meter has stopped!!please help!

merchantofvenice

well just had a talk to dh, he is in the US on business (so i felt a bit on my own-boo!) He is being v sweet about it..aww. I have worked out that if my gas usage is anything like my elec useage then i should owe them nearly £900. Is it right, to estimate based on elec usage? are they generally the same level of consumption?, i mean i only have heating on in the winter for 2-3hours a day tops, have an elec shower and use a elec oven and slow cooker.

would it be right to negotiate a reduction? on what basis? if i used it, i used it and should pay. I have the funds available. It was just a shock to realise i owe that kind of money when i thought that i was on top of things. and obviously had that money allocated for something more fun!!
thanks for your replies, i feel a lot better now,:o just want to get them paid off

Cardew

44 Units on a digital gas meter is approx 500kWh. Nobody can say how many kWh you would have used, depends on how big the property, insulation, how much time you spend in the property etc etc.

Your grounds for a 'goodwill gesture' are that they should have noticed from the meter readings that in 18 months you used virtually no gas, yet they knew the house wasn't unoccupied because you were using lots of Electricity.(mind, you should have noticed as well but shhhh)

I am pretty certain they will make a gesture - but if they don't, ask for their reasons in writing and say that you have been asked to contact Energywatch for their further advice.

The other way to look at it is that you have had an interest free loan for 18 months and they will certainly let you pay back anything owing over several months - again interest free.

davep

A similar thing happened to us a couple of years ago with an electricity meter it did not completely stop but was not recording anywhere near what we where using. It was doing this for about 6 months when I finally decided to bite the bullet and get them into have a look. I was expecting a huge "estimated" bill but they said they do not actually have anyway of accurately estimating the actual usage so just replaced the meter and thanked me for informing them no charge whatsoever. You might be lucky
If not and they do the 2 week reading estimate someone else has suggested, you could always put some extra jumpers on and live like a hermit for 2 weeks:rotfl:

Terrylw1

As Davep says, it kind of depends on the Supplier.

In the case of elec metering when I have dealt with these cases, I would have written the bill off and said lucky you. Why, because on the old meters where no recording device has captured movement behind the screen, the Supplier pays absolutely nothing to the Distributor as well.

Suppliers have got more savvy on conning you on these older types now, they "estimate" you knowing full well that they will not pay since the Data Collector will be unable to provide an estimate accurately (they usually deem them as removed on the meter held on the meter, hence no advance).

With digitals they have more to go on. They can also choose to monitor your current consumption after a meter change and back estimate.

Since this is partly the Supplier fault and the Data Collectors for not noticing, you should be covered under Ofgem's bil policy - they haven't billed anything. This would mean that you would only backpay for 12 months (since July 2007 changes where it changed from 2 years).

I would suggest you get full confirmation on that from Energywatch, mail them per their site. Thats my understanding but it may have changed since I was last informed on the stopped metering issues as there were evaluations to these processes going on.

vickib128

Hi, yes they will estimate, they will have you take some readings over a period of time and bill you up, but they can only bill you for the past year. By law a supplier is only obligued to read the meter at least once every 2 years.
If the Data Collector has been coming to read the meter (this is also to inspect the meter) you can argue with them and ask them for a discount as a good will gesture.
Some companies offer discounts if you read your meter every quarter, this is a good idea as you will have no estimated bills and will know if something is wrong,

Vicki

Sue-UU

I was so pleased to see you've actually told your DH, some of the pressure taken off of you at least.

We had the same thing happen to us about 7 years ago. We tackled them about it, not feeling it was our fault, they were actually quite sheepish about it all and we ended up paying a 1/3 of what it should have been. As someone says, it does depend on which company you're with, but hopefully yours will have a compassionate side to them and it won't be so bad as you think. Be ready to tactfully point out that it's NOT your faults though.....and hope for the best ......I know I do for you!

Sue

merchantofvenice

Thank you for all of your responses and for not calling me an idiot!!;) over the past 18mo, i have paid £169.85 on gas, inc "standing charges" and "independent gas transporter" charges, so i guess that 's why I never noticed that the bills were so low, it's only been this quarter when they went to £0 that I finally had a look. Scottish Gas would always come to read the meter and never estimate, so i also assumed that they would have noticed a problem. yesterday was the 1st time I had even looked at the meter!:eek:

the meter guy comes on Mon. and thankfully DH will be back to talk to SP (who will most def. be asking for some kind of gesture and making sure they stick to 12 mons charges) I would feel a bit cheeky doing this myself, (men are much better, I find, and feel no guilt, lol!) This has really upset me, because I thought I was doing the right MSE thing, for a while now we have been on a strict budget, (£50 per mo for food!!! smartprice beans!) ParentsIL helped us with our house deposit, and we were due to pay them back in Apr.This was a BIG milestone for us, and this will put us back a month, not much I know but it feels a lot. Also we're coming off a fixed rate and wanted to make some overpayments.
well, these things happen, i guess and at least thanks to MSE we have the money in the bank to pay.
Thanks again for all the advice, and for listening. off to work..:D

Sue-UU

I'm sure you're right in that men have a way with them and tend to be listened to more, a reflection of it still being a man's world I guess!:mad:

It's so good to see you're looking at it all in such a positive way, after all, it's not as though it'll take you too long to claw that month back and no doubt your PIL will be quite understanding of it all. Take care and good luck with Monday!

Sue

carlostot

merchantofvenice wrote: »

Thank you for all of your responses and for not calling me an idiot!!;) over the past 18mo, i have paid £169.85 on gas, inc "standing charges" and "independent gas transporter" charges, so i guess that 's why I never noticed that the bills were so low, it's only been this quarter when they went to £0 that I finally had a look. Scottish Gas would always come to read the meter and never estimate, so i also assumed that they would have noticed a problem. yesterday was the 1st time I had even looked at the meter!:eek:

the meter guy comes on Mon. and thankfully DH will be back to talk to SP (who will most def. be asking for some kind of gesture and making sure they stick to 12 mons charges) I would feel a bit cheeky doing this myself, (men are much better, I find, and feel no guilt, lol!) This has really upset me, because I thought I was doing the right MSE thing, for a while now we have been on a strict budget, (£50 per mo for food!!! smartprice beans!) ParentsIL helped us with our house deposit, and we were due to pay them back in Apr.This was a BIG milestone for us, and this will put us back a month, not much I know but it feels a lot. Also we're coming off a fixed rate and wanted to make some overpayments.
well, these things happen, i guess and at least thanks to MSE we have the money in the bank to pay.
Thanks again for all the advice, and for listening. off to work..:D

I know 100% that they will ask you to take a read in a few weeks etc, unless they have recent history readings, where in that case they will take them and estimate a reading for you. My advice is to use as little as possible until you get your next bill. This way they will see you as a low user. if you get a bill that you do not agree with, give them a ring and ask them how they worked it out. When they tell you just say that you do not agree with them using history readings as your circumstances have changed and demand them to take a reading in a month or so and then work it out from there. If they have not noticed it when they have come out and read it, then it is there fault. And it is true that they can not back bill you for more than a year if it is deemed to be there fault. I would not worry about it, just play clever