No lights on Electric meter

donnalou

Hi There,

Just an update. 6 months later and I still don't have a new meter. I have been send that £67 vouchers and now £150 Warm Home Discount but I can't do anything with them. 

Over the months I have spoken to a few people from EDF, They called to say that I won't be eligible for a Smart meter because of my rural location, Someone else from EDF told me that I can't be back billed because they have no idea of my usage but today I spoke to a guy and he said once my old meter is taken out it will go to the Factory and they will be able to look at the hard drive and see how much Electric I have used, Does anyone know if this is true?

This place was empty for a year before I moved in because it was totally renovated so I'm really not sure how they can get an accurate measure of my usage.

I'd be grateful for any information that anyone has to help.

Many thanks

Donna

EssexHebridean

I think it was SAC said earlier that as far as they know it’s not possible to get the details of use off these meters - I’m not aware it would have any means of storing it? 

I would suggest that you should probably ensure that you estimate your own use, tricky I know but at the least you could work out roughly what you might expect it to be - and set that amount aside each month just in case. Other than that, you have reported it, it seems unlikely that the meter is going to cut you off now - as I suspect it no longer knows what credit there is on there, and it should be “fail safe to on” I imagine.  The only other thing I would say is to ensure that you have told the supplier that you will lose your connectivity with the outside world if you power goes - that is a safety issue. And if you still have an old style phone line, I would make sure you have a corded phone which will hopefully still work for emergency calls, at least. (Check this in advance)

donnalou

Thank you, Yeah I do have an 'old fashioned 'phone for emergencies.

I just can't believe how long it is going on for and yeah I don't see how a meter of that age would have a hard drive, I really want it changed now so I can ask the engineer what they do with the old meter!

markin

I don't think it will have an actual hard drive, just a memory chip.

I would push for the smart meter and be clear you don't care if it can't communicate or is put in dumb mode.

You could have your own check meter installed by a spark, They cost around £50 to buy.

ariarnia

i would also email and make it clear to them/get someone to agree that if this isnt fixed by the time your energy rebate voutchers and warm home voutchers expire then you expect them to credit you the cost to your bill (whenever they work it out)

as far as estemates. one thing they can do (and probably should in this situation) is bill you based on estemated use AFTER you have a working meter. so they might monitor the month/couple of months after install and use that to work out what your usage pattern is (high/med/low compared to average for your type of property). 

if you dont think its fair then you can complain and escalate to the ombudsman who will impartially review. 

35har1old

ariarnia said:

i would also email and make it clear to them/get someone to agree that if this isnt fixed by the time your energy rebate voutchers and warm home voutchers expire then you expect them to credit you the cost to your bill (whenever they work it out)

as far as estemates. one thing they can do (and probably should in this situation) is bill you based on estemated use AFTER you have a working meter. so they might monitor the month/couple of months after install and use that to work out what your usage pattern is (high/med/low compared to average for your type of property). 

if you dont think its fair then you can complain and escalate to the ombudsman who will impartially review. 

Electricity consumption by property type 2019
Property type	Average usage (kWh) England & Wales	Average usage (kWh) Scotland
All types of home	3600	3,700
Houses	3,800	4,100
Detached house	4,700	4,800
Semi detached	3,700	3,800
End terraced	3,500	All terraced 3,600
Mid terraced	3,300
Bungalow	3,500	N/A
Flats	3,200	3,000
Converted flat	3,500	N/A
Purpose-built flat	3,100	N/A

elsien

I’d be opening a formal complaint with them now about the lack of a new key and about not being able to use your vouchers. You’ll need that if you do need to go to the ombudsman at any point. 

macman

Why, 6m on, have you not been able to obtain a new key? It should take no more than a few days. Have you made a formal complaint about this?

diystarter7

Hi OP

IMO, make a quick call to the supplier and concisely advise your next action if not resolved within 5 business days etc, ie writing to the ombudsman.  I hope that does the trick

Good luck

donnalou

macman said:

Why, 6m on, have you not been able to obtain a new key? It should take no more than a few days. Have you made a formal complaint about this?

The meter is broken and has reverted to a credit meter so a new key won't work