Estimated bills for 1.5 years and no way to check if billed correctly!

sourskittles31

Hi all

First time poster and I could not find a thread similar to what I wanted to ask, so apologies for any duplication. 

My 70yo mother has been living in a one bedroom flat being supplied by Utility Warehouse since March 2022. The smart gas meter was not working (didn’t display any reading) nor was it providing accurate readings to UW prior to her moving in. 

I (and the landlord) have been chasing UW since she moved in to ask for an engineer to come and fix the meter but we were constantly told that the matter has been escalated. It has been extremely frustrating and only this week (over a year) of paying “estimated” bills for the gas, an engineer has come and said that a new meter needed to be installed and that it was not possible to get any readings since my mother moved in, so effectively she was paying estimated bills on what a previous tenant of the flat used. 

For additional context, my mother only uses the flat 2-3 nights a week as she helps with looking after her grandchildren, so stays at her childrens houses most of the week. 

We have constantly been chasing UW for action and we thought we would at least be able to get a reading once the gas meter was repaired, so we could input the correct reading and most likely claim a refund for the large estimated payments my mother has been paying. The news that this can’t happen has been pretty devastating. 

Given the atrocious customer service from UW, we were very close to going to the energy ombudsman to escalate this and only once we threatened UW with this did they arrange for an engineer to fit a new gas meter. 

Is there any recourse we could take against UW as this shouldn’t have taken over a year to resolve and she has very likely been overpaying? UW cannot evidence the gas usage my mother has used. 

Apologies if I have omitted anything which would provide additional background. I would greatly appreciate any advice on whether any recourse can be taken? Should we still take this matter to the ombudsman, as we can evidence the complaints with UW? My mother has been completely exhausted by the whole situation and been left pretty devastated with the result. 

Many thanks

Scot_39

This situation has been allowed to run far far too long - and not even sure should ever have become your mum's problem anyway - was it right for landlord to rent flat out if they knew meter faulty ?

Mar 22 - Sep 24 ??

No doubt several promises were made - but as soon as they weren't met in a timely fashion - the Ombusdman should have been involved as a matter of far more urgency IMO.

Mar 22 mother discovers cannot get moving in reading when stting up account in her name = Formal Complaint.  8 weeks later June 22 - meter not fixed - Straight to Ombudsman on 8 week deadline.

Problem is not everyone knows that the Ombudsman is even an option.

This is now a serious long running problem - and I am not convinced that she (exhaustion stress etc) or you are necessarily best placed to deal with it - so perhaps time to talk to a professional advisor at say Citizens advice or a specialist energy (energy debt) advisory service.

Your expectation of the new meter instantly solving anything - is either badly worded - or perhaps based on a lack of understanding of what might have been said to you.

But it may well be worth keeping very accurate records of readings on new meter - even if now working in smart mode - yourselves.  (You may be able to do a speculative but not scientifc comparison before and after - to try to argue  if estiamtes truly excessive - but it's not a guaranteed strategy - anything could be argued to cause a difference in kWh used - even on a month vs same month last year - especially when it comes to heating use)

You mention large estimated bills - but dont say on which basis - how many kWh annually etc were the estimated readings ?

You clearly presume the bills are overestimated - but the fact is many elderly use a lot more energy for heating and hot water - versus potentially other users in the same property - which could counter the 2-3 night argument as well.

I stronly suggest you need to seek real advice - interactively face to face - on how best to progress - and how best to present your argument better to the Ombusdman - not sure the above post would be adequate (I wouldn't have any faith in dealing with UW direct - given how long this problem has been going on.

maman

This may sound ridiculous but my gas meter didn't show any reading either. It has a big red button on it which I discovered you have to press to show the reading. To me, a big red button means stop or even danger but someone decided that's how the meter works! 🤔

Also, by a non working smart meter, might you mean the monitor as mine shows nothing but is actually sending readings to the utility company. 

I'm sure this isn't the case with your mother but I thought it might help someone to be aware. 

t0rt0ise

Now you've got a new meter, you simply see how much is used in a week, raise a complaint with supplier asking for a refund of overpayment for while the meter was broken. When the supplier refuses or ignores you, you continue to monitor usage for the next eight weeks, then go to the ombudsman with the results. Of course you also explain that the supplier knew the meter was broken and did nothing for so long.