Is my landlord scamming me????

yvonneb21

I have a gas meter in my flat but receive my gas bill from my landlord who owns the block and surrounding offices. He receives a bill from British Gas and then he works out how much I owe him from the meter readings I give him. His meter (situated in communal area) is imperial while mine is metric. The readings I took from my metric meter within my flat show that I have used 112 units. Is there any reason that the landlord would have to-

"multiply 112 by 2.83 (imperial to metric conversion factor)"

I am sure he is charging me for an imperial meter but he says that because of the way the meters are configured, his calculation is correct. Is there any reason why I should not be able to calculate gas usage directly from my metric meter within my flat independently of his meter?

I appreciate your time for reading. Yvonne.

wnoktnwbr

Here is a previous topic on the issue of metric vs. imperial:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1378347

Please can you post your bill amount and any other information you have? That way we can work it out for you. It's unlikely that he is intentionally ripping you off but it's possible.

yvonneb21

wnoktnwbr wrote: »

Here is a previous topic on the issue of metric vs. imperial:



Please can you post your bill amount and any other information you have? That way we can work it out for you. It's unlikely that he is intentionally ripping you off but it's possible.

Firstly thank you for the reply. Secondly, I didn't mean to sound as if the "scamming" was intentional, perhaps it was a bad choice of words.

I am well aware of the differences between metric and imperial meters and how the calculation varies for each to calculate your bill (thanks to moneysavingsupermarket mostly for that.) As far as I can deduce from the bill he's given me, I am being charged for an imperial meter however he has confirmed that the meter within my flat is a metric one. After explaining the differences and asking him to amend the bill, he has come back saying that it was correct and confused me with an explanation beyond my comprehension to do with his main meter being imperial and my meter being simply a check meter.

In my understanding, it is simple- I have used 112 units on my metric meter. To work out how many Kwh I have used I used the following calculation.

112 (units) x volume conversion factor (1.022640) x calorific value (39.3) divided by kilowatt house conversion factor (3.6)

This equals 1253 kwh.

He has shown the same working out on the bill he has given me but also included the imperial to metric conversion factor (x2.83) so the calculation he's shown is thus-

112 (units) x imperial to metric conversion factor (2.83) x volume conversion factor (1.022640) x calorific value (39.3) divided by kilowatt house conversion factor (3.6)

This equals 3527kwh

He knows that my meter is metric, says m3 on it and has 5 digits but he states that because of the way he is billed on an imperial meter, it is not as simple as I am making out.

After 2 hours on the phone to British Gas, I am still at a loss. One of the advisers told me that even though my meter says m3 on it, because it has 5 digits it is imperial because it would have 4 on it if it was metric (contrary to all other information I've read) This has compounded my confusion.

Common sense tells me I'm right as well because I am a very low user, I live in a modern, 1 bedroom flat with electric oven/hob and generally only have the central heating on for 1 hour maximum per day and have a quick shower when I come home from work. With my calculation it comes to £17 approx per month and with his it comes to £50 per month (£15 more than I paid in a 3 bedroom house)

Thanks for your input guys, I really don't know where to turn to now except here. Yvonne.

HappyMJ

You will need a photo of the meter (especially the m3 symbol and the current reading) and a scan of the bill and then go to a CAB advisor to help you negotiate this one.

What rate is he charging you per kWh? Is it a fair rate similar to Ebico Equigas single rate of 4.788p/kWh including VAT? I get 1253kWh times 4p to be £50 which seems to be the rate you are charged.

What happens if you do not pay for the gas? If he refuses to listen move out.

yvonneb21

Thank you for the reply. Underneath the calculation that I posted above (his one) he has put-

3527kWh @ 4.24 pence = £149.54 (3 month bill)

EDIT- I do apologise for confusing the thread. The units I've used are for a month period so the £50 that 1253kwh comes to would be approximately £17.

yvonneb21

I suppose my over riding question would be, is there any relationship between his meter and my meter that would prevent me from independently working out my usage from my meter? It seems so simple to me that I am right but I've been this certain before with frightening consequences lol.

maninthestreet

My gas bill for the last quarter for a 3-bed semi came to £192, or £64 a month - My CH is on for about 2.5 hours a day. £50 a month seems steep for 1 bed flat where the GCH is only on for 1 hour a day.

HappyMJ

yvonneb21 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. Underneath the calculation that I posted above (his one) he has put-

3527kWh @ 4.24 pence = £149.54

(edit- sorry this is a bill for 3 months.)

and you are claiming to only use 14kWh per day for cooking, heating and hot water over winter?

That really is not much. Possible but not very much. That's probably why he is confused as he would think the rate should be around £50 and not £17 a month and is adjusting the calculation to fit.

MonkeyMad

You can't both use 112 as the number of units of gas used since they are measured in different units. The imperial meter would need to be showing ~40 for his check to match yours. Looks to me like your landlord is wrong and is overcalculating gas by 2.83 because he is using the wrong number of units in the first place

If your meter has 'M' or 'm3' next to the numbers it is metric despite what BG say.

yvonneb21

HappyMJ wrote: »

and you are claiming to only use 14kWh per day for cooking, heating and hot water over winter?

That really is not much. Possible but not very much. That's probably why he is confused as he would think the rate should be around £50 and not £17 a month and is adjusting the calculation to fit.

Not for cooking, that's all electric. I have one shower per day, do the washing up once a day, washing once a week and generally restrict myself to the bedroom and use the oil filled electric radiator on a low setting. It would literally be the gas central heating on for an hour tops per day on average. I agree, I think he just thinks that is far too low for a gas bill but I'm extremely energy conscious (again thanks to moneysavingsupermarket)

yvonneb21

MonkeyMad wrote: »

You can't both use 112 as the number of units of gas used since they are measured in different units. The imperial meter would need to be showing ~40 for his check to match yours. Looks to me like your landlord is wrong and is overcalculating gas by 2.83 because he is using the wrong number of units in the first place

If your meter has 'M' or 'm3' next to the numbers it is metric despite what BG say.

I'm a bit confused by that if I'm completely honest. All I know is, I've given him two meter readings 3 months apart (that's how long I've been here) and he has deducted the first one from the second to get the amount of units used, then performed the calculation above. I think that because he's being billed for his imperial meter, he's used the same calculation and when I've asked him to double check it, the particularly low usage that the metric calculation brings him has set off his "common sense" alarms.

I do appreciate you taking the time to answer, thank you.