Meter changed - how long have the electric co. got to bill us for the units on the old one?

DigbyD

Hi folks,

we had our gas & electric meters replaced with “smart” meters in September 2020 (Twenty).  

Today (April 2022 (Twenty-two)) we received a note from the supplier saying “we’ve only just been able to add this reading to your account. Sorry for the delay. Now we’ve got the reading, we’ll use it to update your usage numbers and correct your account balance. Then we’ll send you an updated statement.”

Over a year and a half to add a final reading seems a bit extreme, assuming we owe them money what is our position? The previous 2020 bill was an estimated - the last actual reading was (one we took) in April 2020.

I assume any charges will be at the rate we were paying in September 2020, is this correct?

Thanks

QrizB

Your supplier is likely to recalculate your April-to-September 2020 bill using the now-available readings. This will be done at the rates applicable then.

Depending on how good the estimate was, there could be a payment due in either direction. Being a summer's worth it's not likely to be huge.

If you're still with the same supplier, the back-billing rules are unlikely to help you.

Mobtr

DigbyD said:

Hi folks,

we had our gas & electric meters replaced with “smart” meters in September 2020 (Twenty).  

Today (April 2022 (Twenty-two)) we received a note from the supplier saying “we’ve only just been able to add this reading to your account. Sorry for the delay. Now we’ve got the reading, we’ll use it to update your usage numbers and correct your account balance. Then we’ll send you an updated statement.”

Over a year and a half to add a final reading seems a bit extreme, assuming we owe them money what is our position? The previous 2020 bill was an estimated - the last actual reading was (one we took) in April 2020.

I assume any charges will be at the rate we were paying in September 2020, is this correct?

Thanks

Have you had any bills since the new meters were installed? Did your energy company originally use an estimate for the final reading of the old meter & now updated it with the correct one? If you’ve had no bills, billing code may apply depending on your payment method. If you have had bills then it probably won’t 

bagand96

They might owe you money.... Depends on how accurate the estimate was. But as above any credit/debit will be calculated at the tariff rates you were on at the time. 

DigbyD

Thanks folks.  

We’re still with the same supplier and have had bills from them.  I’ve dug out the bills from the relevant period and the “closing readings” for the gas is “read” but the electric is an “estimate”.

We’ll wait and see how their readings compare with the bills.

Thanks again.

youravinalarrrf

If your smart meter installer was any good at their job the likelihood is that they will have stuck a label on each of your smart meters showing the final meter reading of the meter the new smart meter replaced.