Broken Electric Meter and moving

bobcat234

HI all,

My Electric meter stopped working over 2 years ago ,the screen went blank and you no longer needed to put money on the key - it just worked. I contacted EDF and they came around and said it needed a new battery but a new casing needed to go on the main wire leading into the meter and that they do have engineers who will fix it but you have pot luck on getting one of them sent out. At one point i no longer could put money on the key and I offered to pay by direct debt but that was refused as they said the property was metered .
Every time someone came around to read the meter i let them in and every time they asked to replace the meters battery i arrange the date and they turn up and say the same thing about the casing. They have a full history of people coming around to check/replace the meter dating back years. The landlord knew about the problem but never bothered to fix it.

Now i am moving out and i have the problem of being hit with a big bill when the problem was caused by EDF not sending out the right person and the landlord not fixing the pipe. The fact EDF knew i could not pay for my electric but were happy to let me carry on not paying. Anyone have any advice on the best way to handle this?

modsandmockers

bobcat234 wrote: »

Now i am moving out and i have the problem of being hit with a big bill when the problem was caused by EDF not sending out the right person and the landlord not fixing the pipe. The fact EDF knew i could not pay for my electric but were happy to let me carry on not paying

Have you actually received the big bill, or are you just worried that you might receive it at some time in the future? Have you been putting money aside to cover the costs of your energy consumption?

[Deleted User]

Are you sure EDF said the battery needs replacing ? Thats odd because the electric key prepayment meters don t use a battery unlike the gas prepay meters.In the past when I find blank screen electric prepays ( and they are all the same design, 3 different makers ) a blank screen signifies a bypass tamper or a back surge has blown a circuit board..Mostly its tampers. I work for EDF and they have been pretty quick to respond to dud electric prepays.

rich13348

The casing that leads into the meter is not your landlords responsibility anything before (and including) the meter belongs to and should be repaired by electricity company or the company who is responsible for your area.

Have you put money aside every month to cover electric even though the meter is not working. You will still be held responsible for the electric you have used but in accordance with the fair billing policy you will only have to pay for the last 12 months electric.

naedanger

rich13348 wrote: »

... in accordance with the fair billing policy you will only have to pay for the last 12 months electric.

Provided the supplier was at fault. (I am not saying they weren't at fault, but the point is worth noting just in case EDF dispute that they were at fault.)

bobcat234

I was told that it was the battery that needed replacing and that was why i always got the letters saying that, i do not remember anyone mentioning a blown circuit and i assume that if they thought it was tampering they would be down on me like a ton of bricks considering i have had them checking it so often. I had been putting aside £40 a month to cover it but had to dig into that when my partner got laid off. I also never knew about any fair billing policy, does that affect pre-paid meters?

I also have not got the final amount yet but i phoned EDF today to find out what i should do about everything as i do not want to get into debt at a time when i am the only one working.

naedanger

bobcat234 wrote: »

I also never knew about any fair billing policy, does that affect pre-paid meters?

In effect, yes.

"The back-billing principles described in this document apply to domestic credit customers, as defined in the supplier licence agreement. Although prepayment customers are not specifically covered by this clause, suppliers will apply similar principles in relation to debts which are over 12 months old. "

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/files/docs/Industry%20codes/Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20accurate%20bills/CodeofpracticeforaccuratebillsWEB.pdf

naedanger

bobcat234 wrote: »

but i phoned EDF today to find out what i should do about everything

What did they say?

bobcat234

So if EDF knew of the fault but did not repair it then the Fair Billing Policy should come in? I know they offered to replace the casing for the landlord at a cost but he said he would do it himself for free, not sure if that makes then at fault or not but not giving me a means to pay my bills must full on them.

[Deleted User]

bobcat234 wrote: »

I was told that it was the battery that needed replacing and that was why i always got the letters saying that, i do not remember anyone mentioning a blown circuit and i assume that if they thought it was tampering they would be down on me like a ton of bricks considering i have had them checking it so often. I had been putting aside £40 a month to cover it but had to dig into that when my partner got laid off. I also never knew about any fair billing policy, does that affect pre-paid meters?

I also have not got the final amount yet but i phoned EDF today to find out what i should do about everything as i do not want to get into debt at a time when i am the only one working.

Most of the meter readers who work for us ( G4S read for EDF ) are not up to speed on meter faults.They usually just make a note of it on their data recorder , then nothing ever gets done and it can go on for years.We have to physically phone the fault in to head office and recently even they have stopped passing on the faults, only definite tampers will be dealt with..Thats just the G4S way I m afraid..Something should be done but nothing ever is and people like you carry on for years and years not even paying standing charges. Its not the occupiers fault and they can t believe how sloppy we are..I can t too..Strictly speaking, according to your terms and conditions of supply you are obliged to phone EDF yourself with any meter faults which develop

bobcat234

naedanger wrote: »

What did they say?

Might be naught of me but i recorded the conversation and the lady did mention (just re-listened to check) that they would go back 12 months and work out the final amount and that they would check to see if i was correct about having called out people to replace the meter. So it looks like the Fair Billing policy or something similar might be used to work it all out. With the meter broken i guess they have no way of knowing when the last time i paid was without recites but the key will still have some money on it and that should have the date the money was added on the key, i guess?

I will add i just assumed that i would be liable for more than the 12 months as it has gone on longer than that.