british gas electric meter reading mixup

[bambisoloved]

can anybody give me some advice about a problem i have with british gas
i has just discovered that for the last 3 years the meter reader for british gas has been taking a reading from my neighbours instead of mine and vise versa
this has showed up on are bills. my neighbour noticed it when she noticed a bigger bill then usual and after checking the numbers on the meter discovered the problem
i complained to british gas and asked for an explanation. they have given me various reasons as to how it may have happend. they said the buiders (my flat is a new build ) could have registerd the wrong meter numbers, the meter reading may be right but placed wrongly on the computer. to solve the problem in terms of my bills they have sugested that they will take the meter reading on my neighbours bill as correct also take the first meter reading which was estimated and the last taken by me and calculate how much electric i have used.
they have done this and say i owe them £33 to bring my account up to date but they will cancell this as a gesture of goodwill and call it quits
i am wondering if its that simple and have not mentioned the fact that i have been paying my neighbours bills which will have been bigger as they are a family of 4 with 2 small children and i live alone. i have had difficulty paying my elecrticity bills as i am on a fixed income and i am annoyed they dont seem to acnowledge the fact that i may not have had any problem paying if i had got the correct bills
am i making something out of nothing what do you think i should do? should i just call it quits like they suggest?

[freerunner]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

You say they are new build flats, have you been the only occupant in your flat and did you take a meter reading when you moved in?

If you are the only person to ever live there, this should be very easy to resolve as your meter would have been at zero when you moved in.

All BG would have to do is tot up how much has been used since you moved in and equate it against what you have paid over the time you have been there.

Are you on a budget scheme, you should be able to work out for yourself how much you have paid them over the years.

[charitynjw]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

You say they are new build flats, have you been the only occupant in your flat and did you take a meter reading when you moved in?

If you are the only person to ever live there, this should be very easy to resolve as your meter would have been at zero when you moved in.

All BG would have to do is tot up how much has been used since you moved in and equate it against what you have paid over the time you have been there.

Are you on a budget scheme, you should be able to work out for yourself how much you have paid them over the years.

Hi freerunner,

Would the meter be at zero, or would there be some usage via workmen, etc?

ps - welcome to LB

[freerunner]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

With new build the meter should be at zero, but it is possible that some was used by the workmen. Did you take a reading when you moved in?
If you have all your old bills this will be on the first one you recieved as a new user.
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Must be getting late, just realised you arent the OP, nonetheless, electric meters would have been brand new and at zero when fitted, if there had been any usage, taking a reading when moving in would show if any had been used, same with gas, on new build it would be a new meter with a zero reading

[bambisoloved]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

thank you for replying freerunner and charitynjy
yes my flat was a new build but i moved in 7 months after it was built and electric had been used by housing association to show people around the flat, they had left the heating on,it was on when i was showed around
yes a reading was taken by housing association on the day i moved in i saw her take it but the first bill i got was estimated and was over £500 and housing association paid that
the next bill i paid was estmated also

[freerunner]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

you need that initial meter reading from when you moved, without it you cant work out what you should have paid.

[bambisoloved]

Re: british gas electric meter reading mixup

your right freerunner i need that first meter reading
housing association have it and sent it to b/g
i dont know what it is but b/g have said it will mean a bigger bill and i will owe them money so they have offerd to use the estimated meter reading and clear my account to o
(£33 debit) as a good will gesture
do you think i should take it?