Gas Meter Problem!

Peanut72

Hi
Moved into a new build property last June and did the usual of passing over meter readings to builder. Electrical account all set up fine, but no letter from a gas supplier to the new occupier asking for the same. Wanting to get things sorted I made numerous calls including National Grid, Independent Gas Transporter and E.ON. From these calls nobody took responsibility for supplying or knowing who supplied the gas to our property. By now August was upon us and I went back to E.ON who transferred me to a regional manager to discuss the problem. He informed me that E.ON we're the actual gas suppliers now but he had a list of plot numbers but no meter records and could not solve the issue immediately. He said he would be back in touch in about 3 weeks time. That time past by with no further contact so I made some more calls and this time E.ON told me they had absolutely no record of this property or its gas supply. As the weeks ticked by with more phone calls from myself it took up until November to get hold of a MPRN. Thinking this would sort the problem, but no I then learn that this number has not been registered by those who installed the gas meter back in April 2012. With further calls and finding out my neighbour in a newer house has just had the same problem I finally get news that the meter has just been registered this February. E.ON have now issued a bill to the builder because they were unaware of the house sale despite all my calls last year and the builder will obviously forward the bill to me from date of sale. I therefore have a bill from E.ON asking for just about £650. I have no problem paying my dues but am disappointed its taken so long and nobody seeming to help sort this out leaving me with a large back payment. I do not know who installed the gas meter but ultimately who should be approached regarding this shambles?
Regards

Nada666

You are 'deemed' to enter a contract with whomsoever the supplier turns out to be as soon as you enter the property. As you made reasonable attempts to determine and contact them you have limited your liability. Unfortunately the limitation is... to the last twelve months backbilled. As such, £650 seems reasonable. And as there is no confusion with the meter connection to your property (connected in Apr 2012 and all your usage) then the debt is yours.

Peanut72

Hi, thanks for reply. I have no problem with the payment and am aware of the 12 month back billing ruling. It gripes me though to think that if those responsible for registering the meter had done their job at the correct time I would not have such a large lump sum to pay.
Regards

macman

Unfortuantely it's all too common with new builds. The developers don't really give a d**n, plot numbers are erroneous or misplaced...

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Peanut72

I'm sorry it's taken a long time to sort this problem out.

To be totally honest, unfortunately this type of delay isn't that unusual. This is one of the reasons why we've established a specialist 'New Connections' team to look after such issues.

With new builds, the developer will apply to have meters installed at all the properties on the development. The details, including meter specs, plot numbers, development address etc are assigned to a single account under the developer's name.

Once the services are connected, all usage from the connection date to the time responsibility for the property changes is charged to the developer.

This continues until the developer tells us responsibility for the property has changed. Often, they do this in batches or at the end of the development. This can start the delay.

Sometimes, the information is wrong. One of the most common problems is where the wrong meter is assigned to a property.

If this happens, it's the task of the New Connections team to find out which meter is at individual properties and re-assign correctly. The larger the development, the longer this takes to sort.

Not saying this happened to you, it's just an example of what can happen.

You should have been put through to the account manager for your particular development on the New Connections team. I'm sorry if this wasn't done. These advisors have different access/knowledge/experience to our general advisors and would have been able to help more.

We do appreciate, none of this is your fault and so don't expect you to pay for the gas you've used in one lump sum.

We'll be happy to set up a payment arrangement and spread the balance over the same length of time it took to fix the problem.

As Nada666 says, there's also a safeguard in place to make sure we won't back bill for more than 12 months where we're at fault.

I do understand this situation is far from satisfactory and we're looking to improve from our end. However, we've no control over third parties and are sometimes scuppered by events outside of our control.

Malc