Wrong Meter - Given no timescale to resolve issue.

UnhappyCustomer240

So i purchased my first home back in October 2021, joined EDF as a customer for the first time and provided the correct meter number (photo evidence retained) when registering for an account. 

Over the energy pandemic my account was going into debt and my direct debit was increased to tackle this. I initially thought I underestimated how bad the energy crisis was so never questioned the amount and happily (but struggled) started to pay the massively increased amount.  

Fast forward to now, i am still struggling to make payment and debt was no going down. So I started to investigate and realised all my bills and app listed an incorrect meter number. 

EDF confirmed I am paying for the wrong meter and they will investigate. 

I have been told there is no time scale of how long this will take to resolve as they have to contact the other Meter provider and agree a resolution. I am concerned I am still being forced to pay for a meter which is not mine. 

1. Where do i stand legally ? 

2. Will I get refunded for massively overpaying for potentially 2+ years? 

3. Can I be forced to continue to pay for a Meter that is not mine ? 

4. Really unsure of how to continue to deal with this situation. 

Any suggestions / advice would be greatly appreciated. 

MeteredOut

EDF are not known for good customer services. Get a complaint raised and if the issue has not been resolved within 8 weeks, escalate it to the Ombudsman who should hurry things along.

Can you afford to continue paying the DD in the meantime?

Do you know where "your" meter is, and do you have any readings from it? Can you get an updated meter reading from it? With those, you can see your usage since purchase and estimate what you should have been charged over that period of time.

jbuchanangb

If you have got your bills you will know the tariffs you were on, in terms of pence per kwh and pence per day. You have the meter reading from when you moved in, and you have it for today. 

If I were in your situation I would work out how many days since original meter reading and how many kwh. Then look for the dates of the tariff changes. Work out how many days on each tariff. Work out an average for kwh/day.

Then calculate what you should have paid.

For each tariff period - number of days at daily rate, number of days at kwh/day, at kwh rate.

It won't help that there were strange things with tariffs when the government was help ing out and so on.

But you should be able to arrive at an amount you should have paid, and compare it with the amount you have actually paid.

If you have paid horrendously more than you should have, then you can try to negotiate with the energy company to freeze payments until they have rebilled you.

Mobtr

One major thing, do the readings on your bill match the reading that is on the meter that is yours? It could be that you are being billed for the energy you have used if you have been billed to readings you have given, it’s just the meter serial number that is wrong. 

If the readings on your bills are all estimated & the readings you have been giving have not been used, then that is a completely different matter. 

EssexHebridean

Download all the bills you have currently for your own records - this covers you in case they all disappear when EDF eventually re-bill! 

MWT

UnhappyCustomer240 said:

So i purchased my first home back in October 2021, joined EDF as a customer for the first time and provided the correct meter number (photo evidence retained) when registering for an account. 

If that photo also confirms the meter reading at the start you can easily see how much you have actually used and determine if you should still be paying anything at the moment or not...

Also check against the first bill you received and see if they used the correct meter reading or something different...

Gerry1

Do the Meter Sanity Test to prove which meter is yours.

UnhappyCustomer240

Mobtr said:

One major thing, do the readings on your bill match the reading that is on the meter that is yours? It could be that you are being billed for the energy you have used if you have been billed to readings you have given, it’s just the meter serial number that is wrong. 

If the readings on your bills are all estimated & the readings you have been giving have not been used, then that is a completely different matter. 

Nope the meter reading on the bill is completely different to what the meter is currently on. 

The meter I am being charged for at the moment is a smart meter (I do not have) and they are currently trying to find the "owner / supplier" of that meter to arrange/ come to a resolution on how we move forward. 

My meter is located inside my property so have no idea how this has all happened. To top it off, there is an old EDF sticker which has the correct meter number attached to the Meter as well as the correct meter number written all over the meter. So there is no way I could have provided the wrong number when registering as a customer. 

cannugec5

Some years back we started receiving energy bills for the wrong meter. 

It was ultimately determined that another house with the same name as ours (different postcode) and ours had been  ‘swapped’. 

At another time we were renting a new build flat and found that our flat and the one opposite were being billed for each others’ use. 

Mobtr

UnhappyCustomer240 said:

Mobtr said:

One major thing, do the readings on your bill match the reading that is on the meter that is yours? It could be that you are being billed for the energy you have used if you have been billed to readings you have given, it’s just the meter serial number that is wrong. 

If the readings on your bills are all estimated & the readings you have been giving have not been used, then that is a completely different matter. 

Nope the meter reading on the bill is completely different to what the meter is currently on. 

The meter I am being charged for at the moment is a smart meter (I do not have) and they are currently trying to find the "owner / supplier" of that meter to arrange/ come to a resolution on how we move forward. 

My meter is located inside my property so have no idea how this has all happened. To top it off, there is an old EDF sticker which has the correct meter number attached to the Meter as well as the correct meter number written all over the meter. So there is no way I could have provided the wrong number when registering as a customer. 

Do you live in a house or a flat? You may need to try to do a little bit of detection work to see if you can find the meter you are being charged for. 

There is also the possibility that before you moved in a smart meter was booked into be installed but didn’t happen but the engineer completed the paperwork as if it had. Shouldn’t happen but it has been known to. 

Might be worth asking EDF to check to see if the meter that is at your property has ever been on the account for a previous occupant.