Energy Charging

lg_20187

Hi

I am looking for some advise - iv been talking to CAB and local councillors aswell to try and sort this.

Nov 2017 my electric meter was replaced - and since then they have came back accusing me of meter tampering. The energy company contacted the two billing companies i have been with for the past 2 years, and between the two they are trying to charge me almost £1000.

1: i have never meter tampered nor know how to do it
2: i have all my receipts and payments since i signed up to the two companies which is over £300 for a single girl on her own
3: i have meter readings i sent to the company
4: iv requested the report the company has.

So the story:
i moved in DEC 2015
Signed over electric to my name in February 2016 with a local company offering incentive.
In january 2016 - apparent meter tampering that went on for about 4 / 5 times in a space of 4 weeks
(times is lasted less than a minute)
the evidence shows all happened in the month of January 2016

What i need to know is:

Can a local company charge you for unused billing if the apparent tampering happened before i even signed up to them?

i signed up to one in Feb 2016 then moved to a different one in 2017 - with better tarriffs

How can an energy company charge you for so many units in such a small space of time - i just moved in and had a tv cooker and kettle.


I have been in a terrible state since this has happened and i had to go to get help as i don't know how to deal with it alone.

any help appreciated.

JJ_Egan

Local billing companies ?? What does that mean .
What advice have CAB given ??

House_Martin

Is the meter in question a smart meter ? New occupiers often move into properties with tampered gas and electric meters. Some do nothing about it and continue getting free energy. Most would be sensible and get the dangerous meters replaced
Suppliers will get estimated usage from the dates the new occupier moved in if the meter is nt registering consumption.
Smart meters have sensors to send back info from the meter with a tamper code attached if attempts to bypass the meter occur.
A supplier would have to send out someone to examine the meter physically before accusing anyone of tampering.
Impossible to accuse anyone of meter tampering if they are simply going on error codes sent back from a smart meter
Either way , do not worry yourself OP about this. Suppliers just rebill nowadays once hard evidence is secured to establish bypassing/tampering.

macman

How is the property heated and hot watered?

lg_20187

HI - So NIElectricity own the meter but the billing company is the local companies eg...click, bugget energy, aitrticity, power ni

Its an old style meter not a smart meter,

Property heated by Oil and hot water by Oil
Shower by Electric

lg_20187

So apparrently cause i asked to switch providers in January - my own providor had decided they was fowlplay and decided to look into it and shared their suspicians with NIE.they believed they was descrepancies in my payments - even tho i have evidence iv been topping up sometimes twice per week. and almost £400 for the entire year.(for a single girl who works ~40 hours per week



so thats why NIE came out to change my meter so they could test it.


NIE explained that the evidence they have is solid and it can be used in court to their advantage if to came to that.


I asked how can a company charge you if the "Apparrent Tampering" happened before i was even with any of the companies, and they said that as they are the company maintaining your electric throughout. STILL DOESNT ANSWER MY QUESTION.


I then asked how in such a small amount of times in this Evidence - how can it amount to such an amount of units ...waiting on answer as it doesnt add up



So im still in the negative side - and dont know how to go about appealing it, as NIE csays its solid evidence and il have to pay it.

matelodave

Who were you with between Dec 2015 and Feb 2016. Did you notify the supplier and set up an account when you got the tenancy in December 2015.

There seems to be a black hole that's unaccounted for for which you were responsible but possibly still assigned to the previous tenant who might be the person they are after.

lg_20187

The house had electric when i moved in, and it was topped up and there was a card, so i just used that until i got the chance to ring and swap it over to my name in February.

So im guessing it was previous tenants name.

House_Martin

I personally have nt seen a "card " electric meter in over 12 years as along term meter reader for several of the big 6 suppliers. They were phased out for a key meter, known as Smartkey. Prepay gas meter uses a card.
This meter, made by a few different companies is the most tampered and bypassed meter of them all, mainly because its so easy to do.
The meter is bypassed under the front lower cover, where there is a small wire seal guarding it.
all these tampers have hard evidence which cannot be denied when they are examined.
Its not unusual for a new occupier to move into a tampered electric meter. The last tenant will have the unusually low bills with the meter only registering standing charges building up with no credits to lower it. Screen "A " will show a debit of standing charges not paid for many months or years

macman

You should have registered for your own account and a new card as soon as you moved in. It appears you were using the previous occupant's card for 4 to 8 weeks? Which means you may well have been paying off any debt they had on it as well.

lg_20187

Its an old style meter with a keypad and i use a card to purchase electric

one thing i didnt ask was if there was any physical evidence on the box that it was tampered - thats something il need to find out. -eg the seal you mentioned.

as nothing physical was mentioned in the accusation - just a digital report