Impossible Bill - Collection agency

MWT

So in summary, the readings you've given us from the smart meter do suggest that you have relatively high daily usage (48kWh/day for 3rd-20th May) .. but not clear proof that the meter is faulty.

I would suggest that in addition to checking the old bills to try and get a handle on the claimed debt, you start looking closer and what you are using each day.both by taking daily readings to look at total usage and by using the IHD to see how much is being used at any one time so you can try and figure out where it is all going...

I'd start by looking at water heating and in particular make sure you haven't got an immersion heater on 24/7 for example...

joseph2020

MWT said:

So in summary, the readings you've given us from the smart meter do suggest that you have relatively high daily usage (48kWh/day for 3rd-20th May) .. but not clear proof that the meter is faulty.

I would suggest that in addition to checking the old bills to try and get a handle on the claimed debt, you start looking closer and what you are using each day.both by taking daily readings to look at total usage and by using the IHD to see how much is being used at any one time so you can try and figure out where it is all going...

I'd start by looking at water heating and in particular make sure you haven't got an immersion heater on 24/7 for example...

I will do, thank you.
I don't have anything ridiculous on as it would seem. Only 2 people in the flat, away most of the time too as working full time. 

MWT

Also some simple tests you can do to verify that the meter is accurate.

Unplug and turn everything off and check that the meter is not still going up...

Once you've done that just turn on a single high current device like a kettle, and see what the IHD shows, probably around 2-3kW and then check that the meter also shows an appropriate increase. So if it is a 3kW kettle then the meter should show an increase of 0.150 kWh if it is on for 3 mins...

Robin9

Trying to make some sense of this.
Working backwards from the BG data  - 15705 at the beginning of May less a consumption of 6731 would give an opening read of 8974 at the beginning of Jan. (20 weeks)
this is 60 kwh a day.  and about £1100.   But you don't query that.

On the same basis Sept to Jan  is also 20 weeks but includes a high use period of Christmas and New Year - so an opening read of 00000.0 is quite possible.

As you haven't got your Smart bills - have you your bank statements ? How much had you paying as a DD ?  Well in excess of £100 I hope - it's looking to me that your DD to Smart had been insufficient for a long time and you had built up a considerable deficit. Perhaps you were already several hundred of £'s in arrears before the Smart meter went in.


P S Very surprised that the Breeze Smart meter is giving Smart readings to BG.  A very rare beast. Double check your last BG bill - was the last reading Estimated (E) or Actual (A) ?  Whatever suppliers say about Smart meters  - always keep you own records and do your own sums.

MWT

Robin9 said:

P S Very surprised that the Breeze Smart meter is giving Smart readings to BG.  A very rare beast. Double check your last BG bill - was the last reading Estimated (E) or Actual (A) ?  Whatever suppliers say about Smart meters  - always keep you own records and do your own sums.

It isn't unusual for SMETS2 though. As long as you switch to a provider that is already using the DCC properly there should only be a small delay before the data flows.

Smodlet

This is what happens when we abdicate control to computers, imho.  Smart meters are evil, imho; rely on no-one but yourself and your own readings, take them often and regularly so any dispute can be resolved quickly without the need to go back more than a month and always, always work out for yourself what you have used and how much it cost:  That way, you retain control and always have evidence (ideally photos of meters) when energy suppliers decide to play silly b*ggers ( their default setting)

Hasbeen

Robin9 said:

Trying to make some sense of this.
Working backwards from the BG data  - 15705 at the beginning of May less a consumption of 6731 would give an opening read of 8974 at the beginning of Jan. (20 weeks)
this is 60 kwh a day.  and about £1100.   But you don't query that.

On the same basis Sept to Jan  is also 20 weeks but includes a high use period of Christmas and New Year - so an opening read of 00000.0 is quite possible.

As you haven't got your Smart bills - have you your bank statements ? How much had you paying as a DD ?  Well in excess of £100 I hope - it's looking to me that your DD to Smart had been insufficient for a long time and you had built up a considerable deficit. Perhaps you were already several hundred of £'s in arrears before the Smart meter went in.


P S Very surprised that the Breeze Smart meter is giving Smart readings to BG.  A very rare beast. Double check your last BG bill - was the last reading Estimated (E) or Actual (A) ?  Whatever suppliers say about Smart meters  - always keep you own records and do your own sums.

Would think that OP had a very low startup direct debit set up with Breeze.??  But was quite happy with this as all the estimated readings were in line with the direct debit taken. So all is well. Op never appeared to gave any actual readings?


All electric flat and with what now appears high usage.


New smart meter fitted and actual old meter reading given to Breeze and smart meter started to give actual true readings.


Op left to go with BG. But is smart meter actually giving readings to BG?


OP gets a bill from Breeze for actual usage and does not pay it as it must be the smart meter at fault.


Now at debt collection stage.


Hopefully the Breeze smart meter is actually giving true readings to BG and OP is not relying on estimates?  As this scenario might be similar to the next one the OP posts?


My thoughts / opinion only on this issue. So stand to be corrected. By more expert posters.


Hope all is resolved well for OP.

Robin9

Hasbeen has summed it up - nothing to do with Smart meter but a large debt already there when the meter was changed.

OP is only quoting single rate meter  - do you think its a case of magic dust panel heaters ?  He has given us no details.

Talldave

Any storage heaters?  Immersion heater on 24/7?  Consumption is high but not surprising for an all-electric flat.  Why no Economy 7?

Does the In Home Display have a live consumption figure on it - some kind of a readout in Watts.  Look at what it's reading and go around turning things off until it gets down to 0.

MWT

We are going in circles a bit here.

The OP has confirmed that BG are getting meter readings from the smart meter

Already explained how to check the accuracy of the meter using known high consumption device like a kettle and already explained how to use the IHD to monitor usage at any moment in time and to look for the high usage items like immersion heater etc.

Also explained that most likely problem is an actual reading only being taken from the old meter at the point it was swapped leading to a large bill due to no previous accurate readings, also warned that final meter readings have been wrong on a few occasions but hard to prove anything without a history of accurate customer readings.

More details will come after OP gets a chance to look at whatever old billing information he has...