Mistake by Gas company now ended up with a large bill

Bobsterlobster

Dear All

We recently received a shocking letter from Southern Electric saying we owe them over £500! It looks like when we changed over from Eon to Southern Electric instead of being on an imperial meter we were put down as having metric meters:

"when we gained you as a customer the incorrect meter details were provided"

Now they are saying we owe than more than £500 since March 2013.

"if we fail to issue correct bills for more than 12 months, and if the customer is financially disadvantaged as a result, we will generally not seek payment for any charges which are older than 12 months. Any payments made, prior the twelve month period, are not refunded; rather we accept them as full payment for that period.

In your case as we issued you with the catch up statement on 13/03/14, we will therefore only backdate charges to 14/03/13"
--
I'm sure this is negligence on their part, they should have checked the meter when they gained us as a customer (in Aug 2011) and since then they have sent people to take meter readings (I'm dumbfounded none of the people taking the meter readings noticed?).

What is my best course of action?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Bobsterlobster wrote: »

Dear All

We recently received a shocking letter from Southern Electric saying we owe them over £500! It looks like when we changed over from Eon to Southern Electric instead of being on an imperial meter we were put down as having metric meters:

"when we gained you as a customer the incorrect meter details were provided"

Now they are saying we owe than more than £500 since March 2013.

"if we fail to issue correct bills for more than 12 months, and if the customer is financially disadvantaged as a result, we will generally not seek payment for any charges which are older than 12 months. Any payments made, prior the twelve month period, are not refunded; rather we accept them as full payment for that period.

In your case as we issued you with the catch up statement on 13/03/14, we will therefore only backdate charges to 14/03/13"
--
I'm sure this is negligence on their part, they should have checked the meter when they gained us as a customer (in Aug 2011) and since then they have sent people to take meter readings (I'm dumbfounded none of the people taking the meter readings noticed?).

What is my best course of action?

Pay up. If you haven't got the lump sum SSE should allow you to pay off the debt over the period it accrued (12 months).

If you kick up a right stink they might offer you a reduction on the bill as a "goodwill gesture", but this will likely be in the order of tens, not hundred, of pounds.

Aquamania

"when we gained you as a customer the incorrect meter details were provided"

So why do you think this was caused by SSE???

they should have checked the meter when they gained us as a customer (in Aug 2011) and since then they have sent people to take meter readings (I'm dumbfounded none of the people taking the meter readings noticed?).

You could, nay should, also have done this, and to say I am dumbfounded that you didn't would be an understatement.

Or perhaps you did, and noticed the error, but thought best to keep quiet about it? :cool:

Suppliers don't usually check meters when they take over supplies, but rely on the accuracy of the data the customer provides (or in the case none is provided despite such a request, the estimated data the previous supplier provides)

Nada666

Bobsterlobster wrote: »

--
I'm sure this is negligence on their part, they should have checked the meter when they gained us as a customer (in Aug 2011) and since then they have sent people to take meter readings (I'm dumbfounded none of the people taking the meter readings noticed?).

What is my best course of action?

And what about the negligence on your part? You have never bothered to read your meters or query the incorrect statements. You have never once checked your meter yourself or informed them of their error. Your correction has already been limited to twelve months - what further restitution do you think is due?

chanz4

I have to ask but why is it always the supplier to blame for these things, never the consumer. Cant consumers read meters?

Cardew

So for the period from August 2011 to March 2013 you have had the debt written - off. If you used gas at the same rate, it would be in excess of £800 written off.(2 x winters)


What about your previous supplier? Presumably they didn't notice??


In earlier times you would have been liable for 6 years of your debt. It then changed by a voluntary code of conduct to 2 years back-billing, and more recently 12 months.


My sentiments are the same as the posters above!

dogshome

Excuse some of the comments to your post, this form is a bit like a bus, you can't always choose who you sit next to - Unless you are already into the finer intracacies of Imperial/Metric meters how are you supposed to know the two exist - Your supplier certainly hasn't told you and they are the supposed professionals careing for their customers

You have fallen into a hole left open since the Utility Industry was privatised

With Electric meters, the data bases taken over form the old nationalised regions, recorded what type of meter was installed, ( Standard, ECO7, ECO10 etc ).
BUT
When Gas was also privateised, Metric meters were only just being introduced and no one in authority had the wit to differentiate the records for Imperial & Metric meters on the national data base.

"When we gained you as a customer the incorrect meter details were provided", is total cr*p
When you were asked for the meter readings, it's a 100% bet that you were not asked for the the meters marking of either ft3 or m3 to identify the meter as Imperial or Metric, and the national Data Base were incapable of informing your supplier as they don't record it

Metric meters deliver only roughly 1/3 of the gas per meter unit as Imperial meters, and consequently Metric meters will have 5 whole numbers to record the units used, ( say 20,999 ), whilst Imperial meters will have 4, ( say 6,999 ), and the supplier without interrogating the customer as to the meters marking, will "guess" Metric v Imperial meter on the 4 or5 number meter readings

But it all falls apart as some Imperial meters have 5 Numbers.

Keep in mind that it is not your duty to inform the supplier of your meter type, unless asked, and you were not - It's the suppliers duty to eastablish the meter type.

Quite correctly, you have to pay for the gas you have used, but haveing been lumbered with a £500 debt, ( And remember that future bills season by season will be 200% more than they were ), negotiate with SE to pay the debt off over a period that you can afford, reject any demands from SE outside your budget and at resistance from SE to your figure, immediately WRITE a letter SE headed Complaint which opens the route the Ombudsman

PS Just check that your meter is indeed marked ft3 - If it's marked m3 send SP a bill for wasteing your time

Bobsterlobster

Thanks for your replies, especially to dogshome for the explanation. To answer some of the questions posted.

No, I did not realise there was a difference between imperial meters and metric ones until the letter we received. When asked to give meter readings I always gave the numbers on the meter not knowing there was a difference.

I just checked the meter, it says ft3 and there is 4 whole numbers.

Thanks

Bob

macman

During the 19 months now written off you've paid about one third of what you should have paid, since the kWh figure will have been about 283% higher if correctly calculated for an imperial meter. If the annual difference is about £500, then over 19m that would be just shy of £800. So your best 'course of action' is to accept their very generous offer.
NB: the supplier only has to read your meter every two years-intermediate reads are down to you.

Cardew

Under UK consumer law, a company can still claim if they have made a mistake in billing, or failed to send a bill, until the debt becomes statute barred. For instance with water supply if you were billed incorrectly(or not billed at all) the company can claim back 6 years.


In the same way a customer can claim a rebate if they have been overcharged.


Most of the Gas/Electricity companies have signed up to a voluntary code of conduct where they will not claim back more than 12 months where they haven't sent a bill and are at fault. It is worth repeating that not all companies have signed up to that code.


Like the OP's case, the commonest example of incorrect billing for gas supply is calculating consumption on the basis of a Metric meter, when the customer has an Imperial meter.


For electricity it is transposing off-peak and peak rate meter readings on an Economy 7 tariff.


However there have been many cases on MSE where the customer has been overcharged e.g. billed for an Imperial meter when a metric meter is installed. In these cases the customer, correctly, is given a rebate for the full period; i.e. no 12 month back-billing provision applied.


IMO the back-billing provision of the Billing Code is generous and works totally in the interests of the customer. For instance the OP has had about £800 of gas consumption written off, and will get time to repay the £500 debt built up. Seems to me he has come out of the situation well.

dogshome

Sorry Cardew - I just don't agree that the OP has "come out of the situation well"

We don't know what the OP's financial situation is, but there are thousands of low income families struggleing to balace their books in the face of rising prices, particularly energy, and low wages

BUT
This Imperial v Metric meter problem has been going on for well over 10 years, and what have the industry done about it - Absolutely NOTHING
When Switching, the customer has a stream of communications from the new provider, and yet they still don't ask how the customer's gas meter is marked ? ! ?
However the supplier bills the customer, wether it be by post or on-line, four times a year or twice a year, just how much effort and 'Management' does it take to put a "Check-Your-Meters- Marking "notice on the Bill ?

Frankly, I think the overall position is that suppliers make sufficient money from Metric meters billed as Imperial, to cover the loss when the billing is reversed - Why on earth would any business suffer the hassle of sorting it all out when the customer does query the billing, when in two easy steps they solve the problem for good?