SSEN vs British Gas – meter tails upgrade responsibility?

HopelessJoe

Hi all, looking for some advice as I’m getting nowhere and keep being passed between companies.

All I wanted to do was install an EV charging point. As part of the process, SSEN (the DNO) carried out a load check, upgraded the cut-out fuse from 60A to 80A, and then told me that the meter tails (the cables between the cut-out fuse and the meter) need upgrading from 16mm² to 25mm². They told me to contact my electricity supplier, which is British Gas.

British Gas then told me they are not responsible for the meter tails between the cut-out fuse and the meter and that this is SSEN’s responsibility. SSEN, however, say it’s the supplier’s responsibility. So I’m stuck in a loop being sent back and forth between the two and no one is actually resolving it.

Has anyone dealt with this before when installing an EV charger? Who is actually responsible for upgrading the meter tails in this situation? And if both keep refusing, who should I raise a formal complaint with?

This whole ping-pong between companies is getting really frustrating.

Woodstok2000

This is what I was told when we had our charger installed:

Cable coming in to house: The DNO

The head/cut-out: The DNO

The tails coming from the head/cut-out to the meter: Supplier

The meter: Supplier

The tails coming from the meter to the consumer unit: Me

The consumer unit: Me

Ildhund

Not entirely relevant here, but :

@Woodstok2000 wrote:

The tails coming from the meter to the consumer unit: Me

All connections to the meter are the responsibility of the supplier; they are sealed and the seal can only be broken by an authorized technician - i.e. not by you or (usually) your electrician.

It may be that existing tails can be reconnected, but a meter engineer will normally terminate new tails at a Henley block or an isolator switch on the meter backboard.

There is no doubt in my mind that the connection from the main fuse to the meter (the tails that need upgrading) is the responsibility of the supplier, not the DNO. The upgrade will not necessarily be free …

Netexporter

If you haven't already got a smart meter then order one. They'll upgrade the tails from the service head when they fit it. Also ask for a 100A two-pole isolator to be fitted after the meter, if there isn't one already. Once that is done then request the main fuse upgrade. They should also change the service head, if it is one of the old black ones, to the new grey ones.

That was how my upgrades went with Octopus as supplier and National Grid as DNO, who are both excellent.

QrizB

SSEN's own guide shows the meter tails as the customer's responsibility.

https://www.ssen.co.uk/globalassets/our-services/connect-1-4/site-readiness-guide-small-connections-1120-3.pdf

Noting that you'll need an authorised electrician as they're going to open the meter tails cover for access.

Edit to add:

Those folk who have pointed out that you're not actually asking for the meter tails to be replaced, but the Stage 2 tails, are quite correct. Per the guide they're your supplier's responsibility.

Maybe send BG the SSEN pdf to sow exactly what you mean?

squirrelpie

SSEN's own guide shows the meter tails as the customer's responsibility.

I agree that the wires from the meter or isolator to the customer's consumer unit are the wires that are normally called the "meter tails" and that they are the customer's [electrician's] responsibility. But the OP and everybody else in this thread is clear that these are not the wires that are being discussed here. The OP states "the cables between the cut-out fuse and the meter" and SSEN's guide shows them as the energy supplier's responsibility (British Gas in this case) as everybody else has indicated.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81933908#Comment_81933908

It is the 'Stage 2' tails from that diagram that are the ones in question, so that is the supplier.

Ildhund

@QrizB wrote:

SSEN's own guide shows the meter tails as the customer's responsibility.

That guide is for new connections, before the power has been turned on. I'm sure it's a different story when the meter's already in place and connected. I know that meter engineers can deal with the cut-out with DNO permission. I suppose a properly-certified electrician could be authorized by the supplier to remove the terminal cover in order to connect new tails; without that authorization, a tamper alert would be generated.