Blank gas meter

vonlon

Hi
In May 2019 I transferred onto smart meters. The smart meter monitor in my home didn’t work so I had to send meter readings, however the gas meter was blank. I contacted the company who insisted on sending instructions of how to read the meter. No matter which buttons I pressed I couldn’t get a reading.
I contacted the company on numerous occasions which just resulted in standard replies saying they were aware of issues with smart meters which should get sorted.  I registered a complaint - once again they referred me to instructions on how to read the meter. I replied to say this wasn’t the issue and I needed an engineer. The engineer eventually came out a couple of weeks ago and said the meter was faulty and needed replacing which he sorted the same day.
my issue is that I haven’t had an actual meter reading since May 2019 and we only moved into the property in March 2019. I have spoken to my provider today who said they would estimate on current usage, but how can that be right when it is winter and we are using our heating? We only use gas for heating and hot water. Any thoughts on what I can do.

kev2009

Just curious, if the IHD didn't work, the smart meter should still have been sending readings back each day/week/month to your supplier, correct?  I realise the Gas one was faulty but I presume your supplier has readings for electric?  Plus would have thought it would have flagged up if the supplier wasn't getting any readings and couldn't "request" a reading from the meter.
I know my current supplier SSE was able to request a reading from my meter when i phoned to say that i couldn't see any actual usage on the website, it was all estimated even though I had a smart meter.  Turns out I needed to have them receive a reading every 30mins which i didn't agree to as i only wanted it to submit monthly.
Kev

MeterMan

In a nutshell, your usage can not be proved, the onus is on the supplier to prove the usage. 

If you are unhappy with the figure given + amount already paid via DD, then tell them you don't agree, until you're happy.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like the digital gas meter, which is powered by a battery, is dead.   A common occurence on all digital meters including powered electric meters.The standard method is to bill on historical usage until a new meter is replaced..Ever since the digital world entered the utilities gas and electric meters  which had super reliable analogue meters , they have been plagued with duff blank meters meters..That`s progress !
They are cheaper to produce but just like a modern central heating boiler, they re short lived and more costly in the long run

savik2

I was given a duff SMETS1 gas meter by EDF - a fact I only discovered when I realised all my gas usage was being estimated.  I queried this with them and they asked me for a manual reading.  I tried every which way to get a reading out of the thing, but the screen remained obstinately blank.  The EDF person then said they could detect a signal from the meter but it was spasmodic, so they'd need to send an engineer to investigate.  The earliest available appointment was 3 weeks away, but the engineer never turned up.  I rang to complain, and they rebooked - another month to wait.  This engineer turned up, at least - but he was an ELECTRICITY engineer, so wasn't allowed to tinker with the gas meter.  I rang again, and was told there was now a 6-week wait for a gas engineer, and they couldn't book appointments so far ahead.  In exasperation, I started to look for another supplier that would be willing to install a Smart meter of their own, seeing as mine was obviously faulty and impossible to read manually.  Octopus agreed to do this, and hurrah - their meter works, and is simpler to read manually, too.  Sadly it was still a SMETS1 - but seems to me that the SMETS2s are just as dumb when it comes to switching suppliers, so does it really matter?    

vonlon

thanks for your replies.
Kev2009. I thought the gas meter would have been recording gas usage even though I couldn’t see it. But apparently not. Electric is fine I have been able to provide meter readings for electric.
MeterMan. I also thought they should have to provide an actual usage figure, but this is what they have said
’‘ I'm afraid that we have no other way to calculate your usage as there are no readings from your previous gas meter for us to be able to accurately calculate your usage. We have to follow the procedures that are set for the whole industry in this type of situation, which means estimating your usage according to the readings from your new meter.’‘
I have said I am not happy with this and am now waiting for the complaints team to get back to me. I wanted to try and find out What my rights are before they get back to me.