£800 Powergen bill....

[Josamolly]

Last week i recieved an £800 bill from Powergen... and since then they have been hassling every day for payment ( i am happy to deal with this, a letter is on its way!!)

They have had the meter checked by an engineer and they say it is ok, but i cannot for the life of me believe that this is correct....

I pay £70 per month anyway, and over the winter the bill has gone mad..

So guys i need some help here as to what this may be.. I have offered £400 for now and also to increase my SO by another £10, but they are not happy (tough!).

[installspark]

Do you know what check was done on the meter, whether it was a standard load test or a check meter installed in parallel to your meter.

The only definitive way of saying whether or not a meter is accurate is to have a check meter installed over a period of 28 days

[Josamolly]

having spoken to the OH apparently he changed the timer.. whatever that is.. not sure what other test he carried out..

Is there any way i could find out?

[installspark]

So they haven't done a consumption query with you then.

What they have done is to change the timeswitch. From this I can presume that you have a 2 rate meter - day and night, and therefore exists the possibility that the night rate useage has been charged at day rate prices.

From your last bill, is there any increase on the night rate useage or was it based on estimates. Either way Powergen should have received the details of the timeswitch change and will need to adjust the bill accordingly to take into account of the incorrect useage charging.

To get a meter accuracy check done there are a series of hoops that need to be done whereby you take daily readings of your meter and list the appliances (including lights) used and for how long. Then you phone them up with these details and Powergen will then go through your useage and compare them with the useage expected from running costs. If a large discrepancy is found then a check meter should be installed to run in parallel with your meter over a period of 28 days.

The check meters are calibrated prior to installation and during their time at your property record the useage. Readings are taken from both your meter and the check meter at installation, again after 14 days and finally upon removal. A meter is classed as accurate so long as it is not more than 2% fast or 5% slow. You may be asked to pay a deposit to have a check meter fitted which would be returned, usually to the account, if it is proven that the meter is inaccurate.

[Josamolly]

Originally Posted by installspark

So they haven't done a consumption query with you then.

What they have done is to change the timeswitch. From this I can presume that you have a 2 rate meter - day and night, and therefore exists the possibility that the night rate useage has been charged at day rate prices.

From your last bill, is there any increase on the night rate useage or was it based on estimates. Either way Powergen should have received the details of the timeswitch change and will need to adjust the bill accordingly to take into account of the incorrect useage charging.

To get a meter accuracy check done there are a series of hoops that need to be done whereby you take daily readings of your meter and list the appliances (including lights) used and for how long. Then you phone them up with these details and Powergen will then go through your useage and compare them with the useage expected from running costs. If a large discrepancy is found then a check meter should be installed to run in parallel with your meter over a period of 28 days.

The check meters are calibrated prior to installation and during their time at your property record the useage. Readings are taken from both your meter and the check meter at installation, again after 14 days and finally upon removal. A meter is classed as accurate so long as it is not more than 2% fast or 5% slow. You may be asked to pay a deposit to have a check meter fitted which would be returned, usually to the account, if it is proven that the meter is inaccurate.

Yes i do have a 2 rate meter, and i suspect that the readings have been transposed at some stage..

I am in Bristol at the moment so i will have a look at the bills when i get back and repost then

Thanks for your help so far....

[charlie1963]

Hi, Is the meter an AO5 meter? its on the front of the meter box. I have been having the same problems and have had engineers out, i've videoed the thing. had countless hours of up and down watching it only to be told yesterday that the AO5 meters run nightrate at different hours!!!! just as you expect everything to go onto cheap, its actually going onto day rate costing massive amounts to get your storage heaters going and anything on timers for the midnight switch. My supplier told me last month that my night hours were 12 -7 give or take 15 mins!! I'm now also checking with the manufacturer how long the chips inside them are guaranteed for as the digital clock runs slow and then fast on top of an average 13 min time difference. Please let me know the manufacturer and the first 4 letters and numbers of your meter and i'll see what i can find out.
Charlie

[charlie1963]

I forgot to mention that the times are 22.30-00.30 and 2.30-7.30. This makes it appear that they are running together and then that they are transposed. It's chaos.

[Josamolly]

thanks charlie.. i will be back home friday pm so i will check it then..

[charlie1963]

I just rang ampy, the manufacturers, they are very hedgy about the whole thing but tell me that powergen are capable of setting them accurately and depending on the model, which may run to other serial numbers and model numbers are able to time your appliances. however as the engineer told me they staggered the times to avoid the peak switch over usage because it blew fuses at the substation, it looks rather as though powergen were deliberately misleading the consumer.

[ozzywizard]

If the timeswitch was faulty and by your post it appears it was, then I would not be surprised if all your night useage has been billed on the day rate.

[lindsay22]

hello i work for powergen and it might be possible that they have ur day and night reads mixed up its a very common problem and often happens?

[progenic7]

day and night rates mixed up huh

as a corgi registered engineer for someone to say to me its common for plumbers to mix up the gas and the hot water tap connection, or the flow and the return would be very rare indeed.

when just like myself i fit a gas meter, everything is checked in accordance with extremely tight rules, i know exactly what im doing and what should be done, what everything should look like and how it all should be tested.

the same can be said for the electrical meters, and for an electrician to "mix up" day and night rate, is practically impossible, it wouldnt happen.

what am i saying ?

what do you think im saying ?


draw your own conclusions !

[ozzywizard]

No Prog, no one is saying the engineers are mixing up the day and night etc. Its the billing system held at the utility company that mixes them up. The meter is fitted and working fine but the billing database accepts the night read as the day and the day as the night, trust me this is sooo common due to very bad systems and processing. Engineers know there job and trade and rarely do it incorrect as lives could be in danger its the process that comes after that is unorganised and usually unmanned. Transposed reads, I deal with at least 2 a day and that is 2 a day too much.

[progenic7]

ozzy,

i guess what i was saying is that anyone that knows their job rarely messes that job up, a computer system thats there to filter data or whatever out will do just that.
I guess what im saying is look at the bigger picture, mistake like that in reality dont happen too often, so if they are happening.......its probably not a mistake

do you see where im going with this......

[ozzywizard]

Yeah I see exactly were you are going with this and agree with ya, it is not human error as such it’s a combination of the big picture the whole system and process of the way the meters are read and entered onto various systems before it hits the customers account and is used for billing. The systems are rarely monitored unless a customer phones in and makes the company aware of their individual problem. So how many do not question their consumption ?

[mintymanda]

I have my gas with powergen and have the same problem. An £800+ bill. On Friday they sent someone out who changed our meter to a card one which we were told we could never have before as we live in a flat and the meter is out the back of the block. They have put the bill on the meter and is we want £10 we have to put £20 a week on or whatever as they are taking £10 a week from the meter everytime we put the card in. They told my dh this will clear the bill within 10 months which I can not work out how at £10 a week. Powergen are a rip off.

[ozzywizard]

If you choose so you can have this dropped to 3 pound a week. Just phone the prepay department and they will drop it for you, give us a shout if you need the phone number. Also ask for an upto date statement then you can check how they have worked this out.

[Kerrie78]

I will keep an eye on this post as this also happened to my dad. he has had to have a meter installed and is paying so much off each time he puts his card in. His bill was also over £800