Faulty gas meter - £25,219 gas bill

brewerdave

PasturesNew wrote: »

I had a meter fitted in May 2013, I've just taken a reading (as it started at 000000 when installed) and it says I've used 130 units in a year. I've just got gas heating and hot water (but not shower).

Assuming that they fitted a metric meter,thats only about 1450kwh in a year!!!! I use twice that a MONTH! in the depths of Winter. You either have extemely good insulation ...or don't feel the cold!!:rotfl:

OhReally_2

NoMoreFossils wrote: »

Been with British Gas since November 2008.
Never thought we were getting a bargain but paid by DD and accepted it.
April this year we get a bill saying we are £25,219 in debit. The bill show meter readings and estimates going back to January 2012. Phoned them up and they say to read the meter as their figure is estimated. Using our reading the bill goes to over £28,000!
Finally get them to test the meter - it clocks up gas use even when the supply to the house is closed. So they replace the meter.
We want BG to send us the meter readings since 2008 so we can see when the fault started.
They say they can't as they have been estimating our energy use as the readings were 'implausible'. This has been going on for a long time (since at least January 2012 as the figures are on the bill we got) perhaps since 2008 but BG says the original readings 'have been replaced by their estimates'.
So they have been making up our gas use for years but never came out to test the meter!
We've been offered £537.26 in credit but they are still taking £92 per month. Looking back at our DDs we've paid over £5,700 since 2008 and our consumption is pretty modest (just 2 of us and we burn wood for our main heat).
We have been talking to BG since April but getting nowhere - have now approached the energy ombudsman service.
I bet we are not the only people whose bills are being made up.

NoMoreFossils wrote: »

As far as I could tell the man just removed it without testing it for accuracy.

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to have a good memory" - Judge Judy.

But the reality is that the guy who comes to replace the meter has no facility to test it's accuracy on-site; it needs to be sent away to a facility that is equipped to test the meter accuracy.

(Not all replaced, faulty meters are tested for accuracy)

[Deleted User]

Measuring instruments normally have to go for periodic recalibration at predetermined intervals in order to ensure that they remain accurate throughout their lifetime, so it would appear rather lax if the same isn't true for domestic meters. My own gas meter hasn't been changed for about 30 years though. The electricity meter was changed about 12 years ago, when it would have been in for about 20 years.

I had a quick rummage around here, but couldn't find anything, so I sent this email to the NPL at Teddington:

Could you tell me whether there is a statutory recalibration interval for domestic gas meters, or are they presumed to remain accurate indefinitely?

insanegloss

I can tell you the answer is no they don't. They are checked for safety and that's all. The economics simply don't warrant a mass recalibration programme. Put simply, the value of making all (50+million meters) go through calibration multiple times in its useful life is outweighed by a huge magnitude by the cost of doing the work for it.

The presumption is they are accurate unless challenged which anyone can ask for, as long as they understand the potential costs involved.

[Deleted User]

insanegloss wrote: »

I can tell you the answer is no they don't. They are checked for safety and that's all. The economics simply don't warrant a mass recalibration programme. Put simply, the value of making all (50+million meters) go through calibration multiple times in its useful life is outweighed by a huge magnitude by the cost of doing the work for it.

The presumption is they are accurate unless challenged which anyone can ask for, as long as they understand the potential costs involved.

That's not quite right, the calibration is checked, but on a statistical sample basis:

"the In-Service Testing (IST) scheme was introduced to enable suppliers and asset owners to monitor the performance of their domestic gas meters to demonstrate that they are fulfilling their legal obligation of keeping their meters in proper order"

Ellias Militsis
Senior Metering Engineer- Utilities Regulation
National Measurement Office
Stanton Avenue | Teddington | Middlesex | TW11 0JZ[/I]