UW trying to charge for electricity I never used.

randomkags

Hi all, 

my previous post was in regards to a defunct electricity meter that was present in this property when we moved in. It’s now been removed and no longer showing on my bill which is great. However I now have another problem that UW are wanting to charge me over £500 for energy use from this meter. 

I have sent the photo evidence of the two meters and it clearly evidences that the meter has not recorded any energy use since the day I moved into until the day it was removed. 

Initially the meter did not show on my bill but after three months living here they suddenly started to take a direct debit for estimated use on this meter. This is when I raised it as an issue  and they refunded the money paid. And acknowledged the error. However they continued to estimate and again I complained until they finally removed the meter in Feb. The technician took a pic of the removed meter and as the estimate number differed  from the actual number on the meter they now want to charge me the difference which is over £500. This has been going in since April when they sent me a demand for the money. I’ve provided the photo evidence of the meter when I moved in and it’s for the date and time as was taken on my iPhone and is clearly next to the working meter so evidences the reading of the meter provided when we moved in for the working meter. And also the reading on the defunct meter 

Today they are saying I still owe them the money  due to the difference In the meter readings for the defunct meter. Please can someone help. I’m sick with worry and cried this morning and it takes a lot so I now go to the ombudsman? I’ve never had debts for anything and this is really worrying me even though I know they are on the wrong. 

Please help. Apologies for the lengthy and no doubt littered with error in this post. 

Mstty

I think this is the start to you agreeing with UW a reasonable energy use for the past year.

Just because your meter is broke doesn't mean until it is fixed you don't pay for any energy.

Farway

Have you followed or tried their offical complaints procedure or is it just by phone so far?

You'll need to have been down the offical complaint route first before going to Ombudman

details here if not already done so, make surte your communication is headed COMPLAINT to stop any possible misunderstanding, try and keep it brief with facts not feelings

Robin9

Just because your meter is broke doesn't mean until it is fixed you don't pay for any energy.

@randomkags  You use the word "defunct"  - do you mean not in use (ie not supplying anything at all) or broken (as in not recording the energy which goes through it

wild666

What I have been doing for years is taking daily readings of my usage and it's around 3.7 kWh most days and one day of 8 or 9 kWh so a maximum of just over 32 kWh per week. I would then use that and multiply the figure by the number of weeks the meter was faulty, 52 weeks would be  1622.4 kWh, if paying 20p per kWh then that would be around £325 using my figures and paying 20p per kWh, this figure could be more or less depending on the tariff you are on. 
They will have taken the SC when they did bill you so any usage should only be for the energy used. 

MWT

Mstty said:

I think this is the start to you agreeing with UW a reasonable energy use for the past year.

Just because your meter is broke doesn't mean until it is fixed you don't pay for any energy.

I may have missed something, but as per the other post, this isn't a faulty meter, it was a de-energized meter that had not been removed.

randomkags said:

Today they are saying I still owe them the money  due to the difference In the meter readings for the defunct meter. Please can someone help. I’m sick with worry and cried this morning and it takes a lot so I now go to the ombudsman? I’ve never had debts for anything and this is really worrying me even though I know they are on the wrong.

As per the earlier post, if you have not already done so, you need to raise this as an official compliant with UW, as you can't go to the Ombudsman without completing their complaints process or getting a 'deadlock letter' from them.
Just stick to the basic point that this was a de-energized meter and so there was no use recorded as per the photos.

You are not entitled to receive a refund of the standing charges for that meter, but their should be no charge for estimated use.

Astria

I don't think I understand your post.

"the meter has not recorded any energy use since the day I moved into until the day it was removed"

" The technician took a pic of the removed meter and as the estimate number differed  from the actual number on the meter they now want to charge me the difference which is over £500."

Is the picture the technician took show the same reading as the one you took?

Or are you saying they are trying to charge you for an estimate when the meter was showing a lower reading?

Or are they assuming the meter is faulty (not recording usage) and estimating your usage? (which they can do if they have past usage figures)

randomkags

Hi all, 

Just for some clarification - sorry I wrote my post in a stress filled haze! 

 I’ll try to answer all your questions. 

Mstty said:

I think this is the start to you agreeing with UW a reasonable energy use for the past year.

Just because your meter is broke doesn't mean until it is fixed you don't pay for any 

The meter was de energised so was not supplying any electricity to the home from that meter.  It was not broken and if so I know I would still need to pay for energy 

pochase

I understand your post as follows

- when you moved in there were two meters. You took photos of both meters showing the reading when you moved in
- you gave the meter reading for the real meter you are using. Did you also give a reading for the second meter
- for the first three month you bill showed only your main meter, after 3 months suddenly the second meter showed up with estimated usage
- there is no usage on the second meter at all, reading stays the same
- supplier refunds estimated usage and? standing charges for the second meter which is not in use
- you manage to get the supplier to remove the meter in February this year
- the latest "real" reading for the meter is much lower than it was when you moved in, which is still the same
- supplier asks you to pay difference between last recorded and todays reading

Has the supplier confirmed that the meter was de-energised? A final meter reading should have been taken when this happened.

Do you know when the meter was de-energised? If you moved in after this you would not have been able to use electricity if the meter was not connected any longer. Or was the meter still connected to mains and just disconnected from your wiring?

randomkags

Hi faraway

i have made a number of complaints since October when the suddenly started charging me for the de energised meter. They refunded the money and said it was an error. 

My most recent complaint has been closed down with no communication. 

I will follow the link you provided and put it all on writing in a chronological order. So thanks. 

hi MWT - I’ve flagged all my communication as complaint. Would this suffice. I’ll happily go through the whole process again today. I know I have to pay the standing charges and I’ve no issue with this it’s this £500+ bill I’m stressed about. 

Robin9

Put your complaint in writing and send by snail mail -  get proof of posting.