Electric Meter has to be changed - can I claim for lost earnings?

miner1149er

I have received a letter from meterplus telling me that the electric meter must be changed by them on behalf of my supplier as it has been in use for a set period of time. They will call between the hours of 8am and 6pm, and as the meter is in the property require an adult to be present. My wife is a teacher so can't have time off in term time and I am self employed. Is it reasonable that I am expected to take a day off work, loosing a days wages to allow a company access to my property to replace an item of plant that belongs to them. If I request a utility such as gas, electricity or Bt phone I am charged for this. I feel I should be able to claim my loss of earnings from them. Has anyone persued this and what was the outcome? Thanks

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

I suspect that the terms and conditions of having electricity/gas/water/phone etc is that you have to give them reasonable access for a number of reasons.

They will normally negotiate a mutually suitable time and date.

If 'push comes to shove' the answer would be that you don't have to have any electricity in your property; but if you do want it you have to abide by their terms and conditions.

If you did claim for 'loss of earnings' for any of your services then everyone would be entitled to the same payment.

PasturesNew

Or get them to come in those long school holidays.
Maybe half term, depending where you live as it is different everywhere

Terrylw1

Hi,

Recertification is for your safety. Now, Meterplus do this on behalf of your Supplier but not with their knowledge so you can deal direct with MeterPlus.

They always say that because they don't want to tie themselves down to a specific visit time. When Suppliers ask they can do AM, PM or 2 hour timeslots.

Why not give them a call and negogiate for a timeslot.

They won't pay you for loss of earnings. You could leave a key with a neighbour and tell them to call next door first or take the day off (not stating you should, but in their eyes that would be a solution)

At the end of the day it's their equipment and are responible for your safety by law. They can if required, request a warrant to enter your property to do it without you there but thats an extreme case where you were continually denying them access on purpose.

Recerts take 20mins like a standard meter change because thats all it is. They tend to say all day visits because it means if anything else crops up, they can move it round in the day to help other customers who need urgent appointments for things.

Give them a call, it's a common problem - why should we ever take a day off for something so pointless?

As PasturesNew says - try for a school holiday. These metering companies tend to action their recerts in phases per area, often when they have less booked in. Now, they tend to start actioning recert visits earlier than needed to give them time to catch up on those they can't get to. So, they should be able to book in you in at a date when you know you are off e.g. a holiday say end of Nov or something like that if you have a spare day or baker day poping up etc.

If they send you a letter, you take the day off and they don't turn up - thats when you can claim for compensation but it's £20, hence not worth your time off.

miner1149er

I am grateful for all your replies and will give them a ring to request a 2 hour time slot. I must admit I do not trust utility companies, when we moved into this house I had a wiring survey done by the then YEB, who condemned the wiring and gave a quote for rewiring of £3000. Luckily an electrician friend suggested I ask about an earth leakage trip. YEB were happy to fit that instead at a cost of £150. YEB hadn't offered that option originally because quote "they had to find work for their men"!! 19 years later and the "condemned" wiring is still OK and the trip reset lever is dusty from lack of use.

marcmoustache

If your meter is in an outside box then they can do it without you being present.

Also remember, that it they commit to a 2 hour timeslot and don't turn up within that time period, then you can claim £20 for their failure (unde rhte Guaranteed Standards legislation).

Terrylw1

marcmoustache wrote: »

If your meter is in an outside box then they can do it without you being present.

Also remember, that it they commit to a 2 hour timeslot and don't turn up within that time period, then you can claim £20 for their failure (unde rhte Guaranteed Standards legislation).

Very true, but unless you insist you'll never see it as GSOS isn't very well regulated by Ofgem. I would either getting a letter or the persons name who books it or it's impossible to prove you ever requested the slot.

Since MeterPlus is an agent, they may insist on paying it through the Supplier but in the case of a recert is definately best to ask for it direct since the Supplier never aware of when recerts are taking place.

stimpo

We make many appointments for meter reads and changes, sometimes the customer is not in having arranged the appointment with them. we do not charge for this. Neither do we charge interest on overdue balances.

These things work both ways.

Terrylw1

stimpo wrote: »

We make many appointments for meter reads and changes, sometimes the customer is not in having arranged the appointment with them. we do not charge for this. Neither do we charge interest on overdue balances.

These things work both ways.

As always Stimpo, very true. However, a customer is not bound by Ofgem's GSOS whereas Suppliers, LDSO's, Meter operators & DC's are.

Ofgem barely even regulated GSOS until about 2005 leaving Suppliers to not pay up, now thats what you call a good regulator!!!

GSOS states that AM/PM or 2 hour slots should be given to customers but Suppliers don't stick to that in many cases and don't even have Agent contracts to service it. But then, Ofgem never enforced it so thats life eh...