Gas Meter (Toto)

andy5241

My partner has just spent an hour on the phone to Toto speaking to 5 different agents being passed from one to another.

She's had high gas meter readings for a while left her last company to join Toto at the end of October because she was paying 40ish a month and then got a bill for £1300 so decided to try somewhere else.

Started with a direct debit of £50 now they want to increase it to £114 a month.

Its just her and her son in a 2 bedroom semi.
Today I got her to turn all the gas appliances of in the house and take meter readings throughout the day, surprise surprise the meter is still going around and registering more gas being used.

Spoke to Toto who insist that its the type of meter she has a direct debit meter, never heard of this before and telling her to switch the meter off at the tap to stop it registering when not using gas.

Who should she speak to as we cant get any logical answers from Toto, or do we change companies again?

jk0

I suspect meter is connected to next door. Is it outside somewhere?

Robin9

As the Toto rep has said - turn off the gas by the lever on your side of the meter. Does your gas supply go off; does the meter stop.

There's no point in changing suppliers until this issue is resolved.A Direct Debit meter is a standard credit meter as compared with a Prepayment.

matelodave

If the meter stops when you shut it off at the meter and runs when it's turned on then gas is flowing through the meter.

If you've got everything turned off then you need to determine if something else is connected to the meter or even worse if there's a leak.

What sort of dwelling does she live in - if a flat conversion and there are other people living in the same building then it's not inconceivable that another flat is connected to the meters.

Try turning it off for several hours to see if anyone complains

House_Martin

Could well be a leak somewhere from the meter onwards. A small leak may not smell too much.If you have an old central heating boiler some pilot lights have large flames, like ours was and can use £80 a year in gas .
If you switch the gas off completely at the control valve near the meter you should have no gas at the cooker which will eliminate a meter mix up with a neighbours.v Easily done when there are half a dozen meters in a cupboard or several close by outside in semi concealed boxes.
Also check they are billing you on the correct type of meter.old imperial meters ( 5 or 6 numbers )are nearly 3 times the cost per unit as the metric meters which have 8 numbers. If you have a metric meter and they are billing you on imperial meter prices your bill is almost 3 times more.
It is not uncommon to find this happening. I usually find quite a few every year on my rounds which have been either billed 2.8 times too much or even the other way where they are receiving a bill three times less

dogshome

From my reading of the OP's post, the customer had a previous Gas supplier to whom she paid around £40 a month - This is about right for the house described.

Then that supplier sent in a further bill for £1,300, which indicates that a problem existed prior to the move to Toto, and it has continued.

Certainly check the type of meter.
It will be marked either m3 which is metric and delivers appx 11.2 KWh of gas for each meter unit, or ft3 which is an Imperial meter delivering appx 31.5 KWh of gas for each meter unit
Then check the bill by dividing the meter units into the number of KWh charged to see that it matches the meters marking.

If all that checks out, the likely hood is that there is a Gas leak between the meter output pipe and house appliances
OR
It is a digital meter that is battery powered. and the electronics have gone rogue - Rare but it does happen.

Do the "All gas appliances OFF, meter still moving" test again and write down the meter advance figures over a period of 2 hours.

DO NOT USE THE PHONE TO REPORT THE PROBLEM
Write a letter to Toto, heading it Complaint, setting out the figures of the meters behavior

andy5241

Thanks for the advice ladies and gents. Ill let you know of any progress.

andy5241

Just an update, switched the gas supply off for 4 hours counters have moved slightly. She's going to try it for longer tomorrow. The meter is a metric meter.

Robin9

House_Martin wrote: »

If you have a metric meter and they are billing you on imperial meter prices your bill is almost 3 times more.
It is not uncommon to find this happening. I usually find quite a few every year on my rounds which have been either billed 2.8 times too much or even the other way where they are receiving a bill three times less

You have confirmed its a metric meter - what does your bill say ?