Metering

The dispute

An elderly consumer with several health conditions living alone moved into a small, all-electric flat at the end of 2018. In 2021 he raised concerns about the high bills he was receiving. His energy supplier carried out a detailed consumption analysis and concluded that the usage was in line with expected usage patterns and the meter wasn’t faulty. As a result, the consumer lowered his energy usage but noticed that his bills didn’t reduce in line with the reduced usage.

The energy supplier agreed to attend the property again to establish that the consumer was being billed according to the correct meter. During the visit, the engineer found that the meter the consumer was being billed to the matched the meter (No.11) in the flat meter cupboard. The supplier believed that it was billing to the correct meter and that there was no evidence of a fault. The consumer agreed a payment plan but wasn’t convinced that he was being billed correctly and contacted the Energy Ombudsman.

The outcome

Our review looked at the fact that the consumer maintained something was wrong and the key testimony that despite consciously reducing usage, consumption on the meter remained the same. We weren’t satisfied that the supplier had firm evidence that the consumer was being billed correctly.

During the review we asked the consumer’s daughter to conduct a ‘burns test’ - this involves first turning off all appliances in the home and then checking that the meter has stopped moving. Appliances are then turned back on, and the meter is again checked to see if it is now recording energy. This can help establish if the correct meter is being billed. The burns test was filmed, and it showed that the meter marked ‘flat 11’ wasn’t recording usage at the consumer’s property. Instead, the meter marked ‘flat 12’ appeared to be connected to the consumer’s flat.

This evidence confirmed the consumer was being billed for the wrong property. We decided that the supplier had not effectively investigated the issue over a long period which had had a significant impact on the consumer. We therefore required the supplier to re-bill the account based on the correct meter reading. This resulted in a significant refund for the consumer, who had been overcharged. We also decided that what the consumer had experienced required a significant time and trouble award.

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