Pensioners' gas bill just went from £160 to £2,584 a quarter

alancleaver

I'm trying to help my elderly inlaws (I'm their nominated third party). Their gas bill is usually about £160 a quarter. But the last one was £2,584. I can't convince Green Star Energy this is clearly wrong/bonkers and they are demanding the money.

I think it went wrong on Jan 22nd 2020 when a smart meter was installed and a final gas reading was taken. I think the engineer wrote down the wrong figure - he put 5587 but 3587 is more likely. Hence the huge bill based on the eight months since the previous actual meter reading (rather than an estimate). The in-laws could never read the meter as they are too infirm to get into the cupboard under the stairs.

The problem is the gas meter dials have now been removed of course so I can't prove the last reading was wrong. Bills over the last two years show an average £161 quarterly bill based on actual readings - but Green Star don't want to know and just insist the last bill was accurate. 

The in-laws are 'shielded' at the moment because of their age and health, and the stress means they're not daring to use any gas (it's only used for heating) and on colder days sit with blankets round them or the two-bar electric fire on. They're not sleeping with worry (nor am I !) and believe they'll go into debt as the money will be taken out of their account (it won't - they're on a fixed direct debit). They are 83 and 92.

Help! (and thank you in advance)

Gerry1

Are they on the Priority Services Register?

alancleaver

Yes. And I'm their nominated third party.

Robin9

Do encourage them to use the gas - its a much cheaper option than the electric.
Do they have any visitors at the moment ? If so a look under the stairs as the fitter should have left a card with the old readings on it. 

alancleaver

Someone else mentioned a card but I think he must have left the wrong one (the mother in law says he mentioned this was the first gas smart meter he had installed which is not very encouraging!!). The card he left was a 'sorry you were out' card! It has no meter readings on it.

stewie_griffin

There's normally a sticker on the new meter with the details of the old meter.

Talldave

Surely this is one of those occasions when the industry's meter reading mangling organisation could come into its own in order to show that the sudden jump in consumption is clearly ludicrous?  If they can show bills going back several years with similar consumption and the new smart meter shows that the same consumption level has continued since the meter change, then a formal complaint stating the facts & figures should be submitted asap.  It sounds as if the alleged consumption is so ridiculous that it woudn't have been possible to use even if their boiler had been running 24/7.

And the lesson to be learnt for everyone is always always read & photograph a meter prior to a meter change.

MWT

I would escalate this one to a complaint immediately and do make sure that they continue to use the gas, it is important for their health obviously, and usage now is not going to have any impact on sorting out whatever went wrong before.

alancleaver

>> That's useful to know. Thanks Stewie I will pop over this afternoon and check. Though I fear if it says the 'wrong' number I'm back where I started. Cheers for your help. 

Mister_G

Talldave said:

And the lesson to be learnt for everyone is always always read & photograph a meter prior to a meter change.

Perhaps not something the average 93 year old should be expected have to do!  However, this event does clearly demonstrate that the current system is not "fit for purpose".

dogshome

The man who changed the meter IS NOT a direct employee of Green Star Energy, like all the other suppliers they sub-contract this work to one of several companies.

This employee has taken a note of the old meters reading, passed this up the line to his management, who have then passed it onto Green Star - It's all like a Pass-The-Parcel game - and a badly written 3 can be read as 5, or vice versa, added to which the fitter has failed to leave a record of the defunct meters reading with the customer, which breaks the terms of the contract between GS and the fitting company, and that of GS and their customer

The more efficient companies take photographs which are sent directly up the line from the location they are working in   

This needs a letter by Royal Mail headed Complaint, setting out the anomaly in the bills usage against usage prior to the new meter, with a *SAR request for all documentation related to the meter change order.

*The supplier can charge a fee for this, but my bet is that GS will examine the documents and back off