Compensation Limit for Faulty Electric Meter

fulwoodrover

For the last 12 months I have raised various complaints with British Gas due to a faulty meter transposing my readings. I realised this had been going on for years. Eventually, last week BG offered me compensation (£2,200), but I feel it falls short of what I am owed. On the 22 April their representative informed me that they only had to go back a year and basically dismissed my concerns and offered me £30 as a gesture of goodwill. I informed him that the one year rule only applied to customer back billing by the supplier. Subsequently, I have been offered a greater increased offer. I have asked for the ‘time period’ relating to, and a breakdown of, the offer.

Could someone please point me in the direction of a code of practice or industry guidance which actually states the rules on the time limits for customer compensation from their supplier. 

Many thanks in advance 

BarelySentientAI

fulwoodrover said:

I informed him that the one year rule only applied to customer back billing by the supplier. 

Sounds like you've already decided what the rules are.

fulwoodrover said:

Could someone please point me in the direction of a code of practice or industry guidance which actually states the rules on the time limits for customer compensation from their supplier. 

Compensation isn't really a thing in the energy market.  It tends to be referred to as "goodwill" and most payments are in the order of £50 - £150.

fulwoodrover said:

Eventually, last week BG offered me compensation (£2,200), but I feel it falls short of what I am owed. 

Have you calculated what you are owed, or is this really just a feeling?

Calculate it, ask for that, and don't call it compensation (because it isn't).  It's correcting previously issued bills.

fulwoodrover said:

For the last 12 months I have raised various complaints with British Gas

You could have gone to the Ombudsman 8 weeks after the first formal complaint.  They would tell you to present your evidence and then can instruct the supplier to put bills right.  They also don't award much more than about £100 compensation though.

MeteredOut

It sounds like you're not talking about compensation here, but a refund for over-billing due to a faulty meter. Is that correct? Calling it compensation will just confuse matters.

So can you share what details you have about the faulty meter, how far back you can show it was faulty and how this affected your readings and bills?

£2200 for 1 year is a lot so it sounds like the issue was quite significant, so how have you calculated that is too little?