EDF meter installed incorectly

HelenP1969

Hello everyone

I have just signed up here to see if I could get some advice or if this has happened to anyone here else

My parents have a Prepaid Electricity meter and I wanted to get this swapped over to a standard meter for them.

EDF sent an engineer to do the work and when he arrived he said he couldn’t do it as he doesn’t have the skill set for the work needed.

I asked what the problem was and he said there was a cable missing going into the meter and this was probably in the isolator box.

After some dispute with EDF customer service team they said they knew what the problem was and would send the appropriate person to complete the works

A 2nd engineer came this week and said similar to the 1st one. He cannot do the work. He could technically, but the EDF engineers are not allowed to do that kind of thing.

The meter was even “checked” by EDF and marked with a QUALLITY ASSURED sticker in 2012.

He told me whoever it was who did this work (the installation of the meter) could be in big trouble. He even said my parents could have been at risk as it was the neutral cable missing from the meter

I went back to EDF and they are telling me under no circumstances are they responsible for this and we have to pay for an electrician to locate the cables and do the works to the meter.

Only then after we have paid will they come and replace the meter. In the meantime my parents are paying a higher tariff and EDF do not seem to care. It’s either do the work or don’t get the meter replaced.

Has this happened to anyone here before? Also does anyone know where we would stand legally? Are EDF not responsible for putting the meter in correctly?

Many thanks guys

C_Mababejive

This is the kind of thing that happens now. In the past the guys who do the work would just sort stuff like this out but now, due to bullying employers and auditors, they are scared to do anything that isnt exactly what they are told to do.

footyguy

HelenP1969 wrote: »

Hello everyone

I have just signed up here to see if I could get some advice or if this has happened to anyone here else

My parents have a Prepaid Electricity meter and I wanted to get this swapped over to a standard meter for them.

EDF sent an engineer to do the work and when he arrived he said he couldn’t do it as he doesn’t have the skill set for the work needed.

I asked what the problem was and he said there was a cable missing going into the meter and this was probably in the isolator box.

After some dispute with EDF customer service team they said they knew what the problem was and would send the appropriate person to complete the works

A 2nd engineer came this week and said similar to the 1st one. He cannot do the work. He could technically, but the EDF engineers are not allowed to do that kind of thing.

The meter was even “checked” by EDF and marked with a QUALLITY ASSURED sticker in 2012.

He told me whoever it was who did this work (the installation of the meter) could be in big trouble. He even said my parents could have been at risk as it was the neutral cable missing from the meter

I went back to EDF and they are telling me under no circumstances are they responsible for this and we have to pay for an electrician to locate the cables and do the works to the meter.

Only then after we have paid will they come and replace the meter. In the meantime my parents are paying a higher tariff and EDF do not seem to care. It’s either do the work or don’t get the meter replaced.

Has this happened to anyone here before? Also does anyone know where we would stand legally? Are EDF not responsible for putting the meter in correctly?

Many thanks guys

I don't really understand the exact problem you have.

However, the simple rules are that wiring from the mains to the meter, and into the meter are the responsibility of the supplier.
Anything your side of the meter is your responsibility.

However, no electrician you employ can put any wires into the meter either side - that is the responsibility of the supplier. To open the meter will require breaking the seals, and only the supplier is permitted to do that.

I can only guess what the supplier is asking for is a wire that is mandatory from the house to the meter, but that wire does not exist, hence why they are refusing to install a new meter for you until that wire exists for them to safely install the meter.

HelenP1969

footyguy wrote: »

I don't really understand the exact problem you have.

However, the simple rules are that wiring from the mains to the meter, and into the meter are the responsibility of the supplier.
Anything your side of the meter is your responsibility.

However, no electrician you employ can put any wires into the meter either side - that is the responsibility of the supplier. To open the meter will require breaking the seals, and only the supplier is permitted to do that.

I can only guess what the supplier is asking for is a wire that is mandatory from the house to the meter, but that wire does not exist, hence why they are refusing to install a new meter for you until that wire exists for them to safely install the meter.

Thanks for that reply.

There are 2 sets of wires

One set from the fuse box and one set from the supply coming into the house

Only 1 of the 2 wires coming into the house are in the meter. The other wire is not missing, it is in the isolator box that is just below the meter.

They have told us the electrician can break the seal and re direct the cable to the meter

This is the problem we have as we have told them they are responsible for this as they did the work wrong in the first place but they say not.

wr1ght

can you post a picture?

HelenP1969

wr1ght wrote: »

can you post a picture?

Seems I can't as a new user sorry

poppellerant

There are ways of providing the URL to your image, if you can upload it. For example if you uploaded it to TinyPic and it supplied you with the URL http://abc.tinypic.com/123abc.jpg, then, to get round the filters, you could post something like:
h t t p : / / abc . tinypic . com / 123abc . jpg

tacpot12

You need a qualified electrician to examine the installation to determine the type of supply and to advise on whether the supply is safe. If it is not safe and the problem is on the supply side of the meter, the DNO (not EDF) would be responsible for making it safe. Why the guys from EDF didn't tell you this I don't know. I guess they have no training in customer service.

It would help to know what sort of 'isolator box' it is. This is where an electrician or a photo is invaluable. If it is the service head then you need the DNO to connect it to the meter.

If the unsafe situation has been created by someone other than the meter installation company, e.g. tampering, the householder might be asked to pay the bill to repair the damage to the DNO equipment and cables.

HelenP1969

tacpot12 wrote: »

You need a qualified electrician to examine the installation to determine the type of supply and to advise on whether the supply is safe. If it is not safe and the problem is on the supply side of the meter, the DNO (not EDF) would be responsible for making it safe. Why the guys from EDF didn't tell you this I don't know. I guess they have no training in customer service.

It would help to know what sort of 'isolator box' it is. This is where an electrician or a photo is invaluable. If it is the service head then you need the DNO to connect it to the meter.

If the unsafe situation has been created by someone other than the meter installation company, e.g. tampering, the householder might be asked to pay the bill to repair the damage to the DNO equipment and cables.

It's not about if it's safe or not it's how could EDF install a meter with only 3 cables going into it and then check the meter 4 years ago and say it's not their fault.

I will see later how I can load a photo

And under no circumstances has anything thing been tampered with as it was the installation that was not done correctly and the EDF engineer told me who ever it was cut corners.

tacpot12

The meter installer can only install as many cables as are supplied by the DNO. Who can/should fix this really depends on which cable is missing, hence the need to understand what the 'isolator box' is.

Either the DNO omitted a cable or the meter installer did. EDF should rectify the issue if it was the meter installer, using an external contractor if their engineers don't have the skills. No electrician employed by your parents will be allowed to open the meter up to add the missing cable.

Do you know when the pre-payment meter was installed and how long have your parents lived in the property?

Good luck

MeterMan

There are plenty of meters that only have 3 cables running into them, the neutral path must be running somewhere else.

This can be quite common depending on the type of incoming service cutout.

As people have said, take a picture and post a link to the picture with space somewhere in the link to stop MSE from blocking the post.

If it was 'that' dangerous, the meter operator would have installed another isolator and cabled up with 2 phase and 2 neutral cables. And if it is that dangerous and they left it, they themselves would be in trouble.