Large Gas Problem

Yellabowley

Evening all,

I have a rather complex problem with my gas supply. It’s been ongoing since May and it’s draining the life out of me if I’m honest! I’m going to try to explain so bear with me!!

2nd Feb we buy a new build property. British Gas are the builder’s supplier. The mistake I make at this point was while signing the paperwork (there was an awful lot to sign on that day as you can imagine) one of the forms was the meter readings. They said they’d taken the readings and I signed the form amongst a load of other documents. My mistake here, I hold my hands up, I didn’t check the reads at this point but of all the forms relating to the house purchase it seemed to be one of the least significant. Also now I am actually trying to say the reads must have been lower (seems mad I know but I’ll get to the point!) and therefore they owe less and we owe more. This read was 770.

3 weeks later and we switch to Scottish Power as we were existing customers at our old address and never had an issue with them. At this point both they and British Gas have the reads as ‘actual’. This actual read was 99594 but this didn’t flag anywhere as an issue as no-one had given the handover reads to British Gas. We did ring them but they said they couldn’t do anything as the builder still held the account but when the final reads came through they’d send us a bill. This never arrived despite us chasing it, as we don’t want an unpaid bill for the sake of 3 weeks supply.

Moving on towards the end of May I submit my read which was 1677 and a bill is generated of £700 based on this. At the same time we find out that the builders have wired the hot water cylinder incorrectly, bypassing the thermostat and therefore as we have the hot water on constant (due to shift work and needing hot water at various times of day and night) the water had been heating non-stop for two months since we moved in. We only realised this as we noted a lot of water around the safety blow off valve outside.

Following this we switched the water to come on twice until it was fixed and our usage went down again.

British Gas have given us the installation read from the previous December of 99022 and so we have managed to work out that if the 770 move in read is correct then the builders have been using 40 units of gas a day prior to us moving in, the usage then drops to 8 units a day when we move in and start using the gas hob, heating and hot water and then it went down to around 2 a day when the problem is sorted. If our switch over read is correct then the builders were using around 9 units a day, this then went up to 20 units a day when we move in. Clearly the latter makes more sense.

Our issue comes as we asked the builder to compensate us and asked for £500 based on conservative usage estimates from the previous winter, when we were in a less efficient house. We were probably owed more in reality but wanted it sorted and said we’d settle for this. The builder however are now saying that they are sticking to the 770 read and that they would investigate internally why they had used 40 units a day. The sceptic in me says that if they owe the money to British Gas they won’t have to pay VAT on the energy bill whereas our compensation includes the VAT that we paid. We could just accept this but even with the new reads we will still want compensating for the excessive usage but I am going to have to work out the figures all over again which took an age last time.

Now Scottish Power and British Gas don’t really seem too bothered and explaining all of the above on every phone call is a nightmare. Scottish Power just keep saying they’ll estimate the read as the usage is excessive and can’t be correct but I have to keep explaining that it will have been excessive due to the cylinder issue. They keep scheduling calls for me with other departments none of which seem to understand the issue either.

I just want wverything to be right so that down the line nothing can come back and bite me. Does anyone know how I can sort this? Would the energy regulator be interested or am I on my own with the builder and the gas companies?

Any advice would be appreciated and apologies again for your time. And yes I know, check the sodding documents you’re signing in future!

welshmoneylover

Yellabowley wrote: »

Evening all,

I have a rather complex problem with my gas supply. It’s been ongoing since May and it’s draining the life out of me if I’m honest! I’m going to try to explain so bear with me!!

2nd Feb we buy a new build property. British Gas are the builder’s supplier. The mistake I make at this point was while signing the paperwork (there was an awful lot to sign on that day as you can imagine) one of the forms was the meter readings. They said they’d taken the readings and I signed the form amongst a load of other documents. My mistake here, I hold my hands up, I didn’t check the reads at this point but of all the forms relating to the house purchase it seemed to be one of the least significant. Also now I am actually trying to say the reads must have been lower (seems mad I know but I’ll get to the point!) and therefore they owe less and we owe more. This read was 770.

3 weeks later and we switch to Scottish Power as we were existing customers at our old address and never had an issue with them. At this point both they and British Gas have the reads as ‘actual’. This actual read was 99594 but this didn’t flag anywhere as an issue as no-one had given the handover reads to British Gas. We did ring them but they said they couldn’t do anything as the builder still held the account but when the final reads came through they’d send us a bill. This never arrived despite us chasing it, as we don’t want an unpaid bill for the sake of 3 weeks supply.

Moving on towards the end of May I submit my read which was 1677 and a bill is generated of £700 based on this. At the same time we find out that the builders have wired the hot water cylinder incorrectly, bypassing the thermostat and therefore as we have the hot water on constant (due to shift work and needing hot water at various times of day and night) the water had been heating non-stop for two months since we moved in. We only realised this as we noted a lot of water around the safety blow off valve outside.

Following this we switched the water to come on twice until it was fixed and our usage went down again.

British Gas have given us the installation read from the previous December of 99022 and so we have managed to work out that if the 770 move in read is correct then the builders have been using 40 units of gas a day prior to us moving in, the usage then drops to 8 units a day when we move in and start using the gas hob, heating and hot water and then it went down to around 2 a day when the problem is sorted. If our switch over read is correct then the builders were using around 9 units a day, this then went up to 20 units a day when we move in. Clearly the latter makes more sense.

Our issue comes as we asked the builder to compensate us and asked for £500 based on conservative usage estimates from the previous winter, when we were in a less efficient house. We were probably owed more in reality but wanted it sorted and said we’d settle for this. The builder however are now saying that they are sticking to the 770 read and that they would investigate internally why they had used 40 units a day. The sceptic in me says that if they owe the money to British Gas they won’t have to pay VAT on the energy bill whereas our compensation includes the VAT that we paid. We could just accept this but even with the new reads we will still want compensating for the excessive usage but I am going to have to work out the figures all over again which took an age last time.

Now Scottish Power and British Gas don’t really seem too bothered and explaining all of the above on every phone call is a nightmare. Scottish Power just keep saying they’ll estimate the read as the usage is excessive and can’t be correct but I have to keep explaining that it will have been excessive due to the cylinder issue. They keep scheduling calls for me with other departments none of which seem to understand the issue either.

I just want wverything to be right so that down the line nothing can come back and bite me. Does anyone know how I can sort this? Would the energy regulator be interested or am I on my own with the builder and the gas companies?

Any advice would be appreciated and apologies again for your time. And yes I know, check the sodding documents you’re signing in future!

Come again?

You got your opening reads of 770 and you got a bill based on your reading of 1677?

So why exactly are you asking for compo for? The wiring issue ?

Yellabowley

Yeah sorry it’s compliacted.

21st Dec - Meter installation read 99022
2nd Feb - Move in read (that I stupidly didn’t check) was 770
23rd Feb - Switch over read (that BG and SP both have as ‘actual) 99594
31st May - Actual read 1677

Usage is excessive due to the hot water cylinder being incorrectly wired and never shutting off for two months solid. As such the house builder is liable for costs due to incorrect fitting. We are now disputing which read is correct, 2nd Feb or 23rd Feb, in order to figure out how much we owe the energy company and how much we need to claim from the builder.

System

I have struggled to follow all of your lengthy post so I will limit my comments to what I think are your options:

1. The Regulator will not be interested in your tale of woe. You need to follow the supplier’s complaints procedure; wait 8 weeks or for a deadlock letter and then escalate the complaint to The Energy Ombudsman. That said, you do need to be clear what you are complaining about and what resolution you are seeking.

2. You do have a strong case against the builder. Presumably, the builder has accepted the liability by agreeing to re-wire the thermostat. The debatable points are the time that you took to notice that there was a problem, and how much energy was used.

3. I am not sure what the benefit to you is in pressing the builder not to accept a handover reading of 770? Am I correct in assuming that your electricity meter is smart and your gas meter is not?

4. I moved into a new build in Jul and switched suppliers: I still haven’t got a Final Bill. Suppliers are notoriously slow at setting up accounts for new meters. I have gone down the complaint route.

Butch_Dingle

Yellabowley wrote: »

This actual read was 99594

How can any meter - gas or electric - read 99594 when the property is just a few months old?

Yellabowley

Cheers Hengus.

1. I did suspect this so I’ll start with the complaints procedure, cheers.
2. The cylinder manufacturer came out and confirmed it was incorrectly wired but said I could have issues as there’s been a hive system fitted. Luckily the builder fitted this so we have never touched the wiring. The builders electrician has also since admitted he was given the wrong diagram. As far as liability goes I think we’re good.
3. The meters are both smart but with switching, the British Gas Smart meters won’t speak to Scottish Power. Hence the old style readings. The issue is we think that the 770 read can not be correct. We just want it sorting and for everyone to agree. We don’t want to have something through the post in a years time saying the readings are disputed and not be able to prove that we tried to sort it at the time.
4. Good to know we aren’t alone with this one!

Thanks again and apologies again for the confusing and lengthy original post. It’s not an easy one to explain briefly.

Yellabowley

Butch_Dingle wrote: »

How can any meter - gas or electric - read 99594 when the property is just a few months old?

The installation read was 99022. Do all meters alway start from zero? It would make sense but I don’t know the answer to this one to be honest.

Butch_Dingle

Yellabowley wrote: »

The installation read was 99022. Do all meters alway start from zero? It would make sense but I don’t know the answer to this one to be honest.

Yes, when the meter is installed it starts at zero - I know this from experience as I have bought 2 new builds in the past and meter reads when i moved in were something like 300KWh for electric and 040 for gas. So i am utterly confused as to why you have a meter reading of 99022 for a property which is only a few months old. Unless you've missed out the decimal points, eg electric reading of 9902.2 or 990.22 for gas?

FWIW my home is ~ 10 years old with the current electric meter reading showing ~ 24000 KWh and gas at 8500 units.

welshmoneylover

Do you realise you would actually be benefiting financially if the meter read of 770 is correct?

Yellabowley

Butch_Dingle wrote: »

Yes, when the meter is installed it starts at zero - I know this from experience as I have bought 2 new builds in the past and meter reads when i moved in were something like 300KWh for electric and 040 for gas. So i am utterly confused as to why you have a meter reading of 99022 for a property which is only a few months old. Unless you've missed out the decimal points, eg electric reading of 9902.2 or 990.22 for gas?

FWIW my home is ~ 10 years old with the current electric meter reading showing ~ 24000 KWh and gas at 8500 units.

Well that was direct from British Gas who did the install. They never questioned it when I rang them. Unless they deliberately set it below zero so that it’s around zero when the buyer moves in?

Yellabowley

welshmoneylover wrote: »

Do you realise you would actually be benefiting financially if the meter read of 770 is correct?

I do, however I have spent hours working out exactly what they owe us based on what I believe are the correct reads. By going on 770 we would need a small refund form Scottish Power and then I’d be back to the drawing board with working out how much they owe us. Apart from the fact that the builders are trying to pull a fast one and after all the grief they’ve caused us I don’t want them to get away with it. We’re not desperate for the money, although £500 at Christmas is always welcome.