Gas meter indicating excessive gas usage

lemon_jelly

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to sort out a problem with my mum's gas meter and am just about pulling my hair out now, so I thought I'd ask the lovely, helpful people on the MSE forums

Within the last week my mum's gas meter has been getting though an obscene amount of credit. She lives in a rented property and the gas is on a pre-pay meter. She's been there since September and has paid in the region of 25-30 a week in gas payments (this has been confirmed by the gas suppliers), which may sound fairly high to some people but then it's a 3 bed semi and she likes to keep warm.

However, since last Sunday (10th) the following top ups have been put on:

10th - £30
11th - £50
13th - £70
16th - £70

so that's £220 in a week. We have to keep topping up because the gas credit runs down so quickly. When I last checked the meter this morning about an hour and a half after the last top up, there was about £78 pound left on the meter. The only gas appliance that my mum uses in the house is the boiler, which to be fair is quite old but has been running OK, barring the fact that the ignition is faulty and we keep having to get someone out to relight it (in fact, the boiler was off all day on Monday because of the ignition, so no gas would have been used then anyway).

I've been in touch with the letting agents, who have been less than helpful to say the least (one woman told me to put cardboard behind the radiators to improve the efficiency). I've been in touch with the gas suppliers and they say there is nothing wrong with the meter itself. We've had Transco out to check for leaks as well and no leak was found.

I'm at the point now that I don't know which way to turn. As it stands, the only option I have left is to get the gas meter checked for faults, which we'll pay for if no fault is found.

We keep taking measurements every now and then to try and establish when the gas goes down. Last night at 5PM the credit left was £29 at which point the boiler was switched off and left off all night as my mum stayed over at mine. When we returned this morning, it was down to £9, so that £20 for the pilot light over night.

Is the landlord/letting agent liable for getting this sorted out? Do we have any legal rights as far as reasonable charges for gas?

Thanks

Fire_Fox

Landlord is responsible for the boiler and heating being safe and functional, supplier is responsible for the meter AFAIK. Letting agent have little responsibility to tenants, they are employed by and paid by the landlord.

When was the boiler last serviced/ landlord gas safety check completed? Do you have a copy of this? Why hasn't the ignition fault been resolved? IMO best thing to do is write to the landlord using the address at which to serve notices on the tenancy agreement. Formally report the fault with the boiler and ask for it to be properly repaired and report the meter is now eating money. Send the letter recorded delivery and keep the receipt.

On what basis are the gas supplier saying the meter is not faulty if they have not been out to check? Is the meter taking money for a debt you don't have? Did she have a brand new card when she moved in or did she take on the old tenants card?

lemon_jelly

Thanks for the quick reply Firefox.

The last safety check was done in July 2012, on which it is clearly written that the ignition is faulty. My mum moved in in September. I have no idea when the last boiler service was done and I don't think there's any legal obligation (that I'm aware of) for the landlord to service the boiler, as long as it is safe.

A new card was sent out when my mum switched suppliers at the beginning of October, so there shouldn't have been any debt from previous tenants.

A plumber has been out a number of times to relight the boiler, and try to fix the ignition but this is still faulty. We had a plumber out as recently as Monday to fix this which we assumed had been done but when the man from Transco visited Thursday he had to relight the boiler with a match! I'm not sure if the plumber did anything to the boiler to make it consume more gas.

I've had to ring the gas suppliers 3 or 4 times to get them to do anything. They seem to think that the boiler is at fault. The Transco guy reckoned it was the meter and the letting agents are saying that the boiler is now using more gas because it's been fixed and is using more gas now because it's working properly (Ugh!) :sad:

Fire_Fox

No there is no legal obligation to service, just useful to know. Again write to the landlord and request the ignition is fixed once and for all, every time it fails in the mean time formally report to the landlord, don't get bored or leave it to the agents. The more times the plumber is called out the more likely the landlord is to fix or replace the boiler, because it costs every time.

IMO write to the supplier as well formally reporting the problem, on the telephone you are likely speaking to clueless unqualified customer service bods. £20 for just the pilot light is clearly not right. Also tell them that Transco believe the problem is in the meter.

One possibility is that someone else's debt has been added to your mum's meter in error, you can check debt by pressing various buttons but I don't know how - either run an advance search here or wait for someone else to reply.

I would have thought if you got the meter checked and the fault turned out to be the boiler the landlord should pay, but obviously that could be awkward so you really need that clear history of formally reporting all the possible faults. Ideally the landlord themselves telling you in writing to get the meter checked.

lemon_jelly

I went through checking for debt on the meter etc. with the supplier this morning. Everything checked out OK, no debt was found and it is on the correct tariff.

Should we get a report of the work that is done each time a plumber comes out? Or something we sign to say the work is done? I've got a feeling that it could be just the landlords mate coming round to "fix" the boiler each time.

When we first started ringing up about the ignition, the only thing the landlord would come back with was to ask us if we had put credit on the meter. In fact, he's tried this tack a few times now.

I always thought the idea of letting through an agency would protect you from this nonsense but clearly not.

Seems I need to start writing letters.

Thanks again for your help.

macman

Ask any 'engineer' sent by the LL to show his GSR ID. If he can't, don't allow him in.

Fire_Fox

lemon_jelly wrote: »

I went through checking for debt on the meter etc. with the supplier this morning. Everything checked out OK, no debt was found and it is on the correct tariff.

Should we get a report of the work that is done each time a plumber comes out? Or something we sign to say the work is done? I've got a feeling that it could be just the landlords mate coming round to "fix" the boiler each time.

When we first started ringing up about the ignition, the only thing the landlord would come back with was to ask us if we had put credit on the meter. In fact, he's tried this tack a few times now.

I always thought the idea of letting through an agency would protect you from this nonsense but clearly not.

Seems I need to start writing letters.

Thanks again for your help.

Don't telephone except in an emergency, always follow any verbal report up in writing so you have a full record of your complaints/ concerns/ reports. This protects you in the event of a dispute about your damage deposit for example. If you are left without heating or hot water or you believe there is another health/ safety issue contact Environmental Health at the local council, they can enforce the landlord's repairing obligations.

All letting agencies are is a representative of the landlord, they cannot make decisions since they don't own the property, they have no money of their own to spend on the property. Many are totally unqualified and don't want to do any work at all for the 10% they take from the landlord.

Legally the landlord's responsibilities and liabilities remain the same regardless of using an agent, the landlord is who you are contracted to. The best thing you can do is know your rights and work within the system, there is loads of legislation to protect tenants. You have MSE on your side, I don't think there is much that the regulars here don't know. :cool:

Agree with Macman, carefully check the engineer's identification, write down any numbers and check with Gas Safe that they are currently registered. If they are not contact EH at the council, perhaps also the Health and Safety Executive. You don't need a report or to sign anything necessarily, you are not the paying customer the landlord is. You absolutely should be receiving a copy of the landlord's gas safety certificate each year, but it sounds like that has happened?

lemon_jelly

I've just been reading through the tenancy agreement again which states:

"The landlord agrees to take reasonable steps to ensure that the landlord's domestic gas and electrical appliances and other similar mechanical appliances in the premises for which he is responsible are safe, in proper working order and in repair both at commencement of, and during the tenancy, as may be necessary from time to time in order to comply with the landlords obligations..."

Does "proper working order" require him to fix the faulty ignition and identify the cause of such a high gas consumption (assuming the meter test comes back with no fault)?

I'm going to put this in a letter to both the landlord and the letting agents.

I'm guessing I also need permission off the landlord to have the meter replaced and tested?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ffghugsf

The landlord is not responsible for the supply meter - the supplier is!

If you think it's faulty, then as you are the account holder, then you need to contact the supplier. The landlord will have no objection to the supplier testing the meter.

macman

But, of course, if the meter is changed and then found to be not faulty, you will be charged for it-not the LL.
Gas meters are removed and bench tested, not on site.

lemontart

sounds like more a fault with the electronics in the meter than a gas fault, faulty ignition not lighting gas -if you were loose that much gas not only would you have smell but National grid or which ever network the emergency engineer attended from would have capped the supply under H&S and gas safety regs.