Electric PAYG meter not working !!

zanna44

Hi, hope someone can help that's been in my position. My Electric PAYG meter stopped working / displaying in early August  this year. 
I'm not getting anywhere replacing it. Bulb is my Energy provider and they are absolutely useless in sorting this. I've gone to  Energy complaints at Citizen's Advice but even they aren't doing much only sending the odd email to them. 
I have no idea of my usage. I cannot use my Energy vouchers from Givernment as I have no idea if they will work to top up.
Please please can anyone help as I'm at my watts end now  

zanna44

Sorry I meant Witts end ! It must be the stress ! 

SAC2334

You have covered yourself in reporting the faulty meter to your supplier. This is in everyone's terms and conditions of supply when encountering a fault in a gas or electric meter. 

Its not uncommon for a PAYG prepayment meter to go "blank screen " usually caused by an electric surge which knocks out the electronic s in the meter .

Although at the moment the £67 a month is not available to you at least you are not having to fund the meter .The usage is not being recorded and cannot be recovered . 

As a long term meter reader I have seen many of these and many times the occupants do not report it and just wait until either a meter reader calls or the supplier notices that no payments are being made which could be years of free electricity. 

EssexHebridean

I do love your accidental "watts end" typo - very fitting!

Great reassurance from SAC above re the energy use not being able to be recovered, and well done you for reporting the issue. I'd suggest that you  may as well capitalise on the advantage of that situation and ensure that you stash away the usual amounts you would put onto the meter into a savings account to build yourself a little cushion against the increasing prices. 

coffeeplease

I'm also having a blank pre-payment electric meter screen issue. Boost Power is my supplier. I am on their vulnerable list. 

The power went off on 30 March. I checked the breaker box, all switches in the 'on' position, but no power. The power came back on a few minutes later, but the meter screen was blank. I can't tell how much credit is on the meter, and can't use the credit on my key to top up.

I immediately reported it to Boost. I was told that since I am still 'on supply', a blank screen isn't an emergency, and the soonest appointment they could send an engineer would be April 25th. I booked it, but I'm not happy waiting almost a month with the prospect of my power shutting off outside M-F 8am-8pm and losing my refrigerator contents (including medicine). On the Boost Power website their GSOP page they only addresses GSOP standards as applying to off-supply emergencies, and nothing mentioned about faulty meters and being unable to top up. 

The Customer Service rep assured me that the power would go off when the credit ran out, and in that instance I should call and they would send an engineer out within 3 hours. But since their call hours are M-F 8-8, that's not especially reassuring. 

In mid-February, Which? said ("I think my energy meter is faulty, what can I do?"): prepayment meters are usually faulty when their screens are blank. The time limit for repair under GSOP is three hours, taking action to fix or test the prepayment meter if your energy supply is still working. 

My questions are:
Boost is correct to say that only emergency off-supply problems can be investigated by an engineer within that time frame, and it's alright for them to send an engineer for on-supply customers with faulty meters weeks after it is reported?

If my power goes off outside Boost call hours and the contents of my refrigerator are spoiled, can I claim compensation? 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-think-my-energy-meter-is-faulty-a2TuF9Y5HzfB

SAC2334

As a retired meter reader I used to find quite a few blank screen prepayment meters. Usuall after some sort of power cut or more likely a power surge. 
As far as I know you don t lose power when the credit on the meter runs out. I used to get sent out to check why people are not crediting for a long time and many had these blank screens.. The last thing some people do is report it to the supplier 

coffeeplease

Thanks for your quick reply. There was a power surge apparently. I hope that when the engineer attends and gets the meter operating correctly again, that what I didn't actually use of the +£125 I had on the meter will still show in credit.  There should be still about £60- 65 credit remaining, based on my average usage of ~£20/wk. 

SAC2334

coffeeplease said:

Thanks for your quick reply. There was a power surge apparently. I hope that when the engineer attends and gets the meter operating correctly again, that what I didn't actually use of the +£125 I had on the meter will still show in credit.  There should be still about £60- 65 credit remaining, based on my average usage of ~£20/wk. 

I think they will be replacing the meter with a smart meter set in prepayment meter mode. The surge would have damaged the internals so not repairable .They always replace a blank screen meter  be it credit or prepay .

 Suppliers will not be holding any stocks of the old key type electric prepays . Same for the card gas meters. They are both history and little by little will didappear completely .
They will estimate on normal usage accordingly  then credit what you have left.

I can t see them being too quick in replacing it as there is a shortage of smart meters . Make the most of the time by using electricity freely .

I had a few customers who loved their broken blank screen meters and made it very difficult for anyone to come and replace it . They had it for years. These were not prepays but normal credit meters and would be paying a direct debit 

coffeeplease

Interesting to know all this, and never would have because the energy companies don't tell customers anything they aren't required to. So, thanks for sharing your expertise! It's replies and comments like yours from experienced tradespeople that make MSE forum such an asset to consumers.

I guess it's a good time to get cracking on all those spring chores and plug in all the machines... I'll update the outcome in due course, to let you know how things panned out and for posterity, should anyone in future find themselves in a similar situation. 

coffeeplease

An update on my faulty Boost Energy PAYG electric meter.

Nine weeks later, the faulty meter is still not repaired or replaced.

As mentioned previously, it had a blank screen fault starting on March 30, which I reported to Boost that day. An engineer appointment to have it fixed (likely not fixable) or replaced has been scheduled 4 times now and all 4 cancelled, the last one being June 19th. I have been told that 'there is a shortage of engineers' as the reason.

In May I raised a complaint with Boost for poor service and lack of service under their GSOP obligations. They did not admit to failure to meet their repair GSOP obligations and would not compensate me for not sending a repair person within the required timeframe, but did offer me a 'goodwill' gesture of £20 (I think), for my gas account (totally un-useful for my electricity account), but which I would have to have added to my gas card within 48 hrs of issue at a named local shop. As it turned out, I did not meet that 48 hr window as other obligations took precedence. And I can't really be fussed about a paltry £20. They also directly booked an engineer appointment for June 19 but, as I said, that has now been cancelled by SMS the smart meter installer company. 

I have been told that when the meter is replaced (as that is likely what will happen) I will be billed for my electricity use since March 30 based on previous usage. Which, as time marches on, is making me feel quite anxious because the prospect of having debt is somewhat daunting after having been a customer in good standing for 18 months with Boost. 

coffeeplease

Update on faulty PAYG electricity meter. As of 25 July, almost four months after fault reported, still not repaired and no engineer scheduled to attend.