Responsibility for gas leak

Booge

Hi

I currently live in a flat in London. I’m completing a house purchase on Friday so will be moving out. 

A few months back I had a gas leak through the gas meter itself. Because it is a block of flats, the meter is in a separate meter room in a tower that is separated from the rest of the building. Because of this, the gas leak was not noticed for a long time, until the person that maintains the building went into the tower and noticed the gas smell. The concierge called the emergency gas hotline and someone came out from Cadent. At this point I was advised by Cadent that because the leak was from the meter itself, I needed to get EON out to replace it. I had to go about a week with no gas before EON would come out. 

When they did, I took a meter reading and reported it to EOn at this point before the new meter was put in. 

I am informed by EON that the reading is much higher than my historical usage and have had a letter arrive saying my monthly payments now need to triple to pay back the debt that has built up over and above my normal monthly payment (except that I’m moving out soon so I will have to pay an extra £400 before I move out according to this) 

I haven’t been using any more gas than last year so I’m assuming this additional cost is coming from their meter leaking. 

Can I argue that I am not due to pay so much and that the leak from their meter is what is driving the cost up? I don’t know how they would estimate how much is caused by the leak though. 

Many thanks

Jonathan 

theoretica

Certainly you should argue that - the worst that can happen is they say no.  How much less gas was used last year would seem the starting point for working out how much might have been lost in the leak.

jefaz07

For your bills to triple the gas escape would’ve been massive. It would’ve been identified long before it was!  

theoretica

Good point - how many of your bills were on actual readings, and how many estimated?

jefaz07

And where on the gas meter was the escape? On the test point as a result of over tightening? (Most common) 

imeach

Most leaks I come across are before the meter 

Curiousgirl1

I wasn’t aware that the meter itself could leak, thought it was the pipe work either before or after the meter, but happy to be proved wrong - every day’s a school day.
the fact that the gas has gone through the meter & clocked up on the reading would indicate it’s after the meter, therefore your responsibility. If it was before the meter it’s networks but wouldn’t affect your reading as leaked prior to going through the meter. 

jefaz07

Curiousgirl1 said:

I wasn’t aware that the meter itself could leak, thought it was the pipe work either before or after the meter, but happy to be proved wrong - every day’s a school day.
the fact that the gas has gone through the meter & clocked up on the reading would indicate it’s after the meter, therefore your responsibility. If it was before the meter it’s networks but wouldn’t affect your reading as leaked prior to going through the meter. 

The meter can certainly leak. Normally at the outlet…so this would be billed. But it wouldn’t be a £400 leak. 

I have had instances of escapes around the dials. Not sure if that would be billed. Again, certainly not £400

welshmoneylover

For a £400 leak, the building would not be standing!
the leakage would have been very small; sounds as if you used the gas 

[Deleted User]

 If you genuinely suspect that there is a leak, then report it, and have your piping checked by someone who knows what they are doing. That said, any leak on the house side of the meter will be your responsibility to fix.

That said, before doing so I would do a sniff test; I would also check to see if gas is being metered/used with everything turned off, and I would use very soapy water just to check that pipe connections that I could see are not leaking (including the gas meter pressure test point).

If you suspect the meter,  then your supplier will agree to a change; however, if the removed meter is found to be within test limits then a replacement meter charge will be levied by the supplier. 

elsien

[Deleted User] said:

 If you genuinely suspect that there is a leak, then report it, and have your piping checked by someone who knows what they are doing. That said, any leak on the house side of the meter will be your responsibility to fix.

That said, before doing so I would do a sniff test; I would also check to see if gas is being metered/used with everything turned off, and I would use very soapy water just to check that pipe connections that I could see are not leaking (including the gas meter pressure test point).

If you suspect the meter,  then your supplier will agree to a change; however, if the removed meter is found to be within test limits then a replacement meter charge will be levied by the supplier. 

If you re-read the OP it states that there was a leak and it has now been revisited. The debate is about the subsequent bill.