Unknown meter in a new flat - long story

pinsleepe

Hi everyone!!
Let me start from the beginning... I moved to a flat in September. My letting agency reserved the right to find for me utilities providers and set up the account with each. And they did it with water, council tax etc. but not with gas. They didn't inform me about that and around January I realised that I don't pay for gas with my electricity (I assumed that before). So I contacted the letting agency and they pretty much have been useless since then. I tried to locate my gas meter but they don't have flat numbers on them and when I called the helpline (there are 2 but I don't remember the names now) to ask about the serial number my flat was not on their database.
About a month ago it turned out that EON is our provider. Funny thing is I called them like 3 times but every time they said that they don't supply gas to my flat. Today we had a visit from an EON technician to inform us that we will be getting papers soon.
I'm worried about the bill. We don't use that much gas. Our flat is very warm and during the winter we switched on the boiler only for 20min in the morning. We use gas mainly to heat water. I'm pretty certain they will apply average usage for our flat and I don't want to pay for something I didn't use....
Can I blame that situation on someone to avoid paying too much? For example my agency?
Thank you for the advice!!

macman

Registering for these supplies is the job of the occupier-nothing to do with your letting agent. The reason they offer to do this is because they can get a kickback from some utility suppliers. You will probably be on the most expensive (Standard) tariff, so take over control of your own bills.
I have never heard of an agent offering to arrange a tenant's council tax.
Since you have now located the meter, start taking and submitting regular readings (at least every 3 months). In the absence of an opening reading, the usage will be estimated (unless the agency took an opening or closing reading).
I'm baffled as to how you thought that an electricity bill included gas?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi pinsleepe

Was your flat part of a new development?

If it was, it may be we have readings for your meter but logged against the builders/developers account.

Did our technician identify your gas meter and show you where it's located? If they did, make a note of the Meter Serial Number and latest reading.

Give us a call and see what info we hold on the meter. It's possible we could have a good idea of the usage already.

If not, we'll monitor your usage for a time to gain an idea of what you're using. We'll also build in an allowance for seasonal fluctuations.

Going forward, as macman says, keep a check on your usage. Make sure it's in line with what we propose. If not, let us know. We'll be happy to look again and give you a breakdown of our calculations.

Once sorted, don't worry about having to pay it all in one go. We'll be happy to set up a payment arrangement and spread the balance over a manageable period. This is usually over a similar amount of time it took us to sort things out.

Hope this helps pinsleepe. Give me a shout if you need any more info. Will be happy to help.

Malc

[Deleted User]

hi, to locate your correct gas meter- I am assuming it is outsde in a white box or a brown semi concealed box or in a communal cupboard, turn your gas heating on and go and observe a meter you suspect may be yours. With the gas on, the last 2 digits of the 8 digits (100 ths of a unit ) will be spinning.to check if it is your meter relay to an assistant to switch the gas off and check the last 2 or 3 digits to see if they stop.Keep going like this on any other suspect meter till you hit on yours

Terrylw1

As Malc says, the builder may have a closed account so it would be possible to start you up on that. Just ensure no one was in before you or the letting agent using the gas for viewings. If thy did, it may be useful to apply the estimating Malc says to create an account inbetween for the letting agent but that's difficult o say at the moment.

Its common for letting agents to send a letter to utilities with new tenant details and meter readings. Its seems like the letting gent made a mistake here.

The address seems an issue. It may be that the supplier never updated the address from a plot to a postal number after the Post Office assigned it. If you can get hoold of the contractor, they will have a plan for this so you know which plot became your address so you could check the plot in the distributors database against the plan to derive your MPRN and meter number. Just be aware such plans sometimes get renumbered so I would suggest sacsquacco's test as well to eliminate this problem.

I'm sure Eon will help with a payment plan if you can't pay it all in one go.

pinsleepe

Hi! Thank you all for replies. The story with my meter continues.
I was able to establish which meter is connected to our flat and I've been keeping records. In April 2012 I received a bill from e.on for £1,186. When I called them with my reading it turned out they got a wrong meter number on the system. They sent an engineer to check it out. He confirmed that the meter they got is wrong and that they don't have my meter on the system either. We closed the account (so the outstanding bill won't ruin my credit history). Since then it was quiet.
Today I received another bill from e.on for £2,314 again with the wrong meter number. I called them again saying that the meter is wrong and I will not pay that. I got an 1 month extension to pay the bill. They hope they will resolve the matter within that 4 weeks. I can see we have another engineer visit who will again confirm that the meter is wrong.
I checked all meters at the property (block of flats) and none has the number they claim my meter has.
Another thing is that they estimated my usage to be 2170 cubic meters per 9 months. My readings show 99 cubic meters for 12 months!! We use gas mostly for hot water as the flat is really warm holding almost constant temperature of 19 degrees during winter months.
Any ideas how to deal with them?

jaybeetoo

Contact Malc fro EoN - he's offered to help you.

When I had a new flat, the builder mixed up which meter was supplying which flat.

dogshome

From your posts it seems that you moved in, in September 2011, (In April 2012 received bill ?), and have now have a history of bills for the wrong meter/ you report wrong meter/ Engineer visits and confirms wrong meter/ Bill cancelled.
Then after some months later the whole cycle starts again.

Such gentleman at Eon - Having records of the c*ck-up on their system, they then repeat the error and their solution is "Pay up within 4 weeks unless we tell you otherwise"

Don't mess about on the phone or Email - WRITE a letter and head it Complaint,and with that letter enclose a photo of your meter of sufficent clarity to show all it's detailed markings

Fire_Fox

pinsleepe wrote: »

Hi! Thank you all for replies. The story with my meter continues.
I was able to establish which meter is connected to our flat and I've been keeping records. In April 2012 I received a bill from e.on for £1,186. When I called them with my reading it turned out they got a wrong meter number on the system. They sent an engineer to check it out. He confirmed that the meter they got is wrong and that they don't have my meter on the system either. We closed the account (so the outstanding bill won't ruin my credit history). Since then it was quiet.
Today I received another bill from e.on for £2,314 again with the wrong meter number. I called them again saying that the meter is wrong and I will not pay that. I got an 1 month extension to pay the bill. They hope they will resolve the matter within that 4 weeks. I can see we have another engineer visit who will again confirm that the meter is wrong.
I checked all meters at the property (block of flats) and none has the number they claim my meter has.
Another thing is that they estimated my usage to be 2170 cubic meters per 9 months. My readings show 99 cubic meters for 12 months!! We use gas mostly for hot water as the flat is really warm holding almost constant temperature of 19 degrees during winter months.
Any ideas how to deal with them?

Invoke the formal complaints procedure, write a letter.
https://www.eonenergy.com/~/media/ED96F94C8C14468DBD99304E45F867FE.pdf

Incidentally the landlord's letting agency (not yours, you are legally contracted to the landlord) cannot choose your supplier this is invariably a scam to make them more money. I believe can be classed as an unfair or uneforceable term if it is in your tenancy agreement. They can ask you to seek permission to switch or inform them of any switch, just so they know who to deal with at the end of the tenancy/ to tell the new tenants say.
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_energy_and_water_supply_e/consumer_energy_supply_e/problems_switching_energy_suppliers/can_you_switch_gas_or_electricity_supplier_if_youre_a_tenant_.htm
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf

You should be setting up your own accounts for all bills and choosing your own tariff for energy because the 'standard' is the most expensive, the landlord or his agent should merely be closing and settling their own account. You as occupier and user then become liable and can be chased for years after if you failed to pay, a debt never becomes the liability of the landlord.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi pinsleepe

I'm sorry this still hasn't been sorted out for you.

From what you say, this looks like what we call a 'crossed meter.' This is where the wrong meter is attached to the property.

Unfortunately, this tends to happen quite a lot on new developments and we've a specialist team who deal exclusively with these issues. This is our New Connections Crossed Meter team and they're the guys to deal with.

On new developments, the builder/developer will give us details of each individual property including postal address, plot number and metering details. These details are sent through in batches, often a significant time after responsibility for the property changes.

Sometimes, the information we're given is wrong and a common occurrence is crossed meters.

The bigger the development, the bigger the potential problem. An account manager will have been assigned to the development and it's their task to put things right.

This includes making sure the right meter is assigned to each individual property, updating the national databases and re-billing each account correctly. This is the person to deal with.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction and sorry again for the time taken to sort it out.

Malc

System

Nice words but it doesn't explain why they still get the wrong meter even though their own engineer has checked and agreed that meter being billed for is the wrong one.

This is ineptness to the n'th degree.