Faulty Gas Meter Reading

the_salmon

Hi all,

Moved out of my flat, NPower were my supplier.

As I came to move out they encountered i had a faulty gas meter which hadn't moved since I opened the account a year earlier!!!!

They have sent me an estimate which means I owe £90. I am refusing to pay it on the grounds that they can't tell me accurately what I owe.

Customer service has been terrible, ive been promised phone calls that haven't happened, and emails have been ignored. Its now finally been passed on the customer services.

Do people think my stance is correct and that I should not pay based on an estimate?
Anyone else experienced this?

macman

No- in such circumstances, only an estimate can be made-and the customer invariably comes out ahead in such cases. You can dispute it, but you can't just refuse to pay anything. You must bear some responsibiity, as you failed to read the meter in a year. The supplier is only required to read every two years.
Poor customer service does not wipe out your bill.

Fire_Fox

If you didn't bother to read the meter in a year you likely have to accept the estimate, suppliers only have to read the meter every two years you are 'on site' on a daily basis.

Agree with Macman you must at least pay what you believe you owe preferably the whole lot, then dispute it formally with a letter of complaint. Otherwise you will have debt collectors after you and risk a black mark on your credit file.

Customer service is a separate issue, again invoke the formal complaints procedure with a letter.

chanz4

For such a col winter they have way under estimated. You will of used a lot more

Gromitt

So they are saying you used £90 in a year?

Or have you been making monthly direct debit payments but never submitted a reading?

[Deleted User]

£90 is a bargain for such a long cold winter , even in March we have had record low temperatures, also it is in the terms and conditions of supply that you are obliged to report any faults on the meter

the_salmon

Just to add further information and to clear up a couple of things.

We have been paying our monthly direct debit which cover the daily standard charge on the gas plus an element for daily usage, so the £90 is the 'balance'. I have provided them with a meter reading 6 months ago.
At that point they informed me they would need to do some investigation on the meter but did not explain why, I provided them with the letting agents details to arrange this. They did not carry this work out!

To give you an idea the direct debit on a 2 bed (with 2 people living in it) was £55 per month.

[Deleted User]

the_salmon wrote: »

Just to add further information and to clear up a couple of things.

We have been paying our monthly direct debit which cover the daily standard charge on the gas plus an element for daily usage, so the £90 is the 'balance'. I have provided them with a meter reading 6 months ago.
At that point they informed me they would need to do some investigation on the meter but did not explain why, I provided them with the letting agents details to arrange this. They did not carry this work out!

To give you an idea the direct debit on a 2 bed (with 2 people living in it) was £55 per month.

I find many stopped and blank meters, usually electric. The usual method of sorting this is for an estimated period based on past usage. This is usually deemed to be acceptable. If the occupiers dont spot it what other method is there. do you expect them to give you free energy ? its never going to possible to be accurate but as far as am aware the suppliers underestimate useage in these cases

the_salmon

sacsquacco wrote: »

I find many stopped and blank meters, usually electric. The usual method of sorting this is for an estimated period based on past usage. This is usually deemed to be acceptable. If the occupiers dont spot it what other method is there. do you expect them to give you free energy ? its never going to possible to be accurate but as far as am aware the suppliers underestimate useage in these cases

Thanks, they were made aware of a fault with the meter and given the means to fix it, however they didnt act upon that.

I lived in the flat before but I didnt take care of the bills (the other tenant did) and it was with a different supplier.

the_salmon

Update on this, NPower have agreed to only charge me for the daily standing charge and not for any actual usage. As a result I have saved approx £60!

[Deleted User]

I hope Npower are paying National Grid for all the free gas they have awarded you. They should make good the loss to the producers. Npower dont imput any gas into the system whatsoever so they wont lose either. Its fine for them to be generous with someone elses money