worried that we are going to be lumbered with a large bill, but as our meter has been broken, am I right in thinking that they will be unable to work out an estimate for the duration is has been out of action?

If anything similar has happened to others, I'd appreciate any info.

Thanks

albertselephants

I'm with EON, and my prepayment meter stopped Dec-Feb, and they couldn't charge us anything for it as they couldn't prove how much we'd used! Like you, I was worried about a huge bill, but they rang me up and told me my current credit was right :j Nothing better than a bit of free electric! :rotfl:

rob_wiltshire

I don't know what will happen about BG Gas but we have our electricity through British Gas and the electric meter packed up a few months back - I suspect that it had not been working for about a month when we noticed this and it then took a further two weeks to be replaced.

I was fully expecting to be charged for estimated useage during the period it wasn't working and was ready to challenge them if they over-estimated our bill. However, when the bill arrived we were very pleasantly surprised to see that charging only started from when the new replacement meter was installed and we weren't charged at all for the time the meter wasn't working.

Well done British Gas - 6 weeks free electricity! :beer:

Hope the same applies for you OP!

macman

Your usage will be estimated from previous billing, you will not receive free energy for the period in question.
However the estimates are invariably weighted in your favour.

Terrylw1

Actually, there is no direct rule that is enforced on suppliers with stopped meters so they devise their own strategies.

They may choose a write off method which has been the norm with some since deregulation, but they can choose to estimate it. Now the is no way they can prove an estimate which means you can kick offv and drive it under what may be reasonable. To do this you nee to know if tghe meter was read by their readers because if it was, they would have been informed thst it had Ben stopped so they can get it replaced. If this happened and they let it continue, it gives you more ammunition against them.

Remember, they can't prove that usage in court. With a stopped meter, the supplier actually pays estimates but after a period of time, try get it free as well from the isttibutor. So, they should correct this inline with the bill to you, but if they do not they are breaching their licence with settlements.

All of this is why the write off method was favoured but over time they have sought ways to bill it back. Commonly this is either based on whatever data they hold or by monitoring the new meter. The same goes for elec as well. Also consider the seasonal changes as they may not.

I've always been tempted to aim low on these as there is nothing that can proved if the customer asks and when it goes to a complaint this becomes even more difficult to justify beyond aiming under the estimate.

rob_wiltshire

rob_wiltshire wrote: »

I was fully expecting to be charged for estimated useage during the period it wasn't working and was ready to challenge them if they over-estimated our bill. However, when the bill arrived we were very pleasantly surprised to see that charging only started from when the new replacement meter was installed and we weren't charged at all for the time the meter wasn't working.

Actually, further to my earlier posting I have just remembered that we had only just moved to British Gas a couple of months before the meter packed up so maybe they didn't have enough useage data for our account to be able to estimate a bill and that was why they didn't charge us?

andyw1987

Thanks for the information.

We were of the opinion that they will charge us some sort of estimate for previous months use (before the meter stopped). We have always given the readings over the phone, but informed them as soon as we realised the last 2 readings were identical, and have been trying to get a replacement for a good few weeks.

We're not sure what they will do, but we're a bit puzzled of what the estimate will be, as there will be nothing to make it that accurate and surely they can't prove what we have actually used.

I think we'll see what they come back with before we try and 'kick-off', but we certainly don't plan to be paying an disproportional amount. We're just a bit worried that as it's been a few months since our account was actually debited, it might be a bit costly. We're still in credit though...

Terrylw1

rob_wiltshire wrote: »

Actually, further to my earlier posting I have just remembered that we had only just moved to British Gas a couple of months before the meter packed up so maybe they didn't have enough useage data for our account to be able to estimate a bill and that was why they didn't charge us?

They could get data for the previous year to your switch to them which your previous supplier would give them. Failing that, the contracted data collector is sent the previous year by your old suppliers data collector.

If the meter was stopped through that period, the new supplier can just monitor your meter by asking you to take readings over X period, the use it to estimate it all.

Maybe they haven't caught up with other suppliers yet? If, its a good "moneysaving" tip...switch to Bgas if your meter has stopped

Terrylw1

andyw1987 wrote: »

Thanks for the information.

We were of the opinion that they will charge us some sort of estimate for previous months use (before the meter stopped). We have always given the readings over the phone, but informed them as soon as we realised the last 2 readings were identical, and have been trying to get a replacement for a good few weeks.

We're not sure what they will do, but we're a bit puzzled of what the estimate will be, as there will be nothing to make it that accurate and surely they can't prove what we have actually used.

I think we'll see what they come back with before we try and 'kick-off', but we certainly don't plan to be paying an disproportional amount. We're just a bit worried that as it's been a few months since our account was actually debited, it might be a bit costly. We're still in credit though...

You reported it so you have acted in good faith and thats a good start. If its only a couple of months worth, they might not be interested in fielding a complant, so the value may motivate them one way or another.