Didn't take a gas meter reading when I moved in...

[rastica]

Hi there,

 

I received an £800 bill for the 1 bed flat I live in that I'm trying to work out.

 

Basically, I moved into this flat in August after it had been empty for 4 or 5 years. I set up a gas account with British Gas Business (its listed as a business property because of a business downstairs). They didn't ask me for a meter reading as far as I remember.

 

They sent me this bill in December and it seemed high to me so I called them. They told me what the last meter reading they had for the property was, and that this was an estimate, so to give them an updated reading and they'd see what could be amended.

 

I checked and the reading is actually higher than their estimate - but my problem is, I never took a reading when I moved in (I didn't know I had to... stupid but I'm new-ish to the UK and had never done this before). The reading they will have will be at least 4 years old. When I moved in, I had to have a small gas leak repaired which a plumber setting up my boiler noticed. So I suspect that the meter reading was actually quite high when I moved in and that my own usage has been minimal.

 

It feels like I don't have any recourse since I don't have any way of benchmarking this or proof or anything. But does anyone have advice?

[rebel11]

Hi rastica

 

Did the gas have to be swiched on when you moved in?

Surely the gas should of been switched off if the flat hadn't been occupied for such a long time? I've done a rough calculation I reckon if it's gas alone the max

usage would be around £150, but I don't know the specific details of the property. If it's gas and electricty then it would possibly be £300. I also

don't know your energy uses.

 

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Consumers/Pages/Consumer.aspx, might be an idea to ring consumer direct.

[rebel11]

The other thing you can do is use the many quotation calculator to get a rough calculation.

[Aviva]

"I set up a gas account with British Gas Business (its listed as a business property because of a business downstairs)."

 

Another thing to make sure is that the meter only measures gas usage from your flat and not the flat and business downstairs combined.

 

There have been other posters on here and other forums with problems because of this and either have had the bill come to them and the business owner not wanting to pay their share or the business owner gets the bill and demand large amounts of money but will not let the poster see the bill so they can check that they actually owe the amount.

[rastica]

Thanks for the replies! I actually called Consumer Direct - what a great service - and they told me to lodge a formal complaint with British Gas about it, and to take daily meter readings to get an average usage (as I've seen people on this forum recommend). They warned that British Gas weren't obliged to deal with my complaint as it was my responsibility to take a first meter reading, but gave me the number to call and some advice, and said they might consider it out of courtesy.

 

I called British Gas and while they were at first a bit unhelpful and slightly rude ("its your responsibility to take a meter reading when you move in, we are under no obligation to have asked you for one, its all your fault etc etc") I emphasized that it would have really been in both of our best interests if they had just mentioned to me to take a reading when I moved in, as we wouldn't be in this situation, and also that I insist they investigate my complaint formally, and they put me on hold for awhile then came back and said ok, that they would put the account on hold til mid July, and that I should take readings periodically until then, and they can then see if they can back date to work out what the original meter reading should have been. Surprisingly helpful! She was a bit short with me at first but I just stayed calm and friendly but firm with her and we ended up talking about our holidays

 

Hopefully this will end in good result! Thanks everyone!

[nottslad]

I would be very surprised if they re-estimate your opening read based on current usage at this time of year as summer usage is not the same as winter

Edited June 19, 2010 by nottslad
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