New property - very high bills- faulty meter?

Nozmo123

Hi there,

I'm looking for some advice and this forum has been recommended to me.

I purchased a property in Dec 2020 as a first time buyer. As it was across the country from where I was renting at the time, due to Covid, I was unable to move in until Feb 21. Crucially, I was not able to get a meter reading until I moved in in Feb. I figured this would not be a huge issue as there was no-one in the property and nothing switched on between Dec and Feb (the property was completely empty, boiler on holiday mode, nothing else in the property).

I spoke to my energy provider (there is gas heating, hob and showers in the property, everything else electric) the day I moved in with meter readings from that morning. All set up successfully and I've been paying by direct debit ever since.

I received a bill in Mar time that showed my consumption between Dec and Feb (i.e. while I owned the property but before I moved in) as £600. This is a huge amount for three months given that my bills are usually around £60 a month (two person household). Electric seems to be the suspect with it showing incredibly high usage (around 6,000kwh over those first three months despite nothing electric being in the property).


I spoke to the energy company who recommended a smart meter and to see what my consumption was for a 6 month period and to call back. I agreed to the smart meter and have received monthly bills since, none of which have been over £60 for gas and electric combined.

I'm getting ready to ring the provider again in the next fortnight and wanted to see if anyone had experienced anything similar? I'm really confused as to how it could have happened in the first place (faulty meter? Incorrect meter reading from the person leaving? System error?) and I'm worried about trying to pay off the extra £600 that is currently showing on my account (although I have paid off my bills for my actual usage every month on time).

Any thoughts?

Reed_Richards

Do I take it that you are paying monthly in arrears for gas and electricity actually consumed so your bills vary from one month to the next (not a fixed Direct Debit)?  And your Smart Meter is working as it should and so your bills are based on actual readings?

If your old electricity meter was faulty that would be difficult to prove as it's gone now.  And you would think the previous owner might have noticed in a property that does not use electricity for heating.  My bet is that there was an incorrect meter reading from the person leaving.  But that could only pass unnoticed if the previous owner had been having bills based on under-estimates of the true reading for some time.  So unless your electricity supplier can see that this reading is suspiciously low I'm not sure anything can be done in this case.  

QrizB

Somebody will have given your energy supplier an opening reading from the day you took over the property on December. It sounds to me that these readings might have been low, so you are paying for the previous owner's use.

Who gave these readings - was it your solicitor, the seller's estate agent or someone else? What readings did they give?

niktheguru

QrizB said:

Somebody will have given your energy supplier an opening reading from the day you took over the property on December. It sounds to me that these readings might have been low, so you are paying for the previous owner's use.

Who gave these readings - was it your solicitor, the seller's estate agent or someone else? What readings did they give?

or, more likely based on the first post, the OP contacted the supplier when they moved in, gave them a meter reading from that day in feb, and said they owned the property since december, then the supplier has either estimated the use from dec to march, or if they were the incumbent supplier from the previous owner may have used their readings which could have been wrong.

Was this a new build or did someone live there. If a new build perhaps the high readings are from the contractors use in the property and they didn't pay up correctly before you took over supply.

Best to call them, explain the situation and try to make a compromise. They should have enough meter readings to see your usage and explain due to covid you werne't even in the property before that, so you shouldn't have to pay 600!!

Nozmo123

Thanks for the quick responses!

To answer a few queries:

I do pay by Direct Debit monthly but I also get a bill monthly -my direct debit clears the amount every month although my account is still in debit due to the £600 from the very beginning.

The property was owned by a landlord previously and the tenant had moved out over the Summer.

Neither I or anyone on my behalf took meter readings on completion day (completely dropped the ball there I fully recognise!) Not an excuse,but I was shielding and couldn't travel.

I'm not sure if the vendor took meter readings- we did stay with the incumbent supplier.

Looks like I may be out of luck on this one but will try and plead my case with the energy provider anyway - £600 is 10 months worth of my usage so a huge amount to be paying for 3 months I wasnt even in the property. Idiot tax I guess for not taking the readings!

niktheguru

So what is the opening reading of the property on your bills? Does it have an E as "estimated". Speak to the provider and ask when the closing reading was for the previous owner and what reading they gave. You never know the previous landlord may have given an unusually low dishonest reading, or didn't read it at all, or perhaps didn't even re register once tenants left. Make sure you are only being billed for the duration you are being charged.

It is definitely worth putting a complaint in. Make it a formal written complaint. If it doesn't resolve your situation then go to the ombudsman. 
If you can prove 1. you were shielding elsewhere, 2. your monthly use since you moved in is far lower than what is being billed, 3; the circumstances that meant you werent able to provide a meter reading then perhaps, and it is a perhaps they will intervene.
To be asked to pay 10months worth of your usage for a 3 month period is harsh!

brewerdave

niktheguru said:

So what is the opening reading of the property on your bills? Does it have an E as "estimated". Speak to the provider and ask when the closing reading was for the previous owner and what reading they gave. You never know the previous landlord may have given an unusually low dishonest reading, or didn't read it at all, or perhaps didn't even re register once tenants left. Make sure you are only being billed for the duration you are being charged.

Most likely explanation !!