Ongoing dispute with OFGEM over Gas meter readings when Peoples energy went bust.

Logix

Hi, 

When I joined Peoples energy the initial gas reading handed over from Scottish power was incorrect(I was with SP because Yorkshire energy had gone bust!), and didn't tally with my meter. I therefore notified PE, who raised a formal dispute with OFGEM. Wind forward 7 months and PE have gone bust and unfortunately I'm now with British gas. How will this legacy dispute with OFGEM be handled? Will it just be transferred across to BG to continue with? I've had almost 2 years of only paying estimated bills for my gas with nothing to quantify if I was over or under paying. I'm a bit concerned that BG will exacerbate the problem. thanks in advance.

MWT

Complaints about a particular supplier end if the supplier loses their license, so you will have to start again with BG if you disagree with the meter reading for the handover to them from PE.

You may already have covered this in the past, but I hope you do realize that the meter readings at the point of hand-over between suppliers are subject to an industry process which can adjust them so they do not have to exactly match your actual reading...

Just how different was the original 'incorrect' reading?

Your final bill from the administrators of PE will be between you and them without any recourse to the Ombudsman.

[Deleted User]

Suppliers do not raise a dispute with Ofgem. If the handover reading is outside of certain industry tolerances (> 108m3 for gas and >250kWhs for electricity), then the suppliers can enter into an Agreed Readings Dispute. You could have raised a complaint and then after 8 weeks escalated it to The Energy Ombudsman if PE hadn't come up with an acceptable response. All that said, any escalated complaints against PE will now be closed down as the failed company no longer holds a Supply Licence.

If the opening and closing readings agreed, then the difference in price to you is likely to be small. Let us say that I paid the old supplier an extra £40 for 400 units that I had not received (ie; my actual meter reading was 400 units fewer than the meter). If the old unit price was 10p/kWh and the new unit price was 12p/kWh, I would have actually saved £8 by overpaying my old supplier £40.

Curiousgirl1

What are the readings the suppliers are using compared to what’s on your meter? Is it completely different and does the meter serial number on your bills correspond with what’s on the meter? 

Logix

From memory they were quoting a very low double figure ie 30 or 40, and my meter read in the 1000's, so a 1000 scmh difference approx. The meter serial is correct.

Regarding the dispute, they were PE's words for what they needed to do to query the reading they said with the "regulator", I assume they really meant an "Agreed readings dispute" as mentioned above then - who do these go to if not OFGEM?

[Deleted User]

Logix said:

From memory they were quoting a very low double figure ie 30 or 40, and my meter read in the 1000's, so a 1000 scmh difference approx. The meter serial is correct.

Regarding the dispute, they were PE's words for what they needed to do to query the reading they said with the "regulator", I assume they really meant an "Agreed readings dispute" as mentioned above then - who do these go to if not OFGEM?

There is an Agreed Readings Dispute procedure approved by Ofgem. Just so you know, the losing supplier plays no part in the switching process so it is wrong to suggest that PE failed to use the initial gas reading provided by Scottish Power. The gaining supplier manages the switching process. Part of this process is for its appointed data collector to validate the meter reading that you have provided. Once validated, the reading is passed on to the gaining and losing suppliers to open and close your accounts. FWiW, I have no idea what the acronym ‘scmh’ stands for.

https://octopus.energy/blog/secret-life-opening-meter-reading/

Agreed Readings Dispute Procedures:

https://www.mrasco.com/download/7111/

Curiousgirl1

Is this for gas or electric & is your meter a smart meter? Could be that it stopped communicating & was just giving the reading from when it stopped but still advanced on the meter. BG should be able to sort it for you, will probably need to send in photo of the meter showing the reading.  Not sure what will happen to bills from other companies but you should be able to argue that one out 

[Deleted User]

Curiousgirl1 said:

Is this for gas or electric & is your meter a smart meter? Could be that it stopped communicating & was just giving the reading from when it stopped but still advanced on the meter. BG should be able to sort it for you, will probably need to send in photo of the meter showing the reading.  Not sure what will happen to bills from other companies but you should be able to argue that one out 

Why would BG have any interest in a switch reading that goes back 7 months? I fear that the OP has let this one fester far too long.

Curiousgirl1

Because they need an accurate reading to start their account & even if a supplier goes bust a reading can still be disputed. 

BG starts their account on an accurate read, disputes it with Peoples which will be done ‘in house’ as they are now essentially one and the same then comes to an arrangement for the 7 months worth of energy from when Peoples supplied. 

I agree this shouldn’t have gone on for so long & the OP should have chased it up. That’s sometimes the issue with small suppliers, they don’t always know what they’re doing. 

Logix

Ok, thanks everyone for the replies. Hopefully BG will sort this then - fingers crossed.

scmh = standard cubic metres an hour btw

Logix

Oh, and I have a non-smart meter