Meter Reading Validation

GunJack

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction for this...

I've been trying to find out about the meter reading validation process, and more importantly what the rationale is for trusting this over actual meter reads even if meter reads are outside the algorithm results.

I've found the brief descriptions that some energy companies provide on their websites, but I'm looking for more....

Sad, I know, but I just want to try and understand why a pseudo-authority can trump actual readings.....

I should point out I've never had a problem due to this and only found out about the principle relatively recently, and am genuinely interested...

AndyCF

Without researching this, I think the general thing if you raise a complaint about the meter the company concerned has it tested by an external third party of their choosing.

The issue here is if its a 'no fault' situation you are likely to be charged for said test, again without researching expect 75-150. I think this would probably be added to a bill or part/payment if pennies were difficult to pay in one go, something to point out perhaps if this is a concern.

I think it is also possible to arrange your own tests (at your own expense) if you are not convinced. This could probably be done after their tests or before although they should be informed if you plan on this to seek permission etc.

If it means anything I did not bother to dispute something for the Gas a coupe of years back (I should of) but I had a suspicion I would end up paying even more and was due a meter change anyway but I still maintain to this day that my regular 30-50 monthly would not of spiked to 150-180 for two months ( ! ) then back down again for no reason.

Ectophile

GunJack wrote: »

Sad, I know, but I just want to try and understand why a pseudo-authority can trump actual readings.....

Because they have no particular reason to trust meter readings given to them by the customer.


There can't be many industries where the supplier allows the customer to tell them how much of the product they have used.

missmaybesaver

It’s because people sometimes submit the wrong reading e.g. with typos, the wrong meter, adding too many digits etc.

If the estimate is wrong though there’s a whole disputed read process set up for this estimated reading to changed back to the customer’s own read (assuming its outside of tolerance).

Ultimately the process is to make sure switch readings make sense compared with historical readings, and that people don’t pay twice for the same units of energy.

Cardew

Take a situation where the correct electricity reading is, say, 43569. What action should the energy company take if the customer/meter reader mistakenly gives a reading of, say, (a) 34569 or (b) 53569?

If the algorithm accepted the incorrect readings it would mean a rebate or excess charge of well over £1,000.

The problem comes when the algorithm rejects a correct reading, and substitutes an estimated reading, because it is outside the 'allowed' tolerance. This can easily happen if, say, the property has been empty for a period. Once it has rejected a meter reading it will continue to reject meter readings until there is human intervention at the energy company. This human intervention will usually not happen unless the customer contacts the company.

AndyCF

The above makes sense although I'd kind of expect them to contact the client if the readings were negative to last time, as in if as you say the previous was 43569 and the 'new' was 34569 , although a human could guess why that happened a computer will only see b < a and flag it.

Hopefully if such things keep happening it should be flagged for a 'manual meter reading' if possible.

I thought the most common problems were due on gas from metric vs imperial readings being entered wrongly or with either gas or elec meter either the client reading the 'red' digit the 10ths scale and/or putting the decimal point in the wrong place.

GunJack

missmaybesaver wrote: »

Ultimately the process is to make sure switch readings make sense compared with historical readings, and that people don’t pay twice for the same units of energy.

Yeesss, however what it doesn't allow for is people's changing pattern of energy usage, e.g. our oldest has moved out around a month ago, so our use has dropped.

If, for instance, I was to switch now, even with the SAME readings given to both old & new suppliers at the same time on the same day with photos of the meter as well, as our usage has dropped they could use the formula to discount the true reading, leaving the customer to have to jump hoops to get it put right...just because the readings may differ from what was "expected"....barking!! Especially when there's a whole organisation there to do it...

GunJack

Cardew wrote: »

Take a situation where the correct electricity reading is, say, 43569. What action should the energy company take if the customer/meter reader mistakenly gives a reading of, say, (a) 34569 or (b) 53569?

If the algorithm accepted the incorrect readings it would mean a rebate or excess charge of well over £1,000.

The problem comes when the algorithm rejects a correct reading, and substitutes an estimated reading, because it is outside the 'allowed' tolerance. This can easily happen if, say, the property has been empty for a period. Once it has rejected a meter reading it will continue to reject meter readings until there is human intervention at the energy company. This human intervention will usually not happen unless the customer contacts the company.

In either situation I'd expect the company to contact the customer to confirm the reading and adjust the bill accordingly, and not over-rely on automated systems...

...or alternatively, in the case of the 10k kWh over-read, send the bizzies round to look for the cannabis farm in the loft

Cardew

GunJack wrote: »

In either situation I'd expect the company to contact the customer to confirm the reading and adjust the bill accordingly, and not over-rely on automated systems...

...or alternatively, in the case of the 10k kWh over-read, send the bizzies round to look for the cannabis farm in the loft

The person who wrote the Ofgem approved algorithm used to contribute to this forum. It would make sense for any reading outside the algorithm tolerance to be earmarked for 'human' investigation; but apparently it doesn't happen.

On the other hand with approx. 20 million electricity accounts where meter readings are required at least 4 times a year, and sometimes 12 a year, we are talking about 100 million bills PA. If only 1% of those bills resulted in the requirement for an estimated bill, the workload to 'manually' chase up those cases would be huge.

P.S. Any self respecting cannabis farmer bypasses the meter!

Cardew

AndyCF wrote: »

The above makes sense although I'd kind of expect them to contact the client if the readings were negative to last time, as in if as you say the previous was 43569 and the 'new' was 34569 , although a human could guess why that happened a computer will only see b < a and flag it.

Hopefully if such things keep happening it should be flagged for a 'manual meter reading' if possible.

.

As explained in my post above the algorithm does not flag such discrepancies. It also doesn't matter if the meter reading is taken by the customer or the 'official' meter reader; if outside the set tolerance it is ignored.

I have an annex that is used sporadically, sometimes with no use for months. There have been many instances where the actual manual meter reading is lower than the previous estimated meter reading. The 'computer' ignores the correct manual reading and substitutes an estimated reading that is slightly higher than the previous bill.

Talldave

I see some posters are referring to "the company", but my only bad experience of having meter reads changed was by the hidden anonymous organisation that energy companies use to "validate" readings. In my case it happened with a switch between suppliers after a few months in the property. I think previous tenants had used electricity to heat the water and used astronomical amounts of electricity so the "industry body" found it hard to accept the lower consumption. At some point in the brain numbing arguments about this, I provided a copy of my weekly meter reads spreadsheet and suddenly my figures were accepted.

AndyCF wrote: »

....I thought the most common problems were due on gas from metric vs imperial readings being entered wrongly or with either gas or elec meter either the client reading the 'red' digit the 10ths scale and/or putting the decimal point in the wrong place.

There isn't a user error with gas metric/imperial problems - the customer simply provides digits. The problem is when the industry database has the type set wrong so the conversion to kWhr is wrong.