Bulb rejected my gas meter readings

lizziesharks

Throughout this year, I have submitted Gas meter readings to Bulb on three occasions. Each time they rejected the readings and went with their own estimate.  Even when I sent a photograph of the reading, they still rejected it.  Now they have informed me that I am £542 in arrears and that I need to double my monthly payments.  Are they allowed to reject a photograph of a meter reading?  If they had contacted me to check the first reading, I wouldn’t have this large backlog to pay!

Robin9

Could you send us the photo and tell us what the readings were please ?

lizziesharks

Hi Robin, thanks for the response.  Attached are photos of the meter readings from January and April.  I also attach a screenshot of the correspondence received from Bulb, which outlines each of the readings vs estimates.
I fully expect to have to pay the amount, as I took my eye off the ball with reviewing bills. However, I am concerned that bulb may be tricking their customers into thinking they are the cheapest supplier, where in fact, they are not accurately dealing with higher than expected meter readings. 

Robin9

Its the consumption thats the issue
3971 in Sept 2019 and 5749 in Sept 2020 is 1749 m3 = nearly 20,000 kWh and is about double a typical 3 bed semi.

Have you a very large house ?

Matthaus73

Is that a landis gyr 310p meter ?
Do u use a lot of gas ? 
If not first thing i would do is check the meter is working properly as these meters have been known to go faulty.

Ectophile

Given that it's a Landis+Gyr meter, watch it carefully.  They made a bad batch of them with a known fault.

When things turn colder, watch to see if the display ever shows a letter 'b' after the reading.  If it does, badger the gas company to get it replaced.  It means the battery has failed.

Also, check that the meter isn't creeping up when you aren't using any gas - all your appliances are off.  If it is creeping up then it's either a faulty meter or a gas leak.  Either way, it needs addressing.

lizziesharks

@Robin9 - I live in a 3 bedroom semi! Gas central heating and gas cooker are the only gas appliances I use.  The only thing that changed is that my daughter moved back home following graduation in June 2019, but she prefers a cooler room, so her room is rarely heated.
@Matthaus73 and @Ectophile - thank you so much for the info on the meter.  This was installed around 3 years ago by British Gas, along with a smart monitor things. When we switched to Bulb, we stopped using the smart monitor.

So, (final question, hopefully), do I contact British Gas regarding the actual meter, given they installed it, or should I reach out to Bulb (the latter of which fills me with dread, given some of the posts I’ve seen on here...).

Thank you so much, all of you.  This has been a tremendous source of help to me.
🥰

Matthaus73

First u need to check for yourself if it is actually the meter that is faulty https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/find-out-if-your-energy-meter-is-faulty/#:~:text=If the meter is still,for it to be tested.
You need to be fairly sure as you will be charged if no problem is found.
Take plenty of readings over the next few days and compare to previous usage to see if there actually is a problem