Wrong gas reading

dizzyscot

I switched from British Gas to Scottish Power in September last year. I noticed fairly quickly that the gas reading that they had for us was inaccurate. The reading was very low, as if it was a new meter which it was not. I notified them of this, gave them a correct reading and they said to leave it with them and it would be sorted. I recently realised that this had actually never been rectified so I got in touch with them again to point this out. They have asked me to provide two readings 7 days apart so that they can calculate what my starting reading would have been and adjust things accordingly. Given that I don't have my heating on at the moment, the amount of gas I will use in this week will be much lower than what I would have used all winter, making me think that I may actually benefit from this.

Does anyone have any experience of something similar? Do they really just take my usage for this week and multiply it by the number of weeks since I switched to get a starting gas reading?

Any information much appreciated.

Bubblebath

dizzyscot wrote: »

I switched from British Gas to Scottish Power in September last year. I noticed fairly quickly that the gas reading that they had for us was inaccurate. The reading was very low, as if it was a new meter which it was not. I notified them of this, gave them a correct reading and they said to leave it with them and it would be sorted. I recently realised that this had actually never been rectified so I got in touch with them again to point this out. They have asked me to provide two readings 7 days apart so that they can calculate what my starting reading would have been and adjust things accordingly. Given that I don't have my heating on at the moment, the amount of gas I will use in this week will be much lower than what I would have used all winter, making me think that I may actually benefit from this.

Does anyone have any experience of something similar? Do they really just take my usage for this week and multiply it by the number of weeks since I switched to get a starting gas reading?

Any information much appreciated.

You don't think there is any possibility a gas supplier would know that gas consumption in winter is usually higher than it is in summer do you? :cool:

dizzyscot

That's exactly my point! Which is why I'm surprised that they would calculate a years worth of gas usage from a one week reading in September. But then I wondered how they could possibly guess how much gas I used over the winter months. I suppose there is no way of knowing so they just have to take the hit. If they were calculating it using a weeks readings in January, I wouldn't be happy, so I suppose I should just be pleased that it would appear that this is going to go in my favour!

Thanks for your replies.

Bubblebath

dizzyscot wrote: »

That's exactly my point! Which is why I'm surprised that they would calculate a years worth of gas usage from a one week reading in September. But then I wondered how they could possibly guess how much gas I used over the winter months. I suppose there is no way of knowing so they just have to take the hit. If they were calculating it using a weeks readings in January, I wouldn't be happy, so I suppose I should just be pleased that it would appear that this is going to go in my favour!

Thanks for your replies.

Either

a) it's magic

or

b) they use the average, typical difference in consumption data as it varies over the year to calculate your estimated annual consumption knowing quantity used and the specific period it covers.

Here's some data Ovo have
http://www.ovoenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Understanding_the_link_between_your_Direct_Debit_and_energy_consumption.pdf

Presumably your supplier has similar.

saver861

dizzyscot wrote: »

That's exactly my point! Which is why I'm surprised that they would calculate a years worth of gas usage from a one week reading in September. But then I wondered how they could possibly guess how much gas I used over the winter months. I suppose there is no way of knowing so they just have to take the hit. If they were calculating it using a weeks readings in January, I wouldn't be happy, so I suppose I should just be pleased that it would appear that this is going to go in my favour!

Thanks for your replies.

As said above, they won't just rely on the week's readings and multiply it by 52 to give a years readings. If I done that this week with my gas then my total yearly gas cost would be in the region of £30!! Reality is that its around £600! They will aggregate the findings to allow for the variation. Electricty costs won't vary nearly as much over the seasons, unless someone is using electric for their heating.

When they do calculate the cost and you remain in the property for the next year or so, then you can query it with actual usage if they have seemingly calculated too much.

Actually if they too the reading in a week in January they should get the same results as a week in the middle of June.

CashStrapped

I must say, I was impressed with Scottish powers ability to predict my yearly usage after only two months with them.

I joined in june this year. They brought out a better tarrif last month, so I asked for an internal switch to the new tarrif. This had the knock on effect of them initially resetting my DD based on what they thought I would use after being with them for two "ish" months.

Even though it was summer use and I have been trying to cut down on my usage, my winter use will be far far higher. You would therefore think my anual useage would be hard to predict. Despite this, they were accurate to my yearly usage by a few 100KWH. At first I thought I had given them my annual readings!

They had no data on my boiler type, house type or anything, just what I had used in summer thus far. They must have a good computer model based on how much people use in the summer and their location. This then extrapolates what they may use in winter. Pretty impressive.

Maybe it was just chance, but it was very close.

They did let me set my DD back to what I thought it should be however.

dizzyscot

Ok, that all makes sense. Thanks for the info. I suppose a simple way of knowing whether the amount charged is reasonable will be if my direct debit amount still seems accurate. It hasn't changed much over the last few years, and I don't think my consumption was any different last year compared to previous ones.

Thanks again!