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Electric Meter Problem?
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Just been speaking to my mum about her gas and electric bill, and something doesnt seem to add up. her electricity bill is £430 per quarter, and there are only 2 people living in the house as it stands (myself and my brother have moved out) Both people work, so not in the house all day, and even when they are in the house, minimal lighting is used. Cooking is done with gas - gas bill is roughly £119 per quarter.
Does the electric bill look about right? they dont have any plamsa tvs or anything like that.
What can you suggest for my mum and dad to do with N-Power? Can they request for an engineer to come out and test the meter because using over 3600 units of electricty in 85 days seems excessive!!!
Does the electric bill look about right? they dont have any plamsa tvs or anything like that.
What can you suggest for my mum and dad to do with N-Power? Can they request for an engineer to come out and test the meter because using over 3600 units of electricty in 85 days seems excessive!!!
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I hope you can get to the bottom of the problem but would advise an engineer 100% coming out to take a look at the meter.
Ask for them to come out and check the meter isn't too high. Seems alot of money to pay, are they on pre-payment meter's or direct debit.. (mines pre-payment)
My gas this time a year averages £10-12 per week
I would get company out to replace the meter.
Just keep complaining until you get satisfaction
I'd ask your parents to switch off everything in the house and see what the meter does, as it might be a faulty meter but it could also be a faulty appliance. It should be stationary and if it is take a reading. Then switch everything back on and live normally for 24 hours then take another reading. From that 24hour period you should be able to work out what you can expect to use in a quarter and therefore how much you can expect to pay.
Another thing to check is if you have a faulty hot water tank immersion heater. If this is accidentally left on and it's faulty it could be permanently heating the water and costing a fortune. Also check fridges and freezers as if they are old they may be working flat out to keep the temperatures within them.
they are on quarterly payment duel fuel with N-Power (not sure how its paid, I do know its not pre pay meter)
As another poster said i would monitor the meter for 24 hours..
Just use what they normally do and write down the start figure and end (after 24 hours) and take it from there and ring the company up....
What a rip off !
They can request for meters to be put in if they want... That what you know what your using as and when. i'm with BG and its always been the cheapest for me. I did try another company but went back to BG...
Thats 4 x's more than me with 2 people...
I would suggest you ring them every day, several times a day in necessary until they come out and sort the meter.
The meter is in a box outside, so meter is accessible to readers who have one f them triangular keys things. Anyone know where we would be able to get hold of one of them keys?
Without checking the last 12 months bills, I couldnt tell you whether there are any estimated readings, or whether they are actual readings from the meter.
Thanks for everyone posting so quickly, Will pass the advice you have given over to my mum and dad. However if there is any furter information/telephone numbers people could give me, please do so
Thanks
bluechang
Switching everything off to see if there is some other usage is also a good idea.
If all this is ok then you can ask your supplier to install a check meter. This is a 2nd meter to check the other one against. If you ask them to do this and the first meter is ok then you may have to pay for the cost of installation.
On the back of your elec bill there should be contact details for Energywatch, they are part of Ofgem.
Everytime somebody contacts Energywatch it is a black mark against the supplier. Contacting Energywatch or just threatening to is the best way to get your supplier to stop pissing about. Ask your supplier why they did not notice the unusuall increase in usauage and contact you to prevent a complaint. Mention you will point out there lack of a proactive approach to the regulator. Remind them all you have to do is proivide access to a meter reader it is the suppliers responsiblty to bill acuratly.
Also mention you are good friends with your local MP and that they are going to help you contact the media.
Most companies get in a flap if you write to their CEO. Look up who ever it is on the internet and next time you are on phone to them ask where you can write to them at.
Also ask them for your MPAN number and the tel number for your local MPAS. Phone MPAS and check your MPAN is registered to the correct supplier. If it's not they owe you a refund anyway.
Your local DIY stores sell the triangular keys. You'll find them with the other electrical accessories like fuses.
MPAN?
MPAS?
MPAS is Meterpoint administration number.
If your supplier dose not have an MPAN registered to them for your property then they should not be billing it.
It's a long shoot but you would surprised how often they do not have this.
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2008/01/05/police-find-250k-haul-of-cannabis-in-stockton-84229-20316406/
might not be as daft as it sounds :eek:
They don't have 'economy 7' do they, my electricity company have the habit of charging me high rate for overnight usage and I have to get them to correct it.
Check the meter during the day and also around midnight to see which reading is being incremented at that time. Then compare the readings to the bill.
EDF have charged me the wrong way round on three occasions - and it makes a difference of hundreds of pounds. I once had a credit of £950 due to their mistakes.
The best faulty Gas meter i can remember, was for a very large house and they had only recently had a new meter put in, with 6 dials, as it was for a large house.
Anyway as i took the reading, i thought the read looked odd, so i asked the owners to turn the gas on and sure enough, every time they used one unit of gas, the 1000's of units dial would move too. so instead of using just 239 units, their meter read 239239 :eek: The meter had only been there just over a month!
Can you imagine what their bill would of been like....
For a normal usage pattern, Economy 7 will work out more expensive (not enough to justify the huge bill, though). Your supplier should be able to either replace the meter with a normal one, or merge the readings and bill you on a normal tariff.