EDF faulty meter

leewesley20371

Hi all, I'm trying to sort out my electricity with my current supplier EDF. We are currently privately renting a 3 bedroom house in Cornwall on a PAYG meter. They sent an engineer to check our meter as the readings they were getting were not quite right. The engineer turned up and did some tests and found the meter had been faulty for some time. We told the engineer we had only been there 2 years and were told by our landlord that all we had to do was go to our local paypoint and top it up when we needed. This was 2 years ago and we are still trying to resolve this. Our balance is now £1,101.02. Apparently this is what we owe them because of the faulty meter that was in the house before we moved in. The last thing I was told by EDF is if we want this resolved we would have to look at legal advice.

wavelets

leewesley20371 wrote: »

Hi all, I'm trying to sort out my electricity with my current supplier EDF. We are currently privately renting a 3 bedroom house in Cornwall on a PAYG meter. They sent an engineer to check our meter as the readings they were getting were not quite right. The engineer turned up and did some tests and found the meter had been faulty for some time. We told the engineer we had only been there 2 years and were told by our landlord that all we had to do was go to our local paypoint and top it up when we needed. This was 2 years ago and we are still trying to resolve this. Our balance is now £1,101.02. Apparently this is what we owe them because of the faulty meter that was in the house before we moved in. The last thing I was told by EDF is if we want this resolved we would have to look at legal advice.

Go and seek that legal advice.

You cannot assess the accuracy of a meter by turning up and doing some tests.

When you moved into the property, you should have advised the supplier so that they could create a new account for you. That way, you would not have been funding the previous tenant (or landlord) account, and you would only pay for what you use.

Edit: In January this year, in the previous post you made, you claimed you had been at the property for 4 years. :cool:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5786548/guaranto-landlordr-queries

[Deleted User]

Personally I think you would be wasting your money seeking legal advice or representation.EDF would nt normally say seek legal advice unless they knew they were correct
It is in every one s terms and conditions of supply that all faulty meters have to be reported to the supplier as soon as the fault is obvious. They don`t expect to have to wait for a meter reader to report it.
As a meter reader for over 20 years virtually all faults on prepayment electric key meters have a human element in making them faulty. Some of them are difficult to spot and most landlords would nt know that the meters were tampered or faulty
Screen " A " on the meter would show a build up of standing charges if the occupier has nt been crediting the meter at all. EDF standing charges are approx £90 a year. Suppliers can work out roughly how long the meter has nt been operating correctly , or vacant, by the standing charges on the first screen.
Is the meter screen blank ? or is it lit up correctly and displaying on all the screens. Tampered or "faulty " meters would also show the small red light constantly on and never pulsing when electricity is being used

leewesley20371

Hi wavelets, yes we have been in the property 4 years and it was 2 years ago that EDF sent an engineer out to check the meter and found it was faulty, they also informed me that it had been faulty for at least 5 years therefore ws faulty before we moved into said property. What I am disputing is the fact that they told me it was faulty and had been for some time and that we have to pay what we used if it wasn't. What I am saying is that if the meter was faulty for over 4 years then whose responsibility is it, mine or theirs ??

[Deleted User]

leewesley20371 wrote: »

Hi wavelets, yes we have been in the property 4 years and it was 2 years ago that EDF sent an engineer out to check the meter and found it was faulty, they also informed me that it had been faulty for at least 5 years therefore ws faulty before we moved into said property. What I am disputing is the fact that they told me it was faulty and had been for some time and that we have to pay what we used if it wasn't. What I am saying is that if the meter was faulty for over 4 years then whose responsibility is it, mine or theirs ??

The "engineer " is an EDF meter reader. Could have been employed by G4S or more recently MDS who took over G4S a couple of years ago
I work for EDF along with many other suppliers. The "engineer " would have been taking a guess at how long it was faulty. Its not possible to know exactly how long its been like that.
As I have already said the only way is to see how much standing charges have built on screens "A " the first screen, Screen "F " also shows details of standing charges paid They send us out only every 2 years to look at prepay meters, and if they fail to get access on a couple of visits that is that for another 2 years They are a "fit and forget " meter as far as the suppliers are concerned and they do not tightly monitor why certain meters are not receiving credits at Paypoints.
The occupier before you was primarily responsible for informing the supplier. Its not at all uncommon that new tenants move into properties and find the meters "faulty or fiddled "
It is still also up to you as the new occupier to inform supplier of faulty meters.
On the key electric prepay meter the total kwhs used since the meter was installed is shown on screen "G " with screen "H " showing the total kwhs used by the present occupier since they took over the account with a new key but if the meter is faulty/fiddled then these totals are not to be trusted because the meter may not have been advancing
If the screen has not gone blank then if its 4 years faulty the standing charges would be approx £360 showing as a debit on screen A.. That is not an uncommon sight I see often on prepay meters