No lights on Electric meter

donnalou

Hi There,
I moved into my new rented property just over 2 weeks ago  and the property has a Prepayment Key Meter. The Agents have said that they put £250 on the key a while ago whilst work was being carried out at the property and they think there must be over £100 left on it.
Thr problem is that there are no lights on the meter, Not even a power light. Pressing the buttons doesn't do anything.
I have spoken to EDF and was first told to wait until the power goes out and then contact them and they will fit an a new meter with a emergency call out. If my power goes I have no way of contacting them. I live in  rural location, Without power I have no phone or Internet access. The second person I spoke to told me that the meter would have converted itself to a standard meter and I won't be cut off but I will be billed for my Electricity use. They will contact me with an appointment to change the meter but it could take months.
I just don't see how they can bill me without any meter readings and obviously I don't want to be hit with a massive bill.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks

Donna

Neil_Jones

A blank screen doesn't necessarily mean the meter is not tracking the usage.

And if there is no ability to take readings, bills will be estimated based on the usage history of the property.

Not all meters flip and swap between standard and prepay, if would have to be a Smart meter for that.  If its purely prepay it will be prepay until the day its replaced.

Section62

To help you properly we'll need to know the make and model of your meter.

donnalou

Thanks for your reply.

It isn't a smart meter.  
EDF have said it would just go into credit mode, So is that not true then?

donnalou

The Meter....

[Deleted User]

When you are using something like a kettle - does the light below "1500 imp / kWh" flash at all?

SAC2334

SparkyGrad beat me to it on that little red light question.

  A blank screen prepay electric meter is not an uncommon thing to find on my rounds  .Could have been a power surge or something which knocked it out . I have seen several out in just one street, sometimes in every third house  with every digital meter blank and knackered .
I had this explained to me by a Northern Powergrid engineer why it does this at every third house 

 
 Any occupants in the property would have been getting unmetered electricity
As far as I m aware the true readings cannot be recovered on blank screen meters
Occupier is obliged to report a faulty meter but many do not and carry on for years sometimes getting free electric .

Suppliers just estimate the bill using historic usage for that property .Details are stored on the key and on top up the supplier can access the data 

donnalou

[Deleted User] said:

When you are using something like a kettle - does the light below "1500 imp / kWh" flash at all?

I just tried that but no lights 

donnalou

SAC2334 said:

SparkyGrad beat me to it on that little red light question.

  A blank screen prepay electric meter is not an uncommon thing to find on my rounds  .Could have been a power surge or something which knocked it out . I have seen several out in just one street, sometimes in every third house  with every digital meter blank and knackered .
I had this explained to me by a Northern Powergrid engineer why it does this at every third house 

 
 Any occupants in the property would have been getting unmetered electricity
As far as I m aware the true readings cannot be recovered on blank screen meters
Occupier is obliged to report a faulty meter but many do not and carry on for years sometimes getting free electric .

Suppliers just estimate the bill using historic usage for that property .Details are stored on the key and on top up the supplier can access the data 

Thank you, 
I suppose I'll have to wait and see what happens. They did say it'll be months until I get a new meter though 

jbuchanangb

If you have not done already, notify the supplier in writing about the situation, and keep a copy of the email/letter and any written replies you receive. It is also never recommended to use a meter key provided to you be a previous occupier, because it may not just have credit on it, it may also be covering debt repayment. So ask the supplier to provide you with a new payment key. Put some credit on it, and insert it in the meter.

donnalou

jbuchanangb said:

If you have not done already, notify the supplier in writing about the situation, and keep a copy of the email/letter and any written replies you receive. It is also never recommended to use a meter key provided to you be a previous occupier, because it may not just have credit on it, it may also be covering debt repayment. So ask the supplier to provide you with a new payment key. Put some credit on it, and insert it in the meter.

I contacted then straight away and they were meant to be sending me a key but I never received it.

I have copies of WhatsApp messages with them but that's it.