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Gas: just received a scary letter from Network Plus

Good afternoon

I am posting this here, rather than in the Gas section, as it is more of a general query. 


I have just received a letter in the post to "The Occupier". It has a Work Order number on it. 

The gist of it is this: 



Gas Safety Notice. 

The gas meter at your property has come to the end of its life cycle. For safety reasons, it is essential we exchange your meter. 

This will not be a smart meter and will have the same fuctionality as your current meter. (And other scary things are stated for homeowners on meters about batteries failing.) 



I presume I can just ignore this and assume it is some sort of marketing ploy or even a scam. 

(I find the tone of this letter is meant to worry and scare us. I do not like it at all.) 
«1

Comments

  • nick74
    nick74 Posts: 829 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    It is probably genuine, meters do need replacing periodically. Why would it be a scam? There won't be any cost to you in having the meter replaced.
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,370 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Gas (and electricity) meters have a fixed working life - This is more to do with calibration & certification rather than any safety issue. The letter is not a scam.

    One piece of advice - Take a clear photo of your old gas meter before it is removed. If the old one meters consumption in cubic feet, the replacement will be metric. Double check your next gas bill to make sure the billing units are correct. If you were on cubic feet and your supplier continues to bill you on that basis, you'll end up paying nearly three times as much.
    Her courage will change the world.

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • Annemos
    Annemos Posts: 993 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Posts
    How often is that Nick74? That they need replacing? 


    The letter says "if you have a Smart Meter, please contact us in order to cancel your appointment".

    So it just does not feel official to me.

    (Lower down it tells us to log into a portal to set up an appointment.)


    The letter has an intimidating tone about it. 

    We have to be so careful as older homeowners. 


  • Not a scam. They want to change the meters over about every 10 years. We had a letter the same about 5 years ago but ignored it. Heard nothing more and all fine!
  • Annemos
    Annemos Posts: 993 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Posts
    Glad to hear you are still in one piece, Troytempest! 
  • nick74
    nick74 Posts: 829 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Depending on the type of meter they have a lifespan of between 10 and 20 years.

    Network Plus are a subcontractor who work on behalf of the energy networks. It is quite common for such letters to be addressed to 'The occupier' as they don't usually have any direct link with your own supplier so don't know your name or any of your personal details.

    https://networkplus.co.uk/services/gas/

  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 17,510 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper PPI Party Pooper
    FreeBear said:
    Gas (and electricity) meters have a fixed working life - This is more to do with calibration & certification rather than any safety issue. The letter is not a scam.

    One piece of advice - Take a clear photo of your old gas meter before it is removed. If the old one meters consumption in cubic feet, the replacement will be metric. Double check your next gas bill to make sure the billing units are correct. If you were on cubic feet and your supplier continues to bill you on that basis, you'll end up paying nearly three times as much.

    How?  If the supplier continues to bill as cubic feet when the meter is reading cubic metres, surely the bill should be approximately 1/35th of the previous bill.  A cubic metre is approximately 35 times larger than a cubic foot.
  • Another_Level
    Another_Level Posts: 285 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 25 August 2021 pm31 1:04PM
    Yes its a genuine request for the customer to allow the gas meter to be exchanged, although the meter exchanger may notice your gas meter does  meet current gas meter exchange policy. So leave's it  :)

    A clear photo of the front index area of your meter will offer more precise reasons why.  But try not to show the actual meter number.

    Its nowt to do with safety although the meter changer will offer other safety information during the exchange, its to do with meter accuracy (some under record-some over record) others will disagree.  All meters will have a date (set by the ministry <3 ) re calibration. 

    Some safety ideas will be generally adopted, every job is different. If unsure ask here  :)
    There saying its not going to be a smart meter, maybe its a conventional SM <3  but just not configured to be smart = dumb meter.

    Just having the same meter and the ability to make them smart, pre pay or quarterly credit is the current business idea.


    Blame the shareholders !

    edited out a not



    Choose Stabila ! 
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 33,584 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 25 August 2021 pm31 1:29PM
    TELLIT01 said:
    FreeBear said:
    Gas (and electricity) meters have a fixed working life - This is more to do with calibration & certification rather than any safety issue. The letter is not a scam.

    One piece of advice - Take a clear photo of your old gas meter before it is removed. If the old one meters consumption in cubic feet, the replacement will be metric. Double check your next gas bill to make sure the billing units are correct. If you were on cubic feet and your supplier continues to bill you on that basis, you'll end up paying nearly three times as much.

    How?  If the supplier continues to bill as cubic feet when the meter is reading cubic metres, surely the bill should be approximately 1/35th of the previous bill.  A cubic metre is approximately 35 times larger than a cubic foot.

    If a metric meter is billed as imperial you will be charged for 2.83 times the actual consumption.  An imperial meter unit is 100 cu ft.
  • Annemos said:
    Glad to hear you are still in one piece, Troytempest! 
    Thank you Annemos, Think you can sleep easy about this!
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