Can I change supplier whilst I am unable to provide a meter reading?

Puzzled202

Hi all

A couple of years ago I was with First Utility/Shell and had smart meters installed and initially they worked fine. However I then changed supplier to Yorkshire Energy, and after a few months the gas meter died on me - it stopped communicating and i was unable to get manual meter reading as it will not 'wake up' when i press the buttons on it. It seems as if the battery is simply flat.

So for nearly 2 years I've been unable to provide a gas meter reading and have been billed on estimates. I obviously raised this with Yorkshire Energy and was put on a list for an engineer to visit to investigate however Covid then hit, and Yorkshire Energy went under last December. I was transferred to Scottish Power so raised the issue straight away with them, and 6 months later I'm still waiting for an engineer to visit and have been getting estimated gas bills from them too.

The long and short of it is that I am now about to be moved onto a more expensive tariff (about £600 more each year) so would like to move to a cheaper supplier. However I am unable to sign up as the new suppliers all (understandably) need opening readings.

Do you think I could simply provide them with the estimate from my most recent bill as the opening read? Or am I trapped with Scottish Power until an engineer can fix the gas meter?

Thanks in advance

Gerry1

You should have raised a letter headed COMPLAINT by snail mail and gone to the ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or after eight weeks if they don't send one.  It's not too late - Don't Delay, Do It Today !

Reed_Richards

If you don't provide a reading then I think you can still change suppliers.  Your final reading will be estimated.  It quite often happens that your final reading is estimated even if you do provide one.

niktheguru

As gerry said, complain complain complain. Then go to ombudsman if not dealt with.
Yes a 6 month delay because of covid is reasonable, but there is no excuse now not to deal with it. 

It really depends if you've been happy with what they've been estimating? If the meter is dead then likely they'll just start you on zero when its sorted. (if you think they've been overestimating, then that can be more painful)

Puzzled202

Thanks folks, I've just fired off an official complaint to them now fingers crossed that will move them along a bit.