misread E7

face-t

Hi
I will try to say it as short as possible due to late hour
I was going to change energy supplier, so in order to get best possible estimates on comparison website I searched for a first bill I submitted in my newly bought house about year ago. But when I digged into it I found out that provider issued to me wrong meter readings.

They switched LOW and NORMAL readings on E7 meter.

From my calculations I could underpay between 200-300 quid as I almost never used night tariff. The switch/mistake was not really possible to happen - as during this time I had 3 meter readings by a authorized person, which has taken GAS readings [they appear on a bill as 'Actual readings'] but Electricity readings appear as estimates or customer readings ONLY for a whole period [supplier is the same - gas and electricity readings printed on same page, dated on the same date].
Looks like 'meter reader' discovered !!!! up but was not bothered to put it right.

On top of that electricity meter is much easier to read from gas reader because of better access.

My question is what to do?

One thing is underpayment but what about the period before I have moved in here, wouldn't they want to charge me for whatever loooooong period?

I know it sound ridiculous, but I've read stories and peoples got plenty of problems with debt companies because of mistakes in utility companies. And since I will want to change my mortgage lender in some time I need good rating.
AND don't want to pay for someone's mistake.

I want to simply avoid any problems with company that unprofessional contractor/reader didn't do his job properly.
I'd pay whatever estimates they will come up with, change supplier and start on a fresh page. How to do it?

Any help please.

amiehall

What you're suggesting won't work. When you move supplier, the opening reading for the new supplier is the same as the closing reading for the old supplier. You need to phone your supplier and tell them about the issue. The meter reader probably recorded the correct readings but as they're far removed from what the computer was expecting, they were replaced with estimates. Just own up and pay what you owe. Don't complicate the issue by trying to switch supplier.

dogshome

Fully agree with amiehall's post above, but would question why you still have an ECO7 meter when, " I almost never use the Night tariff "

An ECO7 meter delivers relatively cheap power overnight, but that which it supplies during the day is more expensive than that from a 'Standard' meter - The rough rule of thumb is that 25% to 30% of your overall Elec use should be consumed on Night rate to make ECO7 pay.

As amiehall advises don't confuse the issue by switching until your present suppliers billing is sorted, but in the meantime add your annual Day/Night figures together and visit a few Switch sites without declaring your ECO7 meter - By doing this you will get annual costs for haveing a 'Standard' meter.

Some suppliers charge for a meter change, others do not, so ask your present supplier what their policy is

Wywth

face-t wrote: »

Hi
I will try to say it as short as possible due to late hour
I was going to change energy supplier, so in order to get best possible estimates on comparison website I searched for a first bill I submitted in my newly bought house about year ago. But when I digged into it I found out that provider issued to me wrong meter readings.

They switched LOW and NORMAL readings on E7 meter.

From my calculations I could underpay between 200-300 quid as I almost never used night tariff. The switch/mistake was not really possible to happen - as during this time I had 3 meter readings by a authorized person, which has taken GAS readings [they appear on a bill as 'Actual readings'] but Electricity readings appear as estimates or customer readings ONLY for a whole period [supplier is the same - gas and electricity readings printed on same page, dated on the same date].
Looks like 'meter reader' discovered !!!! up but was not bothered to put it right.

On top of that electricity meter is much easier to read from gas reader because of better access.

My question is what to do?

One thing is underpayment but what about the period before I have moved in here, wouldn't they want to charge me for whatever loooooong period?

I know it sound ridiculous, but I've read stories and peoples got plenty of problems with debt companies because of mistakes in utility companies. And since I will want to change my mortgage lender in some time I need good rating.
AND don't want to pay for someone.

I want to simply avoid any problems with company that unprofessional contractor/reader didn't do his job properly.
I'd pay whatever estimates they will come up with, change supplier and start on a fresh page. How to do it?

Any help please.

And I'll keep the answer short - Contact your supplier

face-t

amiehall wrote: »

What you're suggesting won't work. When you move supplier, the opening reading for the new supplier is the same as the closing reading for the old supplier. You need to phone your supplier and tell them about the issue. The meter reader probably recorded the correct readings but as they're far removed from what the computer was expecting, they were replaced with estimates. Just own up and pay what you owe. Don't complicate the issue by trying to switch supplier.

I didn't say switching supplier was to resolve my issue, it was my intent in the first place.

If I would believe supplier will 100% resolve the issue without further issues I'd go this path. Since I don't want them to mess with my credit ratings and before 'move in' electricity usage I will keep looking for any other possible solution.

I guess this is about loosing credibility of supplier - not me, not wanting pay up my bills.

I could loose more than I owe. Since I provide for family my first concern is to make everything right.

Restepca

SwanJon

You have the readings from when you moved in (even if they are the wrong way round) - why would you be charged for electricity before you moved in?
As above, speak to your supplier - or better yet write. Get all the actual readings you have (even it is just move in and today's read).
Tell them what you'd like the result to be. If you feel it deserves a complaint, make one. They have 8 weeks to resolve it before you can go to the Ombudsman.

If you haven't given the supplier a chance to fix this, then how have they lost any credibility? I assume this isn't your first bill?

face-t

SwanJon wrote: »

You have the readings from when you moved in (even if they are the wrong way round) - why would you be charged for electricity before you moved in?


If you haven't given the supplier a chance to fix this, then how have they lost any credibility? I assume this isn't your first bill?

As you can expect my submitted readings has been also switched and called 'Estimated'.

Tesco [or Tesco's bolognese] doesn't loose credibility because I ate horse meat, it happened coz their quality measures failed/didn't exist or because it's money making business...

I don't know why I should try to find out which case I'll become if no one will give me any warranty how it will finish.

I work for corpo in different sector.. I know representatives here could help or could not.

This is why I'm asking for a help that doesn't involve supplier, because if within some time there will be no good idea I will have to deal with it - this way anyway.

Tell them what you'd like the result to be. If you feel it deserves a complaint, make one. They have 8 weeks to resolve it before you can go to the Ombudsman.

Any proven help from Ombudsman I could get in such a case?

I assume this isn't your first bill?

I simply pay them - on first page it says with big letters "ACTUAL READING" then on itemisation it says "Estimated" for electricity

Thanks for replies. Still need help.

ilikewatch

Just thought I'd add my thoughts as I had exactly the same experience.

I bought my house about 5 years ago, and after about 4 months i received my first bill which showed that my day/night readings had been transposed. I contacted my supplier and explained that my bill showed that 95% of my electricity usage was overnight, when in actual fact about the only electricity used overnight would be the fridge freezer. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was wrong and that the readings had been correctly applied, I was also told that "I didn't understand how E7 worked and that my most of the cost would be my storage heaters" when I said that I actually had a gas combi boiler I was informed that I didn't.

Anyway, for the next 4 years I happily paid around £15 per month for electricity, until last September, when I got paranoid about how much I might potentially have to repay if the error came to light, switched to NPower and requested a new meter.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that my transposed meter readings were never discovered, even though the meter was read by a meter reader several times. My theory is that once there is a significant difference between the readings, then the system automatically reallocates any readings that look wrong.

For example - after a year of wrong readings the most recent bill shows incorrect readings of night: 01000 units, and day: 00100 units. When the meter reader comes and enters a correct reading of night: 00110 and day:01100 the system recognises that this is incompatible with the previous readings and reallocates the readings incorrectly.

Anyway, I'm probably wrong, but this is the only answer I came up with!

SwanJon

There is no help you can get without involving the supplier.
You need to speak/write to them.
It is also your responsibility to check the bills that they send you - the meter is in your house, not their office.

You have been given all the help you need, just maybe not the help you want.

malc_b

Just FYI with an E7 meter you can be on a 1 meter tariff. The day and night totals are just added. But not all suppliers will do this so having found the cheapest ask before doing a change.

Or you can stick with E7 and run washing machine, dishwasher, immersion heater, tumble dryer at night in E7 hours. E7 runs to 8:30am summer, 7:30am winter, typically, so if you have a morning electric shower then that can be on E7 too. You can usually more than break even but it's easy to check if you have an E7 meter as you have the day and night readings.

face-t

There is no help you can get without involving the supplier.

I have no clue why are you so persistent, when I say, that I will do what need to be done, once no one share any other experience, in my mind it only lights up all in red and it is only 12h ago I posted this thread

It is also your responsibility to check the bills that they send you - the meter is in your house, not their office.

And they had access to meters that can be proved by "actual gas' readings, and yes I checked bill this is why I'm here

Anyway, for the next 4 years I happily paid around £15 per month for electricity, until last September, when I got paranoid about how much I might potentially have to repay if the error came to light, switched to NPower and requested a new meter.

I my case- differences in 'current' and 'right' bills aren't so bad coz their estimates always go up so £15 bill has never happened - but I can imagine your terror after this period

Just FYI with an E7 meter you can be on a 1 meter tariff. The day and night totals are just added. But not all suppliers will do this so having found the cheapest ask before doing a change.

Or you can stick with E7 and run washing machine, dishwasher, immersion heater, tumble dryer at night in E7 hours. E7 runs to 8:30am summer, 7:30am winter, typically, so if you have a morning electric shower then that can be on E7 too. You can usually more than break even but it's easy to check if you have an E7 meter as you have the day and night readings.

I was doing my research - what to do with E7, what supplier and all this new supplier mambo jumbo when this problem struck me. I already know I don't need E7...