Meter read errors over 12 mths old

spicetee

Earlier this week I received a bill from nPower which was 'for my information only' for a bill of over £1k. This, they say is due to errors in meter reads dating back to 2010 which they discovered in April 2011. They are now asking me to make payment to clear the amount owing and have offered payment options, however the issues I have are that
a. I was never made aware that my account was under investigation and therefore make preparations for increase
b. I have been in contact with nPower reps by phone/email to submit meter reads(as my online account was not set up properly) and and even was able to REDUCE my direct debit payment in November 2011 - surely this should have been flagged up then?
c. Am I even liable to pay for an error which they have said is an error in their billing system?

I would really appreciate any help or advice as I am in the process of registering a formal complaint again with nPower.

dogshome

Your post doesn't give details of the billing error, but the "No back-billing beyond 12 months agreement" could apply as the suppliers have a duty to provide accurate billing.

In such cases all charges that relate to Power Used/Billing Errors that are more than 12 months old than is written off, and the customer only pays a catch-up bill for Power used or billing mistakes that have occured in the last year, and that year can only go back from the date when you were first notified that there was an error - The date on Information Only Bill ?

spicetee

The billing error is that they were using meter reads of 4 figures rather than 5. I moved into the property in Feb 2010 and nPower, to my knowledge, have never physically visited to read the meter so I gave meter reads over the phone or by email. As my previous supplier was B. Gas I asked if I should give the meter reads in the same way - ie disregard the last number and the rep I spoke to said yes so that is how they were given.

jalexa

spicetee wrote: »

The billing error is that they were using meter reads of 4 figures rather than 5.

"Disregarding the last number" is not particularly helpful. You need to post whether you have an imperial (normally 4 figures) or metric (normally 5 figures) meter if that is the issue you are implying.

spicetee

Thanks for that. Sorry yes the meter in my current property is metric.

jalexa

spicetee wrote: »

Thanks for that. Sorry yes the meter in my current property is metric.

In that case the correct reading is 5 figures including any leading zeros. The "5 figures" should be in black, the red section is ignored.

Cardew

If you have been giving inaccurate meter readings - however unintentionally - IMO the billing code does not apply.

jalexa

Cardew wrote: »

If you have been giving inaccurate meter readings - however unintentionally - IMO the billing code does not apply.

I hope you meant that backbilling relief doesn't apply (I agree), however NPower are absolutely bound by other aspects of the Code of Practice for Accurate Bills.

Given posted allegations of NPower breaches of the code (in particular assuming the reference to "April 2011" is correct) there may be a case for generous payment terms as an agreed outcome to the OP's complaint. And there *may* even be an argument that consumption from April 2011 to June 2011 should be subject to backbilling relief.

Terrylw1

Hang on a minute, what about the 2 year Must Be Read SLC? If any reader ever got there, it would throw out a problem since there would be a massive jump. This reading would fail and be sent to the supplier for investigation.

The supplier can see if its imperial or metric as its in the data flows they get when the meter is fit and when you switch.

If a meter has been billed to incorrect digits, the energy use remains the same. So, as long as the property doesn't advance into a 5 digit, the consumption is still the same. What tends to go wrong is that a poor billing team doesn't correct the opening reading, they simply "bill through" from 4 digit readings to 5. This causes a massive jump.


For example:

5 digit meter switch reading 1000 meter reading is 01000 and you remove the leading digit then use 2000 units, your current reading becomes 3000 hence the advance is still only 2000 units.

Where it goes wrong is this.

Example:

5 digit meter switch reading 10000 but your remove the trailing 0, so your account starts on 1000, then you use 2000 units and you reading becomes 12000 but you shorten it to 1200 hence reducing your usage to 200 units.

This is your mistake however if Bgas were doing it even off visits, you have been misled. The new supplier gets your read and has no way to know if your are doing this until someone goes out and takes a read.

Now after 14 months, the supplier can't change the settlement as its crystallised & payed. So, they will perform a correction to add the extra digit into the reading, usually a "dummy" meter change.

Its interesting because, unless their meter readers were billing the correct reads into their system, they would be using yours. So, are their meter readers creating the same size bill to the supplier for all of this period prior to the 14 months? For the period 14 months back to now, they do the "dummy" meter change and alter the readings to correct them and produce the correct advance.

Now, if the supplier is not getting their readings to create a seperate invoice of sorts for the missed consumption over 14 months ago, if you pay the suppliers extra bill for over 14 months, the suppliers makes 100% profit on it. Does that make sense?

OP - did you always give a 4 digit reading to your previous supplier? Was your switch from Bgas based on a 4 digit reading that they provided or you provided?

spicetee

Thanks for your very thorough response - pls what is the '2 year Must Be Read SLC' ?
Re. the meter reads: I have always given a 4 digit read with British Gas, when I switched suppliers British Gas agreed the final meter read which I provided.
The property I am in now is a new build, I am the first tenant, so the meter read started there with a confirmed figure from the landlord which is not is dispute. The issue arises where the meter reads were unconfirmed for the 14 mth period creating the bill I am now faced with and whether or not nPower should have at the very least let me know they were investigating so I could have minimised/avoided this whole situation.

dogshome

"2 year Must be read" is a rule of the suppliers licence that says meters must be read by a Meter Reader at least once every 2 years