Back dating bills

serifrat

Hi I need some help.
I run a small business and we have had very consistent electric bills for the past 7 years and the meter readings where done regularly by ourselves and every two months by the electric company. Six months ago our meters where updated to smart meters and our bill has gone through the roof even in days when we are not at the property. The electric company refuses point blank to send someone to look but on top of all this they are now trying to say that our previous Bill's must have been wrong based on our new consumption and are trying to back date the Bill's even though it was not based on estimates and they are the ones who took the readings. I've looked at the ofgems rulings on backdateing but it does not really cover this particular problem.  
My question is , since they took the readings and charged us accordingly are they legally allowed to change there minds based on an estimate after the fact?

Thanks in advance

MWT

If I've understood correctly, there is no dispute about the accuracy of the meter readings or that you have been billed correctly using those readings, the dispute is over the accuracy of the new vs old meter?

In that case before you go any further do something simple like turning everything off at the distribution board and see if the meter stops or if it continues?

If it stops then just turn on one circuit with nothing plugged in except a device with fixed rated consumption like an electric heater, see if the meter records accurately what is being used...

Before you start getting into legal arguments I'd sort out the basics so you know what you need to do... Either the new meter is correct and you will need to look further into what they can do to try and recover previous under billing, or the new meter is faulty in which case there is no potential under billing on previous bills, just over billing for you to reclaim on the recent bills...