E.on - meter reading on day of completion of sale

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Do I pay bills from completion or actual move date, or both?.

a_q

I'm having some difficulties with E.On

They took a smartmeter reading in the early hours of the morning and insist on using that.

I am arguing that the liability starts at the date AND TIME of completion (after midday).

I have photographic evidence of the meter reading (soon after gaining access, and nothing much was on in the house so it's fairly accurate). THere is a discrepancy as there was off-peak usage before 07:00.

I'd like to hear opinions on this one.

Tabieth

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091327#Comment_82091327

You’re probably better starting a new thread. This one is three years old.

silvercar

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091327#Comment_82091327

what is the discrepancy?

saajan_12

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091529#Comment_82091529

A lot of people will just read the OP and answer that without seeing there is now a different question being asked, where a lot of the specifics don't apply. You can link the prior thread if you want, but please start anew if you want useful replies.

Tabieth

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091529#Comment_82091529

Well you can of course do what you like. But doing it this way increases the chance of your question being missed. Not everyone will notice this is a three years old thread and will just answer the OP.

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've split this into its own thread, but the system message at the top of the page includes a link to the earlier thread for people to peruse if they wish

QrizB

THere is a discrepancy as there was off-peak usage before 07:00. I'd like to hear opinions on this one.

How big is this discrepancy?

The handover meter reading is agreed via an independent third party. There's an allowance by which this agreed reading is permitted to differ from the actual reading on the day; I think for electricity it's something like 250kWh.

Exodi

What is the actual kwh/reading discrepancy?

I presume we are talking about the potential charging of an EV, as opposed to a 'principles' quibble over literal pennies?

I'm thinking even if the previous owners had an EV which they charged overnight from midnight to 7am on completion day, with a typical 7.4kWh home EV charger which would consume 51.8kWh, which to you at the price cap rate of 26.11p/kWh would cost £13.52. Throw in some background usage by the house, maybe you'll push it to £14 or £15 tops.

I think given that you likely have a lot on your plate having just moved, and considering you've just paid six figures for the house, life is too short to spend it arguing over a few pounds, I spent more on light bulbs (and considerably more repairing a leaky toilet that had obviously been mopped up for viewings…). Of course there are some that have the time, or feel deeply bound to some vague notion of 'principle'.

a_q

My question isn't about the discrepancy, it's about the principle. Does anyone know the answer to that?

» The handover meter reading is agreed via an independent third party. «

That's interesting, so who is this third party you refer to?

»There's an allowance by which this agreed reading is permitted to differ from the actual reading on the day; I think for electricity it's something like 250kWh.«

Sounds good then.

QrizB

That's interesting, so who is this third party you refer to?

I'll leave it to @WiserMiser (or possibly @Gerry1 if he pops up) to explain the role of the Mysterious Third Party who validates all handover readings.

Essentially, it's a centralised database administrator that makes sure people aren't trying to fudge their meter readings, amongst other things. It's a bit of a hangover from the days of dumb metes and doesn't make a lot of sense with smart meters, but it's how the industry and regulators have agreed it should work.

Edit to add: here's a blog post by Octopus that explains handover readings.

https://octopus.energy/blog/handover-meter-readings/

Hopefully this will provide illumination!