Metric/Imperial meters and overcharging

nestle-elvis

Hi, I'm currently waiting for a reply from my energy supplier after realising I'm being charged for Imperial units and not Metric.
For various reasons I hadn't really scrutinised my bills but my latest was ridiculous and realised the reason after studying and reading these threads/ comments.

Seemingly the previous supplier gave incorrect meter details, so I'm told, and it's currently being investigated.

Reading these threads helped me fathom out the issue. Although it's still to be sorted, I thank everyone for this discussion. 👍

nestle-elvis

Hi, I'm currently waiting for a reply from my energy supplier after realising I'm being charged for Imperial units and not Metric.
For various reasons I hadn't really scrutinised my bills but my latest was ridiculous and realised the reason after studying and reading these threads/ comments.

Seemingly the previous supplier gave incorrect meter details, so I'm told, and it's currently being investigated.

Reading these threads helped me fathom out the issue. Although it's still to be sorted, I thank everyone for this discussion. 👍

littlebluefella77

Thank you for writing this as it's just confirmed my theory.  I've just been presented my bill from British Gas from Nov 1 2023 to 14 June 2024 and my gas usage is significantly higher than expected.  Prior to then I've had issues with the smart meter being read and also being unable to enter meter readings.  I've had to ring up each bill to correct the estimate.

That aside, the costs ultimately ended up in line with my actual usage.

Thankfull I've had both Hugo and Loop energy apps and they show my usage going back since I was ported from People's energy.  I've now tabulated that alongside my other BG bills and it's clear that since 1st Nov there has been a significant change in the calculation.

Previously each gas unit on my meter equated to 11.3kWh, whereas since Nov this is now 31.7 (x2.81).

My kWh usage per month compared to Loop and Hugo was around the x2.81 to x2.83 territory.

Since finding your thread, I've entered my figures into the gas conversion tool and it is clear they are using cubic feet rather than cubic meters.

I shall be mailing them details tomorrow as I have no inclination to phone them and waste more time.

FreeBear

littlebluefella77 said: I shall be mailing them details tomorrow as I have no inclination to phone them and waste more time.

Best to keep all communication in writing (either letter or email), then you have a record that can be presented to the Energy Ombudsman when needed.

Also point out that ALL smart meters are metric, so they can not send imperial readings. Back it up with a clear photo of the meter showing units and serial number.

nestle-elvis

nestle-elvis said:

Hi, I'm currently waiting for a reply from my energy supplier after realising I'm being charged for Imperial units and not Metric.
For various reasons I hadn't really scrutinised my bills but my latest was ridiculous and realised the reason after studying and reading these threads/ comments.

Seemingly the previous supplier gave incorrect meter details, so I'm told, and it's currently being investigated.

Reading these threads helped me fathom out the issue. Although it's still to be sorted, I thank everyone for this discussion

Just a follow up on my post.
After several months my energy supplier finally appointed someone to deal with my case and contacted me, although I had complained several times that it was all taking too long. They made calculations as to what the charges should have been, which were within a few pence of my calculations, added compensation and then sent a cheque for the final amount to me.

My advice to people is to keep a check on usage which would then flag up a problem. Had I taken more interest in my energy usage I would have realised the incorrect meter units and got it sorted sooner. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I received a refund of over £2600 and I have to admit that I should have realised the overcharging sooner but just hadn't taken time to fully work why I was being charged so much for gas. I certainly didn't expect it to be down to imperial unit calculations instead of metric. Reading other peoples stories on here brought it to light!

As a result of this experience, I decided to learn how to make a spreadsheet to my own preferences and can monitor usage monthly. The energy bill statements and my spreadsheet are within a few pence of each other now :-)