Utility Company - Preventing the issue of Warrant of Entry

[Norma Cenva]

I have had an ongoing battle with a Utility Company for the past 11 years (since 2009) stemming from the fact that this provider has twice installed an electricity meter that is incorrect for the Time of Use Tariff that I have a contract for! I negotiated a large goodwill adjustment to the bills for the first meter and this was finally replaced in June 2011.

The problem was that it was replaced with a meter that had the exact same fault i.e the onboard clock NOT set permanently to GMT (as per the tariff) but with the correct local time ergo, the meter always gives rise to an inaccurate bill.

I tried to get this corrected between 2011 and 2015 with no success. In 2015 I stopped payment until an accurate bill could be provided and the eternal arguments and deniability of facts continued until the present. Now I have been notified that the supplier is going to seek a warrant of entry and fit a pre payment meter ( I would have preferred a correctly working meter but hey ho).

I obviously opine that I have a valid case regarding overcharging and suppliers Supply Licence Condition, but the supplier denies the facts and refuses to take the mater to a County Court. Taking a lead from the Ferguson v BG case I advised them some years ago to seek to reach agreement without the continuing threats which I considered to be harassment.

I am now looking to try and self represent at a CC to get an injunction to neutralise any warrants action on the suppliers behalf and push them towards a proper, legally equitable, resolution. I would be grateful for any assistance that anyone might be able to provide in achieving this

[Amethyst]

Why do you want the meter set on GMT and not the correct local time ? On any tariff, Economy Seven, Agile, Time of Use / Off Peak use tariffs surely you'd need the meter set on the correct time, taking into account british summertime, else, for example, you might stick washing etc on at midnight but the meter thinks it's 11pm and still charge the higher rate ( or have I wildly misunderstood the issue (likely) ?)

[efpom]

GMT is the standard setting on electricity meters throughout the year. The effect is that during BST the meter time is one hour behind BST So, if the economy tariff starts at midnight GMT, during BST, it will actually start at 01:00 BST-* I hope I have got my time right! *

As to preventing obtaining a warrant of entry, I simply don't know how an application can be prevented.

[ploddertom]

As to preventing obtaining a warrant of entry, I simply don't know how an application can be prevented.

If you have been notified of time & place then attend the Court and make your presence known to both Court staff and Warrant Officer. Ususally if you do turn up the application will not go ahead. Otherwise it is generally just a rubber stamping exercise & all are done within 10/15 minutes.

[jaguarsuk]

You can refuse a prepayment meter if youre disabled or ill, and your condition makes it difficult for you to use, read or top up the meter, or if your illness affects your breathing or is made worse by the cold, such as asthma or arthritis.

If you use a stair lift, dialysis machine, or any other medical equipment that needs electricity, you can also object to the installation of a prepayment meter.

There are also practical reasons why you can refuse installation. If, for example, your meter is too high to reach, is in a cupboard or room you dont have access to, or if your nearest top up point is over two miles away and you dont have a car or motorbike, you can stop the installation.

If this is the case though, your supplier may be able to work around the problem by moving your meter and offering an online top-up facility

[Norma Cenva]

.

The problem was that it was replaced with a meter that had the exact same fault i.e the onboard clock NOT set permanently to GMT (as per the tariff) but with the correct local time ergo, the meter always gives rise to an inaccurate bill.

I've added some reference links because this is where it gets more complicated and only for the brave :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distri...twork_operator

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_market

Regretably its not me who sets the time for the Tariff, this is determined by the Tariff and by my Distribution Network Operator (DNO) which in turn is agreed with the ELEXON wholesale balancing scheme. And this is where my problems begin.

The meter has been supplied by the electricity supplier. I am in the Midlands DNO network but the supplier has fitted a meter from there SWALEC DNO operations! How do I know this? well there's a ruddy great sticker on the meter saying so . The tariff type is the same in both areas i.e Economy 10 but in the SWALEC DNO network the tariff times (and the meter) switches between BST and GMT. In the Midlands DNO the tariff is ment to be permanently set at GMT - why this should be the case I do not know and cannot explain, but it is a fact. Additionally the tariff costs (rates) are different in each DNO, partly because of the cost from the generator to the DNO and presumably to compensate for the fact that you could have people living almost next to each other but there tariffs times were not exactly aligned to their lifestyle? and hopefully over a year they would end up paying the same??.

your point about electricity cost is spot on, peak electricity is almost 90% more expensive per KWh than cheap rate to give you a practical example:

Our nighttime cheap rate tariff time runs from 00:00 GMT to 05:00 GMT, my wife and I get up around 05:30 (local time) shower have breakfast etc and get ready for the day, so during the 150 days of winter time by the time we shower we are outside the cheap rate period and we have to heat the hot water tank back up using the higher rate electricity. During the 212 days summer time we still get up at 05:30 but this is actually now BST (GMT+1) so the time using GMT is really 04:30 and still within the cheap rate period, so the hot water tank should now be reheated using electricity at the cheap rate......... the problem is that the meter has also shifted from GMT to BST so it still charges the higher rate because its now switched to BST (GMT+1), so if we are being overcharged by a £1 for this by the time you multiply this over the whole of BST that adds up to £212, you then have to consider the effect for the other 2 periods during the day, which are also at the wrong time and as you can see it suddenly mounts up a lot

The way the economic model for these off peak/ high rate tariffs works relies on you hitting about 60% - 70% of your usage being at off-peak and 30 at full rate and when we are being metered correctly i.e during the winter we normally achieve or exceed the 70% but during the summer when the time clock is incorrect we drop down to something like 40%

would appreciate any assistance or guidance on the injunction issue?

[Amethyst]

F4889CEF-2EA6-4C98-91FD-448DB7B8C112.jpeg SSE times for Economy 10 ( because their meters are meant to stay on GMT time the time that the lower rate applies differs )*https://sse.co.uk/help/electric-heating/economy-10



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