Wouldn't it be the distributor rather than the supplier who would move a meter? I have it somewhere in the back of my mind, that moving a meter up to 1 metre is free. Try checking with the local distribution company.

Yes on reflection you're probably correct, it's usually voluntary PP meters that LLs won't allow.

It may well help if you can get your landlord to tell npower that he will not permit a PP meter to be fitted.

It's quite simple to see if your meter is correct or not. Take 2 meter readings on the same day a few hours apart, say between 9 in the morning & 9 at night. The one that has moved on is the day register, as obviously your night rate will not be working at that time. Check that against your bill & you'll know if it's right or not. If it's wrong, contact your supplier & they should have some process in place to correct it.

Hi there. Were you putting plenty of credit on the meter, as much as you would expect? It's quite common for bypassed meters to be discovered by an incoming occupier, but obviously it's much easier to spot for a PP customer as they have much more contact with their meter than a credit customer. Did you take a reading when you moved in? It used to be common on old token meters for people to buy a small amount of credit regularly to avoid suspiscion, but obviously that's much more difficult with key meters, as the read goes back every time & the credit would just build up on the meter. If you can show that you are using the same amount now as you were before the meter was changed, that would go in your favour. Do you know if they are saying the meter was still bypassed at the time it was changed, or that there were signs that it had been & then the bypass removed before you moved in? (& this would be very obvious to the specialist engineers who do this sort of work). Lastly, you will probably find a very hard attitude from people you deal with in their Revenue Protection team. They are used to dealing with some pretty nasty people & will have "heard it all before". So you may have a hard time, but stick with it, gather as much evidence/information as you can & keep trying. Good luck!

I'm just puzzled. If Southern are now longer your supplier, how on earth can they set debt on a meter they don't supply?

I would phone the normal call centre number then internets, try to explain & if they won't listen ask to be put through to the complaints team.

I was not referring to you when I said can't go back more than 12 months what rubbish, I was referring to what he had been told. The back billing code for billing can only be applied where billing an account correctly prior to 12 months ago would put the customer into debt or increase an existing one. Clearly in this case, if the account was opened to incorrect readings & amending those readings & rebilling would reduce the debt, back billing would not apply as rebilling would not make the customer any worse off. I completely fail to understand why this can't be done. there is absolutely no rule about amending reads prior to 1 year ago. I asked if the poster had been told this by collections, as I know that many of them know nothing about accounts & wouldn't recognise an obviously incorrect bill if it slapped them in the face & sang! They just collect debt. I suggested that the poster should speak to the complaints team because if this is as simple as is made out i.e. incorrect start reads causing large bill, they would see that in seconds & be happy to rebill correctly. I know there is a lot of incompetence but companies & the people who work there do not want to bill people incorrectly for the hell of it!

Can't go back more than 12 months? What rubbish & back billing code wouldn't be an issue here as the debt would be reduced. Is it collections who told you this? I would ask to speak to the complaints team. Most sensible poeople there would be delighted to rebill an account correctly & cut the debt.

Did you get a final bill? If you did & it said you owed nothing, the company must issue you with a new bill within 1 year of your account closing. If it's after 1 year, they can still issue the bill but can not enforce payment, won't stop them trying though!

If it's an ordinary E7 meter, you will still use a few units at night as fridges, freezers, lights etc will still be used. Did you live there when the usage was much lower? If it was a previous occupier, it's possible they didn't use the storage heaters.

Thanks for the replies, I'll get on to it.

Hi. I am receiving a daily message from Equidebt. There is debt they claim I owe & I maintain I do not. I have had several discussions in the past, although I have always refused to answer their security questions. In the end every time I got a call, I just said everything in writing & put the phone down. Of course nothing ever comes. For the past 3 weeks I have been receiving the same recorded message daily. It's not particularly upsetting, but is becoming very very annoying. Do I have grounds for a complaint to the OFT on the grounds of harrassment?

Can anyone help. Picked up a fine from APCOA on Tuesday at the local hospital. £40 but the notice says reduced to £15 if paid within 14 days. However, neither the phone line or online site will accept £15 as a valid payment & want to take the full amount. There is no option to speak to a human of course. Anyone have any experience of this or is it a trip to the post office for a postal order? All help appreciated.

They are a nightmare & suppliers can struggle. The problem is that there is no industry-wide standard & different areas operate different hours. You're entirely reliant upon the previous supplier/meter operator giving the correct "timeswitch code". Once some of these customers have been through a few changes of supplier....well you can imagine. I would urge anyone who thinks they have a problem to contact their supplier. Whether you get anywhere is another matter. Most suppliers will have some really good people who will understand the problem, your main problem will be getting to them I'm afraid.

I am aware of the Southern situation but since your reads & flows tend to come labelled day & night it makes the situation somewhat easier. I was referring to the more normal situation where 01 & 02 is the usual labelling. I have to syt it seems absolutely ridiculous to me, even after all these years, that there isn't a standard enforced by OFGEM for E7 meters, it would save so much confusion for both suppliers & more especially customers. It would be the easiest way to solve what is, I'm sure you'll agree , the most common metering issue we all come across.

It is quite possible to change suppliers & take the debt with you, although I think you'll find that every supplier will have a standing charge on Prepayment meters.

I have worked in the industry for almost 10 years. I don't know why your meter, or that of your neighbour has been installed that way, but I would beware of problems in the future. Sadly the plethora of meter operators these days has led to some strange things happening, remember when it comes to things like crossed registers, the suppliers are only as good as the information provided to them. I frequently phone or write to customers asking them to do a 6 hour test on their meter so we can be sure which register is which. It may sound crude & unsurprisingly some customers meet us with abuse & accusations of incompetency, but it's the only way to be sure that a customer is being billed correctly!

Sorry Surfer that is simply not true. On a credit meter rate (reg) 01 should always be night rate (reg) 02 should always be day, that is the industry standard now. There are some exceptions which give all suppliers nightmares. On a PP key mtr rate 1 is day rate 2 is night (note the lack of zeros), although that is a lot less certain as widespread fraud has lead to keys resetting reads to zero & nobody being quite sure where they are.

Hi kryspyg. I'm concerned that you say that on your new meter rate 1 is day & rate 2 night. This is very unusual on newly installed meters & would explain why you think you are using more at night rather than day. I'd recommend reading your meter twice in 1 day. Once about 9 in the morning & again at 9 at night. The read which has advanced in that time will be your day rate reading. npower's prices increased on the 4th January which explains why they are showing an estimated read on your bill for the 3rd. Lastly, in an ideal world, all meters would be installed at 0 but sadly that is outside of the control of the supplier & entirely down to the meter operator.

If your night use is so low, you may well be better off on a single rate meter as well.

Was there a fault on your old meter? 452 night units in 130 days seems particularly low. Also are you sure your new meter was installed at 0? There should be a label or tag on the new meter with the installed details. I also note that you are not at home, so this reading could be an estimate & your problem may be solved if the actual read is much lower. Lastly there is no imperial/metric problem on electric meters. All electric meters bill on kwh.

npower's main call centres are in the North east with some specialised areas in Stoke & the West Midlands

Not seen any reference to these. Equidebt phishing trip passed to them, I suspect it's the next desk along as it's the same envelope & address. Anyhoo "ignoring them is not an option" as if:lol:

As far as I know, the debt couldn't be transferred unless your name is on the account. It's also not possible to have debts transferred from one property to another put on a PP meter, it's against ofgem regulations.