Impossible Bill - Collection agency

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...

dogshome

Sorry to be throwing yet another spanner, but about 3 months ago there was a similar thread running that in the end was resolved by the supplier admitting that the Smart Meter they had fitted was not Brand New and had been in previous service elsewhere, thus the customers bills based on a 00000 read on installation were pure fantasy.

My understanding is that when meters are removed and then re-used they are first checked for accuracy, perhaps some other contributor knows how to access this meters papertrail

tim_p

I’m sure you’re right dogshome but it just reinforces the oft stated crucial recommendation to read the meter, particularly if it’s being changed / replaced. Had the OP read (and ideally photographed) the meter when it was replaced then the chances are none of this would have happened, unless of course it is a genuinely faulty meter - but again at least a start reading would go some way to helping with that.

Talldave

dogshome said:

Sorry to be throwing yet another spanner, but about 3 months ago there was a similar thread running that in the end was resolved by the supplier admitting that the Smart Meter they had fitted was not Brand New and had been in previous service elsewhere, thus the customers bills based on a 00000 read on installation were pure fantasy.

My understanding is that when meters are removed and then re-used they are first checked for accuracy, perhaps some other contributor knows how to access this meters papertrail

Very true, this was once the basis of a year long argument between myself and npower (and the reason I would never do business with them again, immediately switching away when I've found them to be the incumbent supplier on moving into a property).  In my case, the paperwork with the non-zero start figure existed, it was just that npower had lost or never received their copy and refused my offer to send a scan of my yellow copy for a year, until I started making noises about regulator/ombudsman involvement.

MWT

In this case even recent customer meter readings show a high usage level for the time of year and those would not be affected by a non-zero start number. So the high winter readings remain plausible at the moment, pending more details.