Faulty Electric meter

Mazio_2

I had economy 7 and recently discovered my electric meter was stuck on the day rate, which meant I used no night units and was charged for the full day rate tariff. Now I only started looking because my electricity bill was increasing more then the inflation rate this I have now found out was because my kids had been using the 10.5 Kw shower I installed last year for far too long I have now reverted back to mixer shower off the hot water and im monitoring it very closely. Eon installed a new meter and took the readings Iam with PowerGen extra saver online at the same time I told them to take me off the economy 7 and fit a standard rate meter because we have gas as well and central heating and cannot use enough night units with 4 children (2 being teens) and the standard day rate is far better. I have contacted PowerGen several times about a percentage refund of the incorrect payments (which were nearly a year I did not check it for that long) but have heard nothing back also I can see my new meter readings online but not the reading of the meter they removed.So I believe I am entitled to a refund based on the average night usage of the past plus how do I verify before I receive the bill that the readings are all correct?

Ken68

Hi Maz....when my electric meter was changed earlier this year, the engineer left a ticket near the new meter with the numbers off the old meter and the start number of the new meter.

Terrylw1

Hi Maz,

You had a faulty timeswitch which needed to be verified by an engineer, prior to being changed!

Then you Supplier would assess your usage and determine what the % split is between your day & night usage. Then they would amend any bills where you had been stuck on day rate only.

Sadly, by having the meter changed your life is now going to be harder because you will have to go back over this with them until it is proved.

Did the engineer report back it was faulty? Providing you can prove that the night dial didn't move (so the installed & removal reading would be zero or whateer it went in on) then they should be able to do this.

However, did you have E7 before this faulty timeswitch E7 went in? If not, your Supplier will have nothing to asess you with. If you did, it should be easy enough to do it for you.

If they refuse, complain & go to Energywatch. I just suspect that you will have to push them a bit now to check further as they won't care otherwise.

Ask them to check those installed & remove readings which will show no movement.

Mazio_2

Thanx Ken68 & Terrylw1 I have been on economy 7 for over 20 years in this house. I do indeed have proof the dial was stuck on day rate the engineer also agreed as he changed the whole lot and took me off economy 7 at my request and Powergen approval at the same time. I can also see my bills online and there is no movement in my night usage so would have been charged day rate I think my average will be in the region of 180-200 units per quarter. I did however ask Powergen a couple of weeks before to take me of economy 7 tariff has I could not see any need for it and the standard rate would give me a better price. I have not had big gas or electricity bills and this year we must have changed something in house (I do have 4 children 2 being teens) so I m taking readings every morning to see how much we use. I have rang them up twice already and yes I have the final readings here but would like to verify they have there end.

Terrylw1

Hi Mazio,

Thats great news. Many customers don't do that and end up losing out.

So, in your case an existing timeswitch became faulty. Thats easy enough to re-assess as they will have your previous last 2 years that can be used to work it out. With faulty timeswitches the Supplier will look at your previous consumption (or latest if they are able to use your consumption after the fault has been corrected) and work out your % peak & off peak usage. They will then look at the period where it was stuck and amend your bill based on the %.

In your case you are worse off due to it being stuck on day rate. So, you need a new bill to have a % of your typical usage on off peak rate. Very esy to do from their point of view.

The engineer who took the meter out sends the data back to his office, then they pass it onto your Supplier. As long as the Meter Operator has this on record, your Supplier can always ask for it if they never recieved it. Keep a hold of it though so you can prove it yourself.

So, your Supplier just needs to find the period where it became stuck on day rate. If a meter reader came out and took a reading before the timeswitch became faulty, they should very easily be able to spot this.

The key time to find is the actually date where the night dial stopped moving. Thats easy if a meter has fitted with a faulty timeswitch but if it happens afterwards, it's harder to find.

Did you heating get stuck on at all? It does happen sometimes, but usually when you are stuck on off peak night rate. However, if it has you also need to be aware that your Supplier just works out your peak/off peak % from 100% of the overall usage. This means that they would bil you for energy consumed despite you never asked for your heating to be on 24hrs a day. Suppliers tend not to mention that and customers get stuffed for the bill.

Mazio_2

Thanks Terrylw1 I dont have night storage heaters I am on gas central heating thats why I dont think with the prices like they are I could ever get the benefit from economy 7. The faulty time switch and meter are years old. But I do indeed have the ticket with the old reading and the new one is easy as it started on 00000.

Terrylw1

Thats great news as it should make for an easier assessment. If you or they can find a rough date for when it went wrong it will be easy. Hopefully the Supplier has a reading which will give you a date when it stopped.

Good luck, but check what they bill as they can make mistakes.

anewman

Can you fiddle it and put it on the night rate?