Smart Gas Meter Readings more than actual usage

EssexHebridean

I will repeat - if you try to go through the court system without having followed due process first, you will probably not get the outcome you desire. Judges tend not to like having their time wasted by people who simply want to go to litigation without having first attempted to resolve things without entering in to that process. 

brianposter

I suggest that you are missing two points.

Firstly, making a small claim means that the case will probably be referred to the companiy"s lawyer, and most lawyers will see sense and sort out the claim. I have never been to court in England simply because the other side has always folded - usually at the LBA stage.

Secondly, the judge will read the case before doing anything else and if it is convincing there is no reason why they should even ask if the ombudsman has been involved.

Nobody actually wants to be involved in litigation.

Dexter250811

Hi all a quick update on my situation with the gas meter issue, I will keep updating posts when there’s anything to report because I cannot be the only one with this issue and hopefully this may be helpful to someone, somewhere.

Since my last post I had to pay to have my meter changed and for it to be sent away for testing. It was changed on 8th January and the engineer said it would take 5-6 weeks to get test results.

I have to say the engineer who changed the meter was helpful. I questioned him about faulty meters and he said ‘we know there are faulty meters out there’ but wouldn’t say much more.

When he isolated the meter prior to changing it he recorded on his job sheet and took photos of the meter reading still increasing with the gas isolated and all appliances off. Additionally when he had removed the meter completely and it was on my kitchen floor with no pipes connected the meter reading was still increasing!!! All of this was photographed and documented (by me also). The engineer showed me his submitted job report before he left which contained all of the photos and his comments about the meter being faulty.

The new meter has been in nearly a week and the usage on the meter is a fraction of what the previous meter showed week by week.

I will be gobsmacked if the test results come back saying the meter is fine, if it does I will be sending all of the documentation to Ofgem.

if the results say the meter is faulty, it will then be a discussion with my gas supplier about how much I have been overcharged. Again if I am not happy with their response…. Again Ofgem will be contacted.

I will update when there’s more to report.

EssexHebridean

Don't waste your time contacting Ofgem about it - you need to get the evidence (pretty conclusive, by now) together into a case to present to the Energy Ombudsman. 

Make sure that your photos, video etc are all backed up safely somewhere in case of the originals getting wiped off your phone! 

MeteredOut

Dexter250811 said:

Hi all a quick update on my situation with the gas meter issue, I will keep updating posts when there’s anything to report because I cannot be the only one with this issue and hopefully this may be helpful to someone, somewhere.

Since my last post I had to pay to have my meter changed and for it to be sent away for testing. It was changed on 8th January and the engineer said it would take 5-6 weeks to get test results.

I have to say the engineer who changed the meter was helpful. I questioned him about faulty meters and he said ‘we know there are faulty meters out there’ but wouldn’t say much more.

When he isolated the meter prior to changing it he recorded on his job sheet and took photos of the meter reading still increasing with the gas isolated and all appliances off. Additionally when he had removed the meter completely and it was on my kitchen floor with no pipes connected the meter reading was still increasing!!! All of this was photographed and documented (by me also). The engineer showed me his submitted job report before he left which contained all of the photos and his comments about the meter being faulty.

The new meter has been in nearly a week and the usage on the meter is a fraction of what the previous meter showed week by week.

I will be gobsmacked if the test results come back saying the meter is fine, if it does I will be sending all of the documentation to Ofgem.

if the results say the meter is faulty, it will then be a discussion with my gas supplier about how much I have been overcharged. Again if I am not happy with their response…. Again Ofgem will be contacted.

I will update when there’s more to report.

Well done on the progress. I suspect you'll get a letter similar (if not identical) to what I got

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80633189/#Comment_80633189

Be aware that the Ombudsman are not on your side; they will not support, help or advise you - even after you have the proof that the meter was faulty, you will have to do all the work to prove you are due a refund. In my experience, they are there to make a decision based on the evidence, and as go-between between you and the supplier. But, they cannot force the supplier to implement their resolution and will stop trying to do so without your continued pushing.

Dexter250811

Hi all, update.

Our meter was removed jan 8th and the engineer said it would take up to 5 weeks for a test result. I had to chase it up but it took longer, earlier this month I received the test result through the post stating the meter was so badly faulty it could not be tested, the meter reading was still going up when it arrived at the test centre with nothing connected to it!!!!

2 weeks after that E-on have refunded my account by the sum of just over £3,700, adding credits for over charging over a long period of time which has more than cleared the £1,400 my account was in the red by. (After all this I still think they may come back and say they’ve made a mistake but at the moment I am taking this as a victory).

I can’t help but feel however there are other people out there in a similar position to me who don’t realise they are overpaying, perhaps because their meters haven’t gone so badly ‘wrong’ as mine did and the amounts are smaller so it’s not obvious, but it all adds up. The engineer who removed our meter admitted they knew there are faulty meters installed in peoples homes so I cannot be the only one.

Thank you to those who posted advice about photo evidence etc, I haven’t had to use it, may be it was the promise I gave of going to the ombudsman if I wasn’t happy with E-ons response?

If there is anyone out there in the same position as me don’t give up, I first reported our faulty meter in 2022 and it has taken until March 2025 to get this far.

QrizB

Dexter250811 said:

2 weeks after that E-on have refunded my account by the sum of just over £3,700, adding credits for over charging over a long period of time which has more than cleared the £1,400 my account was in the red by.

That's a good result, congratulations!

Dexter250811 said:

I can’t help but feel however there are other people out there in a similar position to me who don’t realise they are overpaying, perhaps because their meters haven’t gone so badly ‘wrong’ as mine did and the amounts are smaller so it’s not obvious, but it all adds up. The engineer who removed our meter admitted they knew there are faulty meters installed in peoples homes so I cannot be the only one.

There almost certainly are, but until they notice there's not much anyone can do to help them.

jaggers

This is a very helpful read as I’ve been struggling with my own gas meter which has been displaying daily consumption of 30kWh with the mains gas stop !!!!!! turned firmly off, which was the only sure way I could convince myself something was badly wrong! 

QrizB

jaggers said:

This is a very helpful read as I’ve been struggling with my own gas meter which has been displaying daily consumption of 30kWh with the mains gas stop !!!!!! turned firmly off, which was the only sure way I could convince myself something was badly wrong! 

@jaggers you should also read @MeteredOut 's thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6452074/gas-meter-still-increasing-whilst-gas-isolated-siemens-landis-gyr-e6s