Capped gas meter

colacube2410

Hi can anyone help please

My boiler is 15 years old and I have informed my council that I cannot afford to run this system and they sent a surveyor out to inspect property which they did and he requested new boiler in january 2024 in March 2024 my annual gas check was done and as I had not been using the boiler and there was no credit on the meter they capped the gas.I then had a visit from my housing manager in February 2025 telling me if I cleared the debt on the meter they would install a new boiler I contact my energy supplier and had the debt removed and contacted my housing manager to say I had the gas supply back on a engineer came the next day to uncap the gas supply it was costing me £12 per day and taking 3 hours of energy for hot water I contacted my housing manager and was told they are not replacing boiler.I have bow had my annual gas check again and once again a debt on the meter so gas supply capped again.

Can my council leave me with no heating or hot water for 2 years as I cannot afford a 15 year old boiler

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655758/capped-gas-meter

The boiler will not be increasing your energy costs that much, a fifteen year old boiler will still be a condensing boiler, so it should operate 95% efficiency or greater (accounting for some degradation in the heat exchanger. Even if set up for an incredibly hot flow temperature meaning it does not condense it should still be over 80% efficient.

Gas standing charge should be around 35p per day and gas itself 5.7p per kWh, which means for your £12 per day you are using over 200kWh of gas per day which is a huge amount. You mention "3 hours of energy", but that is not a measure of energy, do you have copies of your bills you can share (with personal details redacted) so we can try and figure out what is actually being used? I can imagine on the first day the boiler is used, if it has not been used for months and the hot water tank was fully cold then it might take that amount for one day, but days after that would be a fraction of that cost. Do you still have a debt with your energy supplier? Are you on a pre-payment meter?

Unfortunately it is not the council leaving you without heating or hot water, it is due to you not paying your energy bills.

Do you have any disabilities or are you in receipt of benefits? That can sometimes entitle you to extra help.

silvercar

If the council provide a boiler I. Working order, with the neves gas safety certificate, they are providing you a means of heating. That is their obligation. It is your choice if you choose not to use it.

I do wonder if the £12 a day includes some debt or a forecast of future use.

Ectophile

The difference in efficiency between a 15 year old boiler and a new one will be tiny. A new one won't magically give you cheap heating.

As others have said, the council are responsible for providing you with a working heating system. Not paying your energy bills.

colacube2410

Forgot to mention I have a roof that rain comes in missing mortar on gable end black mould growing in loft rain running in empty cavity walls and sitting on widows and door frames humidity level of between 70-95% Council removed all edging on windows and doors and squirted expanding foam in so rain now sits on foam instead they cleaned of all mould from bedroom ceilings and sealed so the mould does not show inside the house I can heat a room to 20 degrees if you turn heating of it will be 10 degrees in 20 minutes so when the heating is on it has to stay on hence the cost of £12per day

I do recieve pip and have had no financial help from the council and still no repair to the roof this has now been 2 years.

So can the council cap my gas meter that I cannot afford to run because repairs have not been made.

Thankyou for response

WiserMiser

If you tell us the make and model of the gas meter, someone will come along and tell you how to check whether it's charging more than usual to reclaim accumulated debt.

But if you're using an immersion heater for hot water and panel heaters, electric fire or fan heaters you'll be making matters far worse because electricity is far more expensive. Just persevere with gas.

Make sure you're on the Priority Services Register if you qualify. Also check with Citizens Advice that you're getting all the benefits to which you may be entitled.

colacube2410

I do not have a emersion heater for water I just have a electric shower which is my only source of hot water.I do use electric fire and heaters in my house which only cost £6 per day which I can afford and have done now for 2 years the gas meter is now in debt of £205 as I have not used it as i cannot afford to run

gpman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655758/capped-gas-meter

Who do you pay for your gas supply? Your council as landlord, or as is more common, do you have a supply contract direct with a licensed gas supplier (e.g. British Gas, Scottish Power, etc?)

In the common situation, your council should not be interrupting your gas supply because of any debt owed to a third party, such as a licenced energy supplier. But the energy supplier might! (or more usually put you on a pre-payment meter)

The council should usually only be capping your supply for safety reasons. Indeed, the council have a legal responsibility to make sure that your gas supply and any gas appliances that are installed are checked, serviced and maintained. 

As you had not used any gas for a long period of time, then that can be considered a safety issue to leave it live, so it may be considered appropriate to cap the supply, and so voids the requirement to check installed appliances (I thought non-use had to be in excess of 2 years, but I may be mistaken on that).

But you appear to have used some gas (despite not having paid for all/some of it) within the previous 12 months, so non-use is not a reason. Contact your council to establish on what valid grounds they have capped your gas supply. You should have been clearly informed at the time. If there is another safety reason, they should probably be addressing that.

As a landlord, the council are obligated to provide you a form of heating. You have that, a gas boiler (and presumably associated radiators etc). But you decided not to use it. (irrespective of whether or not that was for financial constraints)

In the unusual case of the landlord being your energy supplier (i.e. you should be paying them for your gas supply) then they may have the right to disconnect for non-payment, just an authorised gas supplier may. But as I said, installation of a pre-payment meter where possible is the usual first step taken for persistent non-payment.

But otherwise, how does the council even know the details of your financial position with a third party? (i.e. a licenced energy supplier)

WiserMiser

Get the gas reconnected and take daily meter readings (volume) from which you can work out the kWh used. Based on your electricity use, it's unlikely to be costing as much as £12 per day. An electricity kWh costs around four times that of a gas kWh so by using electricity for room heating and showers you're just prolonging the agony.

Separating fact from fantasy is the key to solving your problem.

gpman

Re-reading the OP's initial post together now with the later post in this thread, it appears the OP is on a pre-payment meter with a licenced gas supplier.

So if the pre-payment meter is again in debt, that sounds like the OP is not even paying the daily standing charge of approx 35p per day.

On that basis, the council probably took the pragmatic decision to cap the supply for non use, (including an admission by the OP that they cannot afford to use any gas), to save the OP 35p a day, and avoid the council spending time, effort and money checking all the gas appliances before issuing a CP12

I'm going to recommend that this thread is moved to the Debt-free Wannabe board, where there are probably more forumites who can assist the OP with their financial issues.

Robin9

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81889688#Comment_81889688

Do you know who your local councillor is ? The condition of your property doesn't sound good.