Been reading meter wrong...don't want to pay.

csa

Hi, the man from the electric board has been reading our meter wrongly for the past year. When we received a rediculas bill we queried this and NPower admitted their mistake. We have refused to pay the full bill stating this is an error on their part. They have offered to knock off £70 of a £1500 bill which we told them was unacceptable. We are currently at a stage 2 enquiry which means a manager is looking into this!!! I keep ringing to get an update but either can't be put through to someone who can help as they all seem to unavailable or they phone when I'm not in. This is getting ridiculas we've already had another bill in.

I would like some advice as to what I should be saying to them. Threaten them with court action? We've offered to pay half the bill - we can't afford to pay the full amount, I don't know how we're going to pay half to be honest. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

AWinner

So they believe that, despite paying the bills that you did get, there is still £1500 outstanding over 12 months? For electric?

What type of property do you live in and electrical appliances are you using?

Keep paying on account but query everything until they get it correct in your eyes. Even if they are correct, ask them for an acceptable repayment plan to suit your budget

roy_harper

Interested in this post as exactly the same situation has occured with my brother's property. Scottish Power this time.
He had been paying his bills regularly and then suddenly he received a bill for nearly £1,000.
They say it is because they have been reading the meter wrongly.
He is not in a position to pay it all off as they are demanding as he is a registered carer for Mum.
I agree with albertross's statement - but how do you go about getting Scottish Power to agree to that? Should he go to a lawyer, as there is no Citizens Advice Bureau in the area.
Funny that this identical problem has arisen - and there seems to be no way to prove how much electricity has actually been used afaik.

csa

That's the thing, we haven't used the amount the electric they are stating because they have only been reading 4 dials instead of the 5 (might be the other way round???). They are in the wrong, they admit this. We never pay by direct debit because they always over estimate our bill even when we ring through with the reading.

We live in a 3 bedroomed semi. Our bills have risen as we now have a 1 year old child, but I don't think we should pay the amount they state when it wasn't OUR fault the meter was being read incorrectly.

Terrylw1

Hi,

Ok, this is a very easy situation to resolve. They have billed you incorrectly based on reading the dials wrong.

Now, if your Supplier has been billing you as 4 dials due to a meter readers incorrect readings and then they get a correct reading as 5 dials they will suddenly experience a big jump. Now, they have internal produres to monitor any bill producing a large jump like this and dependant on the amount, it has to be countersigned by a manager to be sent.

So, you are dealing with a whole load of imcompetants here.

e.g. your year of bills are
Q1 - 04110
Q2 - 04210
Q3 - 04310
Q4 - 43250

So, in the final quarter you get a jump of 38940 units which causes the huge bill.

Should your meter reading be 5 dial? If so, has it come out like the above example? If not, can you please give more detail about your meter readings?

If so, all they need to do is reproduce all your bills as 5 dials instead of 4 and add your payments. Chances are, you may not been too far off.

I'll PM you something which may help you.

Don't go to a solicitor, it will cost and take time. You should go to Energywatch who will liaise free of charge for you to resolve it. They will ask Npower to prove the consumption to them. You should only consider a solicitor afterwards as their procedures will be more lengthly than Energywatch.

From what you have said I think you are speaking to the call centres, they don't even deal with more complex stuff so they are not the best to help you. If you go to Energywatch, your complaint will go to a specialist team.

Now, Suppliers don't like to let you pay more than 12 months on a debt because a lot of their systems won't do it. However, they could do it up to 3 years and keep amending your payment scheme each year to allow for it. They just don't want to.

csa

Terrylw1, you've got it!

Thanks for your advice I will contact Engerywatch today.

daveyjp

We had a similarm problem when the meter reader enetered next door's reading as ours. We ended up with a gas bill fo about £700 - it's usually about £50.

Despite a record of many years showing our consumption at no point did BG ever say to us 'looking at your history it appears this could be a mistake'. From day one it was OUR fault and the discrepancy was due to us not telling them something.

Farway

csa wrote: »

That's the thing, we haven't used the amount the electric they are stating because they have only been reading 4 dials instead of the 5 (might be the other way round???). They are in the wrong, they admit this. We never pay by direct debit because they always over estimate our bill even when we ring through with the reading.

We live in a 3 bedroomed semi. Our bills have risen as we now have a 1 year old child, but I don't think we should pay the amount they state when it wasn't OUR fault the meter was being read incorrectly.

I can't quite squre the sentance " We never pay by direct debit because they always over estimate our bill even when we ring through with the reading" with the bit about them reading the meter wrong, when YOU ring through do you not get a corrected bill?

Terrylw1

csa wrote: »

Terrylw1, you've got it!

Thanks for your advice I will contact Engerywatch today.

Ah ha, I thought so.

Seen it loads of times. It happens daily but the customer should never see it as it should never be sent out in the first place!

I have seen bills like that in the newspapers when they have sent them to OAP's in error.

If the meter readers have been doing this, Npower are only responsible if you have contacted them to sort it where they would see your problem.

However, they will also have the meter reader input. They will need to get the meter readers (Data Collector) to agree to this and update all their previous readings. However, thats going to take time and is definately not your problem. How do you know, did the meter reader admit it? Or did Npower? If Npower admitted it, they shouldn't be asking you to pay the bill knowing their are incorrect.

Maybe pay what you would normally, but don't pay against this. They have the ability to put your account in dispute so you don't get any red letters until they have sorted it.

Good luck

Terrylw1

daveyjp wrote: »

We had a similarm problem when the meter reader enetered next door's reading as ours. We ended up with a gas bill fo about £700 - it's usually about £50.

Despite a record of many years showing our consumption at no point did BG ever say to us 'looking at your history it appears this could be a mistake'. From day one it was OUR fault and the discrepancy was due to us not telling them something.

Yeah, thats common as well.

They can easily see by chcking next doors bills (or contacting the other Supplier to check on it) but they often can't be bothered (call centres!) and you end up fighting with them.

Always take your complaints to Energywatch or Suppliers can mask their complaints from the regulator. Energywatch publish every Suppliers complaints numbers.

I find writing to a managing director tends to speed them up!

roy_harper

Thanks for recommending Energywatch - rather than Solicitor.
Top advice and much appreciated.