Switching nightmare with broken gas meter

NorbertColon

I will bullet point our problem in the hope of help and advice

My partner switched Gas and Electric supply on April 18th from BG to EDF

Prior to switch we found the gas meter, situated outside property was not displaying any info in the LCD display. We then checked it's fitting date as 15th May 2015.

We then checked the BG bills from that date and everyone was an estimate. The meter had never been read by my partner or a meter reader.

It is impossible to know how much gas was being used and all Direct Debits taken must be based on estimates from year 14/15.

So we rang BG and EDF a full 10 days before switch went active. We disputed with BG the bill they are now demanding for the gas element of their final bill - simply as it's based on estimate and inaccurate information. They refused to fit a new meter.

A new meter is being fitted on 13/6/17.
EDF have already been sending estimate bill for first period based on BG estimates of last 2 years!!!

Any advice on how and if we can dispute what we've paid BG over last 2 years?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Your partner is at fault for not checking the estimated reading on the bill against the meter.

Unless you had brought the faulty meter to the notice of BG, what else can they do except base consumption on estimates.

Presumably you are suggesting that the bills were based on over-estimated readings? How do you know that your BG bill wasn't based on under-estimated meter readings, and if the true reading was known, you would actually owe BG even more money?

P.S. It has been posted on MSE that certain digital meters, with a faulty display, still store the readings and can be interrogated.

NorbertColon

I'm told that the energy companies are duty bound to inspect/read meters every 6 months. Is that correct? If so the Meyer would only have been broke for a maximum period of a day short of 6 months. It's shoddy all round and the meter appointment is 6 weeks from date of first call to inform them.

Dobbibill

Hi NorbertColon - I've moved your thread to the main Energy Board - hopefully this will give it more exposure for additional advice.

Dobbi

StopIt

NorbertColon wrote: »

I'm told that the energy companies are duty bound to inspect/read meters every 6 months. Is that correct? If so the Meyer would only have been broke for a maximum period of a day short of 6 months. It's shoddy all round and the meter appointment is 6 weeks from date of first call to inform them.

Told by who?


I haven't had a meter reader in my property for over a year, perhaps as it is registered as a Smart meter (Although smart functionality is gone because of changing suppliers).


If your partner hadn't bothered to check their meter, regardless of it being broken you'll be getting estimated bills until a proper read is taken. You should take a meter reading yourself at least every 3 months, preferably more to create a better energy usage profile which makes billing more accurate and switching easier.


When the meter is changed it may be possible to poll the meter if it is just the display at fault which would show true usage. However, it may be higher than the estimated bills anyway.

dogshome

The rule is that Gas Meters should be inspected once every 2 yeasrs, and part of that inspection process is to take a meter reading.
So whilst the OP has been lax in not reading the meter, it appears that BG have failed to uphold a term of their operating licence.

With EDF fitting a new meter, (hopefully quickly), a historical record of this dwellings true gas consumption season-by-season will be established, and this can be used to adjust EDF's present Estimated billing

So far as BG are concerned their Estimated Final Bill must be paid, but just as BG have the the right to 'Adjust' previous billing for a period of up to 6 years, the customer has that self same right.

They should WRITE a letter headed Complaint, pointing out BG's failure to adhere to the inspection schedule, and they expect BG to adjust past billing on the basis of of the new meters season-by-season consumption records.

This means that after the meter has been in service for 3 months, the OP compares it's consumption to that charged on BG's Estimated bills for that same period over each year and makes a claim to BG - The bill dates won't match, but Kwh charged per day will do
Of course - If the OP finds BG's Estimated bills were Under Estimated, I wouldn't dream of suggesting the OP doesn't inform BG

StopIt

dogshome wrote: »

The rule is that Gas Meters should be inspected once every 2 yeasrs, and part of that inspection process is to take a meter reading.
So whilst the OP has been lax in not reading the meter, it appears that BG have failed to uphold a term of their operating licence.

With EDF fitting a new meter, (hopefully quickly), a historical record of this dwellings true gas consumption season-by-season will be established, and this can be used to adjust EDF's present Estimated billing

So far as BG are concerned their Estimated Final Bill must be paid, but just as BG have the the right to 'Adjust' previous billing for a period of up to 6 years, the customer has that self same right.

They should WRITE a letter headed Complaint, pointing out BG's failure to adhere to the inspection schedule, and they expect BG to adjust past billing on the basis of of the new meters season-by-season consumption records.

This means that after the meter has been in service for 3 months, the OP compares it's consumption to that charged on BG's Estimated bills for that same period over each year and makes a claim to BG - The bill dates won't match, but Kwh charged per day will do
Of course - If the OP finds BG's Estimated bills were Under Estimated ?

Well, as the meter was only installed in May 2015, it would have fallen due for an inspection last month and the OP had switched by then, so BG would not be at fault, although who is liable to conduct the inspections and what happens during a switching period?

dogshome

Errr - The OP reports only Estimated BG bills from 2014

StopIt

dogshome wrote: »

Errr - The OP reports only Estimated BG bills from 2014

But the meter being fitted in 2015. So the meter would have started from 0 then and the meter would have been read from the old one?


Something doesn't make sense here!

Cardew

NorbertColon wrote: »

I'm told that the energy companies are duty bound to inspect/read meters every 6 months. Is that correct? If so the Meyer would only have been broke for a maximum period of a day short of 6 months. It's shoddy all round and the meter appointment is 6 weeks from date of first call to inform them.

No, gas meters should be inspected every two years and, as stated above, the new gas meter had been in service for less than 2 years when you moved from BG.

Ofgem clearly state that estimated readings should be used if no actual meter reading from yourself or a meter reader has been taken.

That said, I can't see the point of your complaint! Also you have given no reason why you think the estimates were wrong.

Take the case that BG had over-estimated your final meter reading, and you got BG and EDF to agree a revised meter reading. All it would mean is that you would get a rebate from BG but pay EDF more; you would still be paying for the same amount of gas. That is because the final(end) meter reading used by BG, must be the same as the 'start' meter reading used by EDF.

mac.d

dogshome wrote: »

Errr - The OP reports only Estimated BG bills from 2014

That's only because no one had read the meter nor provided a meter reading, nothing to do with the meter now being faulty.

There *should* be a note of the old meter number and meter reading as well as the details of when the new one was fitted (and most likely a note that the new meter's start reading was 00000), but this info isn't always recorded when the meter is changed. At very least, the supplier should have a note of what the meter reading on the old meter was before it was replaced, so maybe worth checking the bills again around the time the new meter was fitted.

If the bills were paid by DD, it'd only have been down for an annual read by a meter reader, the onus is on you to provide readings more frequently if you want to make sure you are paying the correct amount for your usage.

I agree with Cardew, there's not really any reason for complaint here. The only issue now is to sort what you are going to have to pay BG, and since you've been happy to use estimates up to now and have never checked for a proper reading, and now discover the meter is faulty, how can BG do anything other than base it on estimates?