Faulty Gas Meter

sayan1

Basically to cut a long story short, today I've found out the reason for my gas bill jumping form an average £60/quarter to £650 for the last three months was a faulty gas meter. The energy company ( not sure if I am allowed to name them) has accepted it is due to a faulty meter and promised to install a new smart meter & until then my bill will be estimated.

I normally pay by direct debit £50/ month & this is for gas + electricity. But for the last 3 months they have already taken 2 X £194 and today right after I've spoken to them & them accepting my property has a faulty meter they have taken a further £194. Due to these high bills I have had 2 direct debit transactions refused by bank and the bank is charging me for non payment of direct debit ( I think it is £25 for each refusal).

I have asked the energy company to recalculate my bills based on my previous gas usage prior to meter became faulty.

My questions are:

1) Can I ask the energy company to pay me the £50 I needed to pay my bank for direct debit non payment?

2) Can I ask the energy company for the over payments I have made (based on my previous usage) paid back to me?

3) what do I do when they issue me with an estimated bill ( until they put in a new meter) & and I don't agree with their estimation?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, Cheers!

spiro

You will have been advised in advance of DD increase and the one taken on the day you spoke to them will have been initiated a few days before. You have no claim for bank charges because of the advanced notice of DD.

chanz4

1) Can I ask the energy company to pay me the £50 I needed to pay my bank for direct debit non payment?

They dont have to if notified of the increase, however as a gesture they should and likely would


2) Can I ask the energy company for the over payments I have made (based on my previous usage) paid back to me?

yes


3) what do I do when they issue me with an estimated bill ( until they put in a new meter) & and I don't agree with their estimation?

call them, however if they know what they are doing they can look at prior usage.

[Deleted User]

Was your gas meter running slowly ? £60 a quarter is extremely low for a gas central heating property. Gas meters are quite reliable and very rare to find one running fast or slow.

Cyberman60

sacsquacco wrote: »

Was your gas meter running slowly ? £60 a quarter is extremely low for a gas central heating property. Gas meters are quite reliable and very rare to find one running fast or slow.

My bill for the quarter was 20 quid...

[Deleted User]

Cyberman60 wrote: »

My bill for the quarter was 20 quid...

Mines £5 a quarter but I`ve no central heating. The winter quarters are what counts with gas bills.

sayan1

sacsquacco wrote: »

Was your gas meter running slowly ? £60 a quarter is extremely low for a gas central heating property. Gas meters are quite reliable and very rare to find one running fast or slow.

I pay £50 a month direct debit which is for dual fuel. Most of the time I was on credit as I was paying too much for our usage. Mine is a new built block of flats, so I would assume the building itself and the boiler are very energy efficient.

On the meter itself after the reading there was a code 'B' apparently this means the meter is faulty according to the guy I was speaking on the phone.

[Deleted User]

sayan1 wrote: »

I pay £50 a month direct debit which is for dual fuel. Most of the time I was on credit as I was paying too much for our usage. Mine is a new built block of flats, so I would assume the building itself and the boiler are very energy efficient.

On the meter itself after the reading there was a code 'B' apparently this means the meter is faulty according to the guy I was speaking on the phone.

I dont think I ve seen the "B" after the reading on either prepay or credit gas meters.Thanks anyway for that info.