Can a faulty meter correct itself?

spc1996

I changed my supplier They took the 1st reading from the smart meter and 1 four months later. It then stopped sending readings I submitted a reading 12 months later and the usage had been in line with my historical usage. 7 weeks later I tried to submit a reading which it refused to accept. I later found it showed usage of almost 3 times my annual usage in 7 weeks. They continued to refuse to accept my readings until near the end of my contract when they asked for a photograph of the meter I then received a bill for three times my historical usage and an ongoing monthly payment three times my normal payment. I cannot exit my contract as they would want the  payment and any new supplier would believe my usage is triple what it should be. My readings from April until now are in line with my historical usage. When the apparent surge in use occurred I was receiving automated calls from my alarm company saying there was an issue, would power surges cause this. Can Smart Meters give false readings then correct themselves?

MattMattMattUK

spc1996 said:

I changed my supplier They took the 1st reading from the smart meter and 1 four months later. It then stopped sending readings I submitted a reading 12 months later and the usage had been in line with my historical usage. 7 weeks later I tried to submit a reading which it refused to accept. I later found it showed usage of almost 3 times my annual usage in 7 weeks. They continued to refuse to accept my readings until near the end of my contract when they asked for a photograph of the meter I then received a bill for three times my historical usage and an ongoing monthly payment three times my normal payment. I cannot exit my contract as they would want the  payment and any new supplier would believe my usage is triple what it should be. My readings from April until now are in line with my historical usage. When the apparent surge in use occurred I was receiving automated calls from my alarm company saying there was an issue, would power surges cause this. Can Smart Meters give false readings then correct themselves?

In theory it could be possible, but the probability would be very low.

Have you been giving regular monthly readings or just sporadic ones?
Edit to add in addition to EH's comment, what tariff are you on, single rate, E7, something else?

Have you already raised a complaint and if so was it more than eight weeks ago?

EssexHebridean

Are you absolutely certain that all the readings are from the same register on the meter? 

dunstonh

I later found it showed usage of almost 3 times my annual usage in 7 weeks. 

Did that bill use estimated or actual readings?

 7 weeks later I tried to submit a reading which it refused to accept. I later found it showed usage of almost 3 times my annual usage in 7 weeks.

I have had that in the past, where the estimate exceeded the supplier's accepted tolerance for manual readings which are lower than the estimated reading.    Photos were required to show the readings.

Can Smart Meters give false readings then correct themselves?

Are you sure its the meter that is giving false readings?  If it was, your own readings would be wrong.   All the "smart" bit of the meter is doing is transmitting those readings or failing to transmit.   The supplier may be the one creating the incorrect readings.

spc1996

I had been posting sporadic readings. I only added the electric meter readings as I was submitting the gas meter readings which is not a smart meter. I submitted a reading on February 12th which showed my annual use for the previous 12 months had been in line with my historical usage of 29536kph when I tried to submit the next reading on 4th April they refused to accept it or any subsequent readings until August when they requested a photograph. The April reading showed I had used 75963kph in seven weeks. My business is seasonal from April until September. from October until end of March we do less hours and most of our equipment would be reduced or out of use. I have taken this up with the company and they have offered a test meter and also within days sent someone to replace the meter (which they claim is not faulty) As the meter seems to have worked correctly from April 1st to 15th September 20423kph during our peak season with all our equipment operating for longer hours. I have asked them why they did not investigate the huge increase in April. They replied by sending me my Gas meter readings and then saying the gas account was closed . It has since been reinstated, But I have had no response regarding the electricity account.

spc1996

In reply to some of your questions. I am on a single rate 2yr contract which has ended 29/9/2025. the meter sent readings at the start and then 1 four months later. I paid a fixed amount monthly which would have been calculated on historical usage. The usage from the start of the contract until February was 11406 kph. from April to 12 months later we had used 29536kph. The spike in usage may have occurred in one hour for all I know. All our usage is consistent with historical usage apart from the 7 weeks. The issue is now I am being charged £3000 a month on top of £24000 usage for that period. We are a small business which could not have used that amount of electricity. We have added nothing to our business that could possibly have tripled our consumption in 12 months

Robin9

spc1996 said:

The usage from the start of the contract until February was 11406 kph. from April to 12 months later we had used 29536kph.  

Are we talking about a typical modern build semi or detached and with gas heating ?

That 11406 itself is staggeringly high -  I would have expected nearer 3000.

Pictures of the meter please -  when reading look out for the decimal point.

brianposter

Any electrical or mechanical equipment can behave erratically. 

A SAR for your meter readings may reveal an obvious problem.

debitcardmayhem

Robin9 said:

spc1996 said:

The usage from the start of the contract until February was 11406 kph. from April to 12 months later we had used 29536kph.  

Are we talking about a typical modern build semi or detached and with gas heating ?

That 11406 itself is staggeringly high -  I would have expected nearer 3000.

Pictures of the meter please -  when reading look out for the decimal point.

It’s a business…..

Robin9

Sorry  - missed that.

OP could you post what readings you have had with  your new supplies - include the letter after the meter reading