Ampy Electrocard Meter - Price Per Unit kwh?

Liam14884

I moved into my new place (room in a shared house) last week and it is fitted with an ampy electrocard meter. I was told when signing that I had to buy the prepayment cards direct from the landlord but the electricity lasts a long time. In the last week its cost me about £20, all I've had running is a shower, tv and kettle as it is a room in a shared house and this seems like an awful lot to me.

The ampy meter is set to RATE 1 0.65.00PPU does this mean I am paying 65p per kWh?

Thanks.

MWT

Your landlord is not allowed to make a profit from the resale of electricity so if that is 65p/kWh then either he is on an atrocious tariff, or he is unlawfully profiting from the resale of the electricity...

You should be able to display the kWh used and the remaining balance of the cards added so just check the usage and your balance to confirm how much is being deducted per kWh...

matelodave

As said above, the landlord can only charge you what he pays and cannot make a profit - see here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/what-your-landlord-can-charge-for-energy/
and here - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/74486/11782-resaleupdateoct05pdf
there's lots of other advice & info on t'interweb so it's worthwhile having a trawl and getting yourself informed so you can challenge your LL if you think you are being overcharged

Liam14884

Thanks I will have a look at those links see if I can find out what to do next.
I got in touch with the person I signed the contract with who is in contact with the landlord and they confirmed that the 65ppu is correct, I explained that this price seems ridiculously expensive but they have not got back in touch. Here is the meter in question.

MWT

I would suggest talking to Shelter about how to deal with this problem, I'd also start considering your options to move somewhere else as soon as possible and avoid property with this sort of metering in future.

Gerry1

Make sure you get a refund for all the overcharging.  Tell the other occupants and Trading Standards, perhaps after you've moved out.  There's no need to pay more than about 12p - 15p per kWh.

MWT

Also check the daily 'standing charge' rate on the meter, STCH I believe...

Liam14884

MWT said:

I would suggest talking to Shelter about how to deal with this problem, I'd also start considering your options to move somewhere else as soon as possible and avoid property with this sort of metering in future.

Not sure where I stand as like I said I signed up to a 12 month contract only last week.

MWT said:

Also check the daily 'standing charge' rate on the meter, STCH I believe...

The meter doesn't have a standing charge its just the 65ppu.

Gerry1 said:

Make sure you get a refund for all the overcharging.  Tell the other occupants and Trading Standards, perhaps after you've moved out.  There's no need to pay more than about 12p - 15p per kWh.

 When I mentioned UK average was around 15p I was told that it wasn't and that because the house is old and large it will cost more, also told that the 65p includes the landlords cards, maintenance and admin fees. Before I moved in there was 1 meter for 2 rooms and thats why it was set to 65p and they don't see why it may be an issue.

The only thing that I can see that might make sense is that the meter was set to 65p per day as a standing charge and then maybe have a really low kWh price and when they installed the new meter for the next room they put the price at 65ppu by mistake, as the new meter is set to 1ppu but the room is currently unoccupied.

All I know is I am paying over 4 times the amount per kWh, but not sure what to do next as I can only get the payment cards from my landlord direct and signed up for a 12 month contract just over a week ago.

matelodave

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/74486/11782-resaleupdateoct05pdf - try printing this off and giving it to the Landlord and then requesting a copy of his energy bill for the house and details of his calculations as you intend to refer it to Trading Standards to establish whether his charging is fair and legal. This might motivate him to sort it out in advance of an official investigation.
Theoretically, he should not charge you any more per unit than what he pays himself and should give you a separate ITEMISED bill for any additional cost such as standing charges or admin fees - they should not be rolled up into the meter costs.

tim_p

Start with @MWT suggestion and talk to Shelter.  If you’re paying £20 a week in the summer months then depending on the heating in the place you might be looking at something prohibitively expensive come the winter.  If the landlord has already said the cost is high to reflect his costs (cards etc) then he’s obviously wise to the regulations and is set to profit massively from you and anyone else living there.
The best thing you can do is move out of his cash cow. Talking to the authorities too might get him to do you a favour and chuck you out anyway. Seriously, you don’t need this rip off. 

Gerry1

Liam14884 said:

Gerry1 said:

Make sure you get a refund for all the overcharging.  Tell the other occupants and Trading Standards, perhaps after you've moved out.  There's no need to pay more than about 12p - 15p per kWh.

When I mentioned UK average was around 15p I was told that it wasn't and that because the house is old and large it will cost more, also told that the 65p includes the landlords cards, maintenance and admin fees. Before I moved in there was 1 meter for 2 rooms and thats why it was set to 65p and they don't see why it may be an issue.

That's total codswallop, there's no tariff that charges 65p/kWh.  You may use more kWh to stay warm in a house that's old and large, but the cost of each kWh varies only with region, not the age and size of the house.  Similarly, if the meter served half a dozen rooms you might use more kWh, but it would not make each kWh cost more.

You can find out the energy company being used at the address by finding out who is your DNO and then visiting their website.  If it's XYZ Energy, you can then show that you mean business by asking the landlord 'which XYZ Energy tariff are you are on and what are their rates?'.

It's legitimate that the meter is set up so that you pay your share of the standing charge, but if that's 25p/day and there are four people then you should not pay more than £0.44 per week.  Make sure that the STCH/WK entry does not exceed this.  Similarly, make sure that the meter has not been set up to reclaim any debt: the entries for T.DEBT and DEBT/WK should both be 0.00 and the FXDCH/WK should not exceed the £0.44 figure.