Advice on Utilita Issues - compensation

LookListenHere

Hi  there, brand new here, so hopefully this is in the right place - please advise me if it isn't.

I live in an area of scotland which is affected by the upcoming Radio Teleswitch (RTS) switch off and have had to get a smart metre. There are heaps of issues here with this, but I'm going to try and stick to what has been happening to us. 

We had 3 x off peak periods on our old meter (standard in our area) which had been an old Total Heating Total Control type tarrif  with storage heating only. When Utilita put in our new smart meter on 14th Feb, the engineer cut the supply to the offpeak. I had no storage heating or hot water for a period of 14 days.

A week after the install, the engineer came back to the island, he stated he was at fault and "fixed it", showing me that it would come on by boosting the meter. However, he left the island before the next next off peak period and it still wasn't coming on at the three times. I could now boost the heating and hot water via the meter, but this is now high up in a cupboard and I have chronic conditions which make access difficult. 

Another week later - after many many many calls to Utilita - there was a switch over on the 14th day (27th Feb) , but this time only giving us 1 period of off peak - from midnight to 7.30am. This is barely enough to power the storage heaters for a full day. 

I have asked for them to provide in writing a reason why they have changed the off peak times to one period per day, without notice; if they can clarify what tarrif we are now on, because there has been nothing official; and if they can provide a guide for the smart meter and small screen because this has not been explained to us. 

The only people who have been in touch with us is their Complaints department who have offered £50 compensation for 14 days with no heat or hot water. I feel that this is not sufficient for the inconvenience and impact this had on my health and wellbeing, nor for the continued issues of the one off peak period but I can't seem to find any information about what would be considered appropriate. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

we will be changing supplier, but I don't want to do that until we resolve some of these issues with Utilita. 

Any knowledge or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

First of all, decide what you're really trying to achieve.  Is it to get a tariff with an afternoon boost, such as Economy 10?  If so, have a look at Rosie's thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6593413/smart-meter-for-storage-heaters  Octopus Snug may also be suitable.

If you only want compo at this stage I'd suggest asking for £150 (so that it seems reasonable), take the money and run if you're offered  £100.

LookListenHere

Thanks for your reply Gerry1. I will have a good read of that thread

QrizB

LookListenHere said:

.We had 3 x off peak periods on our old meter (standard in our area) which had been an old Total Heating Total Control type tarrif  with storage heating only.

What was the name of your old tariff? The one you were on before the meter exchange?

I'm wondering whether Utilita even knew that you had three separate off-peak periods, and we're instead billing you as an Economy 7 customer.

I agree with Gerry1, there are still some suppliers who offer multiple off-peak periods on smart meters to storage heater customers. As well as EDF, for example I think OVO also offer Economy 10 and "smart Economy 9".