Is it illegal for British Gas to use a false meter reading?

matelodave

If you are unhappy with BG then make a formal complaint using their complaint procedure and if its not sorted out with eight weeks then refer it to the ombudsman.

You are unlikely to get any sort of resolution or even a sensible reply on this forum by asking obtuse questions, being coy or not supplying sufficient background info.

Trying tease out info is a bit like pulling teeth and although most people on here try to be helpful, if you are deliberately making it more difficult then you wont get a sensible answer.

FindMyWayBack

They all do it, I provide readings to work with the billing cycle and they still use an estimate slightly higher.... there will be something in the small print that says they can behave however they please and get away with it

wasty

matelodave said:

If you are unhappy with BG then make a formal complaint using their complaint procedure and if its not sorted out with eight weeks then refer it to the ombudsman.

You are unlikely to get any sort of resolution or even a sensible reply on this forum by asking obtuse questions, being coy or not supplying sufficient background info.

Trying tease out info is a bit like pulling teeth and although most people on here try to be helpful, if you are deliberately making it more difficult then you wont get a sensible answer.

Thanks, yes I thought it was 8 weeks, it is really really complicated and it is a long drawn out saga, and and all I wanted to know is if a false reading is illegal, in the hope that it was something else to bash British Gas with.  I am going to leave it a week or so and then escalate it to Ofgem, I have raised complaints for approaching 2 months.

Mstty

It's the ombudsman not Ofgem you complain to

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/

born_again

[Deleted User] said:

born_again said:

Surely a estimated reading is just a invented figure, but may have been based on some algorithm from previous usage.

I doubt it would be considered illegal. As they will adjust to your correct figure supplied when you read the meter.

Suppliers are required to use meter readings provided by a customer  for billing:



All meter readings provided by the customer are validated by the supplier’s appointed data collector before being applied to the account with the exception of a reading taken by an industry meter reader: these readings are treated as being validated. It is also worth saying that if I provide a meter reading today and my billing date is in a week’s time then the supplier will bill on an estimate which takes into account the meter reading provided. Finally, the more actual meter readings that a customer provides, the more accurate any estimate will be.

Lost me there with that reply & my post.

OP has not provided a reading. They are asking if "meter reading” on their bill is legal. (as they say it is not correct) Which is basically a estimated reading which most will get on a statement. Only a play on words.

Might help if you provided a link to that quote. As I guess like many people we have never been contacted to provide a reading. Just supplier uses a estimated one. 🤷‍♀️

Personally now I just supply readings each month.👍

[Deleted User]

born_again said:

[Deleted User] said:

born_again said:

Surely a estimated reading is just a invented figure, but may have been based on some algorithm from previous usage.

I doubt it would be considered illegal. As they will adjust to your correct figure supplied when you read the meter.

Suppliers are required to use meter readings provided by a customer  for billing:



All meter readings provided by the customer are validated by the supplier’s appointed data collector before being applied to the account with the exception of a reading taken by an industry meter reader: these readings are treated as being validated. It is also worth saying that if I provide a meter reading today and my billing date is in a week’s time then the supplier will bill on an estimate which takes into account the meter reading provided. Finally, the more actual meter readings that a customer provides, the more accurate any estimate will be.

Lost me there with that reply & my post.

OP has not provided a reading. They are asking if "meter reading” on their bill is legal. (as they say it is not correct) Which is basically a estimated reading which most will get on a statement. Only a play on words.

Might help if you provided a link to that quote. As I guess like many people we have never been contacted to provide a reading. Just supplier uses a estimated one. 🤷‍♀️

Personally now I just supply readings each month.👍

The quote is a Standard Licence Condition:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/Electricity%20Supply%20Standard%20Consolidated%20Licence%20Conditions%20-%20Current.pdf#page146

If you read through the link, suppliers have to obtain a meter reading once every 12 months. The reading can be provided by a meter reader or a consumer, or via a smart meter.

born_again

[Deleted User] said:

born_again said:

[Deleted User] said:

born_again said:

Surely a estimated reading is just a invented figure, but may have been based on some algorithm from previous usage.

I doubt it would be considered illegal. As they will adjust to your correct figure supplied when you read the meter.

Suppliers are required to use meter readings provided by a customer  for billing:



All meter readings provided by the customer are validated by the supplier’s appointed data collector before being applied to the account with the exception of a reading taken by an industry meter reader: these readings are treated as being validated. It is also worth saying that if I provide a meter reading today and my billing date is in a week’s time then the supplier will bill on an estimate which takes into account the meter reading provided. Finally, the more actual meter readings that a customer provides, the more accurate any estimate will be.

Lost me there with that reply & my post.

OP has not provided a reading. They are asking if "meter reading” on their bill is legal. (as they say it is not correct) Which is basically a estimated reading which most will get on a statement. Only a play on words.

Might help if you provided a link to that quote. As I guess like many people we have never been contacted to provide a reading. Just supplier uses a estimated one. 🤷‍♀️

Personally now I just supply readings each month.👍

The quote is a Standard Licence Condition:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/Electricity%20Supply%20Standard%20Consolidated%20Licence%20Conditions%20-%20Current.pdf#page146

If you read through the link, suppliers have to obtain a meter reading once every 12 months. The reading can be provided by a meter reader or a consumer, or via a smart meter.

Thanks.
So a single reading such as the OP's has no bearing on that quote then? Thus must be legal.

[Deleted User]

Life really is too short to indulge posters who want to lose valuable heartbeats over the use of the words ‘meter reading’ on a bill. It matters not whether the meter reading is estimated or validated: both are legal.

The solution rests in the hands of the consumer. Whenever a meter reading is provided to a supplier, it has to be used for billing. So if someone doesn’t like an estimate - the answer is simple ‘provide a meter reading’.

cannugec5

If we are going to be pedantic I would suggest that an “estimated reading” is indeed an oxymoron. 

If it is an estimate it cannot actually be a reading. It is just an estimate. Surely a reading needs to be read not ‘guessed’ or logically applied following previous usage correlations? 

But what would I know? I read my meter regularly each month and submit those numbers. Simultaneously I enter the data into/ onto my own personal spreadsheet. 

Spoonie_Turtle

cannugec5 said:

If we are going to be pedantic I would suggest that an “estimated reading” is indeed an oxymoron. 

If it is an estimate it cannot actually be a reading. It is just an estimate. Surely a reading needs to be read not ‘guessed’ or logically applied following previous usage correlations? 

They are estimating that if somebody were to look at the meter on that date, that's what it would read.