Energy bills were under-estimated for 2 years after finally getting meter reading...what to do

Farrella

I let my sister live in my flat from 1st covid lockdown (2 years ago) til now.  She paid the electric and gas bills, but she never read the meters as she didn't have the key to the meter cupboard and she also didn't really pay attention as the "green" energy company always used estimates and never checked the meters themselves (do they ever check?).  Anyway, we now have the key and it turns out the estimates are about 20% lower than real meter readings, assuming the first meter reading was correct (she has no idea as she never checked, but she is not a high energy user so it was surprising that her usage is above average).  As it happens, energy prices are much higher now.

Should she

1) Challenge the first meter reading as she suspects it was wrongly estimated too?  No one did an actual reading, lockdown didn't help

2) Ask energy company to recalculate the last 2 years' bills based on the prices at the time rather than today's price?

If she has to pay for the difference based on today's energy price rather than the price of the past 2 years, the total would be of course be a lot higher as unit price has gone from 10p to 21p

[Deleted User]

Hi,

what was last actual reading used and when, what is reading now?

The unit prices will have changed over time, but the different prices would only be used as the new prices were introduced.

Have a trawl through her bills to find these.

Curiousgirl1

You can certainly request the energy company rebills the account back to the beginning to spread out the usage on the different prices, they should do that. 

With regards to the initial reading it will be difficult to prove it’s wrong after 2 years if there are no other readings to go on. 

You say it’s your flat, did you not take a reading at the time? It is the customers responsibility to take initial/closing reads, no energy company would come out to do that covid or no covid. 

Farrella

In her previous flat the energy company came and did readings twice a year so she assumed that would be the same. She thinks the first reading was an estimate as she never did a single reading (no access) and the company never did a reading either.  I have not been at the flat at all.  Do some energy companies never come out to do the readings themselves?  How do they know if the first reading is correct?  This flat was vacant for 18 months before she moved in, the last actual reading could have been before it was vacant.

The difference between the actual reading today and the estimated reading on the bill is about 3000 units.  That was incurred over 25 months, so if the first reading was correct then her usage has been underestimated by about 125 units per month, which would have been £13 a month 2 years ago but now it's £26 a month!  She suspects the first estimated reading was wrong but like you said that is hard to prove

MWT

Farrella said:

Do some energy companies never come out to do the readings themselves?  How do they know if the first reading is correct?  This flat was vacant for 18 months before she moved in, the last actual reading could have been before it was vacant.

No, the first reading is always someone's last reading so it just marks the point where one bill stops and another begins so accuracy doesn't really matter too much to the energy supplier as someone is paying for the usage regardless and generally the other party can be relied upon to complain if there is a significant difference.

Even if the flat was empty, someone will have to have been paying the standing charges and if that was your flat, the bill should have been in your name for that period, was that the case?

[Deleted User]

Farrella said:

In her previous flat the energy company came and did readings twice a year

Suppliers no longer have to read meters. This obligation was dropped some years ago. Today’s requirement is that suppliers must obtain a meter reading once every 12 months. Was your sister ever asked to provide a meter reading? Some suppliers have this requirement in their terms and conditions.

Merlin139

You as the owner and technically sub letting the flat to your sister even at no rent paid to you would have been responsible for reading the meter at the beginning. Has your sister taken over the Gas and Electricity in her name or is it still in your name?

Contact the energy company and ask for them to amend the bills based on the actual usage over the period since the last actual read.

Curiousgirl1

Farrella said:

In her previous flat the energy company came and did readings twice a year so she assumed that would be the same. She thinks the first reading was an estimate as she never did a single reading (no access) and the company never did a reading either.  I have not been at the flat at all.  Do some energy companies never come out to do the readings themselves?  How do they know if the first reading is correct?  This flat was vacant for 18 months before she moved in, the last actual reading could have been before it was vacant.

The difference between the actual reading today and the estimated reading on the bill is about 3000 units.  That was incurred over 25 months, so if the first reading was correct then her usage has been underestimated by about 125 units per month, which would have been £13 a month 2 years ago but now it's £26 a month!  She suspects the first estimated reading was wrong but like you said that is hard to prove

Energy companies do sometimes come out & read the meters in normal times, but the last couple of years have not been normal times. 

If you own the flat & it had been empty for 18 months, were you getting the bills? If as you say the last reading may have been before the property became vacant, why, did you as the owner, not take any readings during that time. 

Also how did your sister not have access to the meter but now does? 

It’s also a lot longer than 2 years ago when tariff prices were as low as 10 per kWh 

QrizB

Getting back to the original question ...

Farrella said:

Should she

1) Challenge the first meter reading as she suspects it was wrongly estimated too?  No one did an actual reading, lockdown didn't help

2) Ask energy company to recalculate the last 2 years' bills based on the prices at the time rather than today's price?

You don't have any grounds for challenging the first meter reading. You will have set up an account when you bought the flat, and will have supplied (or at least agreed) a meter reading then. If your sister has changed the account into her name (has she?) she will have agreed an opening reading too.

If you give your energy company your current reading they will recalculate all your previous estimated bills. You will pay for the extra energy based on the difference between your original estimated bills and your new one.

In future, of course, you'll be giving meter readings regularly and this problem won't recur.

Farrella

Curiousgirl1 said:

Farrella said:

In her previous flat the energy company came and did readings twice a year so she assumed that would be the same. She thinks the first reading was an estimate as she never did a single reading (no access) and the company never did a reading either.  I have not been at the flat at all.  Do some energy companies never come out to do the readings themselves?  How do they know if the first reading is correct?  This flat was vacant for 18 months before she moved in, the last actual reading could have been before it was vacant.

The difference between the actual reading today and the estimated reading on the bill is about 3000 units.  That was incurred over 25 months, so if the first reading was correct then her usage has been underestimated by about 125 units per month, which would have been £13 a month 2 years ago but now it's £26 a month!  She suspects the first estimated reading was wrong but like you said that is hard to prove

Energy companies do sometimes come out & read the meters in normal times, but the last couple of years have not been normal times. 

If you own the flat & it had been empty for 18 months, were you getting the bills? If as you say the last reading may have been before the property became vacant, why, did you as the owner, not take any readings during that time. 

Also how did your sister not have access to the meter but now does? 

It’s also a lot longer than 2 years ago when tariff prices were as low as 10 per kWh 

The flat required a major refurb which took many months so the electric bills didn't start til long after I bought the flat (in hindsight it is strange that there were no bills during the refurb and the energy company was happy to wait til the flat was livable before charging...the gas was turned off for safety reasons and electrics had to be totally rewired). 

The previous tenant/owner did a runner long before the sale.  They certainly never took a reading before the sale! 

My sister took over the bills after the refurb.  She didn't "agree" to any readings, she just assumed they were correct as that was her previous experience in her last flat.  Basically she lost her job and then covid lasted much longer than originally anticipated, so she stayed for 2 years instead of 2 months

The meter was in a locked cupboard, she didn't have the key before but now she does.  She didn't realise the first reading and then all other readings were estimates until I asked her to check.  This is the first time she has lived alone haha...

turnitround

But surely you did a meter reading yourself on the day you became owner of the flat. The previous owner doing a runner could have left you with a lot of debt and unless you took a reading at the very start of the ownership you have no proof to fall back on if this was the case.

Whenever you buy a property or sell a property its the thing you must do on the last/first day of ownership.
You say your sister took over the bills. Do you mean she had them put in her name ?