Meter Readings and Bills

jimjames

GradyCole said:

Alnat1 said:

Please make sure that regular monthly readings are given to the energy company going forward.

Readings are not easy to take and the utility are not being too helpful...

Can they get a smart meter fitted?

GradyCole

No they can't

The company has been pestering them to get one fitted for ages

The company's engineers say they cannot fit one

GradyCole

frugalmacdugal said:

GradyCole said:

It's probably the correct meter

And yes, a torch helps

But "Are readings transposed?" I don't quite understand

Hi,

you say it's a 2 rate meter, E7, day/night?

Could be that day being charged at night rate and night being charged at day rate.

That's a distinct possibility

It's also likely that the meter is faulty

But it needs to be read properly before that can be ascertained

Thanks

pochase

There does not seem a question that the new higher usage is correct. It was even stated that colleague of the OP was aware that the readings were to low.'

There is no question brought up here that the additional units need to be paid.

The only question is at what rates should the additional units be charged. It seems the supplier wants to bill everything at todays high rates, which is of course not correct, the additional units accumulated over a 2 year period and not just last month.

It was suggested to use old bills to calculate averages, which seems impossible to do as they don't exist.

My solution would be to either take the missing units and divide them by the months they have been accumulated in and charge them as the valid rates for the month,  or even better try to adjust for seasons and the additional requirement for heating.

Hand you calculations as an offer to the supplier, hopefully they will accept it, or it will be at least very helpful when you go to the ombudsman. This method is much more realistic than the "all was used at high rates" of the supplier.

victor2

GradyCole said:

frugalmacdugal said:

GradyCole said:

It's probably the correct meter

And yes, a torch helps

But "Are readings transposed?" I don't quite understand

Hi,

you say it's a 2 rate meter, E7, day/night?

Could be that day being charged at night rate and night being charged at day rate.

That's a distinct possibility

It's also likely that the meter is faulty

But it needs to be read properly before that can be ascertained

Thanks

What makes you think the meter could be faulty? If you are prepared to go and help them, try the Meter Sanity Test, often referred to here.

It is quite common that smart meters cannot be fitted in something like blocks of flats where the meters are in a central area. Often there isn't enough room for smart meters and/or there isn't a strong enough signal to transmit the data.

Even if you/they can't provide meter readings when asked for by the supplier, take and submit them as regularly as you can. Estimates following them should use them as a reference so the readings won't stray too far from reality.

GradyCole

victor2 said:

GradyCole said:

frugalmacdugal said:

GradyCole said:

It's probably the correct meter

And yes, a torch helps

But "Are readings transposed?" I don't quite understand

Hi,

you say it's a 2 rate meter, E7, day/night?

Could be that day being charged at night rate and night being charged at day rate.

That's a distinct possibility

It's also likely that the meter is faulty

But it needs to be read properly before that can be ascertained

Thanks

What makes you think the meter could be faulty? If you are prepared to go and help them, try the Meter Sanity Test, often referred to here.

It is quite common that smart meters cannot be fitted in something like blocks of flats where the meters are in a central area. Often there isn't enough room for smart meters and/or there isn't a strong enough signal to transmit the data.

Even if you/they can't provide meter readings when asked for by the supplier, take and submit them as regularly as you can. Estimates following them should use them as a reference so the readings won't stray too far from reality.

 Thanks, especially for the sanity test.......