Gas meter reading gone up by 400k

Robin9

Smallchap wrote: »

http s://imgur.c om/a/R5SUK9A
http s://imgur.c om/a/xYFzU5j

Could someone convert the pictures olease ?

PeterGr

Just delete the space between the p and s and the c and o


https://imgur.com/a/R5SUK9A


https://imgur.com/a/xYFzU5j

Robin9

Thanks PeterGr


Op - time to send these pictures to your supplier.

[Deleted User]

Possibly a Lowri Beck meter reader has been doing what we call "kerbside readings " ..Inventing readings whilst sat at home..It does happen. Were there any customer readings for the last year or were they all done by Lowri Beck. if the meter is in a locked garage its unlikely they can get to the meter very often. Sometimes internal gas meters in garages can be read just looking through a garage window. I do that quite a lot in certain streets..Easy to get readings wrong doing that though
I can t believe any of these reliable old Imperial gas meters suddenly jump digits going from 3 to 7.
Bit of a head scratcher this one ! I m clutching at straws here, On those readings the supplier may bill you over 4k .

Smallchap

Thanks again for replying. We will call the supplier tomorrow and see what they say. I don't care how reliable the meters "usually" are, surely they can't hit us and expect us to actually pay a 4k bill though? I'm hoping haha.

The meter is in a locked garage, right at the very back on the external house wall. There is no window and just a solid door. It would be impossible for anyone to take a reading without us unlocking the garage and letting them take it.

However I should have clarified. Those are just the verified readings. There are also a bunch of customer submitted readings my girlfriend submitted. All of which are in the same range as the verified readings. As I said I can't exactly verify the old readings anymore but I can't believe all the verified readings and my girlfriends readings all mistook the first digit as a 2 and a 3 when it should have been a 6 and a 7.

The only explanation I can think of is the meter has jumped from a 3 to a 7 and our actual reading should be 3675 Ish. Not sure how we prove that. It sounds like this just doesn't happen. That would be a usage of 100 units in 3 months, 2 of which the heating was likely off. That sounds the right order of magnitude to me based on a usage now of 2 units a day with the heating on.

You've got me worried now by how adamant you are these meters don't jump. Is there any way we legitimately could have used 4k units in 90 days, approx 60 without the heating on. That's about 22 times our current usage with the heating on. That usage just seems massive. If it was a leak I would like to think we would have noticed as I store my car in the garage and need it every other day. The meter is no longer "leaking" and has returned to a normal usage.

welshmoneylover

Your meter is unlikely to leak without you smelling gas which you have not reported as a gas emergency so it’s not the cause.

When was the last time the meter was read by a meter reader?
I have known instances where customers give deliberately low reads to avoid being billed correctly. ( not saying that has happened in this case, but it does happen)

chrisw99

There's a similar thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4392365/gas-meter-readings-increasing-hugely-through-day-when-gas-off-huge-spikes&page=2

Interesting bit from the final post...
"Luckily the meter went up by 7 units in half and hour that the engineer was here, without anything being on except for the pilot light."

So does look like they can develop faults.

Farway

Whatever the final outcome one lesson to take from this is take a picture every time you read the meter, easy these days with digital / phone, a meter may jump but a jpg won't without photoshopping

[Deleted User]

chrisw99 wrote: »

There's a similar thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4392365/gas-meter-readings-increasing-hugely-through-day-when-gas-off-huge-spikes&page=2

Interesting bit from the final post...
"Luckily the meter went up by 7 units in half and hour that the engineer was here, without anything being on except for the pilot light."

So does look like they can develop faults.

That was a digital meter with an LCD screen.completely different method of advancing the index. A mechanical meter can t do that I dont think. I have found a few which have stuck on the same digits over the years, never had any suddenly start advancing but that is just my limited experience..
I have had a mechanical Imperial gas meter apart to check how they work on RPU investigation in meter fiddling .There are three plastic clockwork gears involved. One of the latest methods of energy fraud involves shaving the teeth off one of these plastic gears..Having seen how they are fixed I dont think its possible that they can move/jump a couple of cogs and if they did then all the other digits would be out of line..That happens with electric meters with clockwork analogue index s..
Gas meters suspected of fraud can be easily examined internally so this one also can be checked if its suspected of internal faults.
Personally OP if the supplier sticks to the readings on the meter and bills you this huge amount due I would request they examine it for an internal fault. You need a new metric meter anyway. All these old imperial meters will be reaching end of life stage soon anyway .

Mr.Generous

Buy a manometer and test for a gas leak is what some people would do, I couldn't possibly suggest that however ... or get somebody to do it for you, its a simple test and will set your mind at rest.

Wait 2 mins then 2 min at 10mb and then 2 min at 20mb is the usual, nothing to stop you doing 10 mins for peace of mind. If it holds it wont drop.