ASK TONY: EDF’s silly smart meter sent us a shocking £3k bill
ASK TONY: The silly smart meter that was in our new home when we moved in has sent us a shocking £3k bill
My partner purchased our house prior to us getting together and set up a contract with EDF which ran from March 2019 to, I believe, March 2020.
When joining, he told the energy firm that the meters didn’t work but he was told this was OK.
This is his first house, so he wasn’t aware of how to get energy meters to come on and show you a reading – something I also had to search online to be able to provide one for this year.
Energy agony: A couple was wrongly sent a £3,000 energy bill thanks to a faulty smart meter they never asked for
EDF claims someone came to read the meter on January 1 last year, but this is not the case.
Our gas meter is not giving correct readings and produces randomly high figures when I check it.
Now EDF has registered us as having a smart meter and even sent a letter about our smart meter readings. But EDF didn’t give us one.
We hardly ever use the gas heating through fear of bills.
C. D., Workington, Cumbria.
Tony Hazell replies: I was confused by your reference to getting a meter to come on but that’s because I have old-fashioned meters that just work.
The root of your problem is the old-style Smets1 smart meter installed in your home. They refuse to talk to strangers, which include any new supplier. So it went dumb when you changed supplier in March 2019.
EDF says you sent a reading on November 18 but this was wrong and generated a bill of £3,045.56.
The firm says it has no records of you making contact to discuss the bill — probably because, as you told me, it wouldn’t talk to you because the account’s in your partner’s name.
When, at my behest, customer services contacted you, it became apparent that when you Googled how to read a smart meter you unfortunately looked at the wrong version of smart meter, so you took a reading from the incorrect screen.
EDF has now got a correct reading and your actual gas bill was £283.10 over 12 months.
So there we have the smart meter debacle in a nutshell.
The roll-out is costing billions, which customers are paying for, the old ones don’t work if you move energy company and they are so complex that, even after a Google search, you can still end up reading them incorrectly.
Personally, I will stick with my old meter and torch for my monthly reading.
You have YOUR say
Every week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some about our article on the country’s controversial Council Tax.
It is one of the most unfair and outdated taxes in the UK. It should not be based on house price and all adults should pay.
S.B., Kent.
I pay the Band B rate of £1,400, but I’m in the process of selling my home for £180,000.
The house I am buying on the other side of the village is worth the same but I will be charged £2,800, as it’s in Band G.
D.H., Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland.
It would be fairer if larger families, who use more resources, were charged more. What does the value of your property have to do with services you use?
J.N., Essex.
Tax based on a property’s value is unfair because it is unrelated to the owner’s ability to pay.
An elderly couple living in London may have a lower income than a young family in Durham.
L.R., email.
Threatened with a £1,000 fine over my FREE TV license
On August 21, I approached TV Licensing about a free licence because I am 75 and also receiving pension credit.
It sent a form which I completed and returned, with a copy of my birth certificate and proof of pension credit letter.
I did not hear anything so, on September 16, I sent an email enquiring if it was dealing with my request.
On September 22, I emailed again and they asked for proof of pension credit, which I had already sent on August 21.
I wrote on October 4 to the operations director at TV Licensing, sending a copy of my birth certificate and pension credit receipt letter.
I have sent seven or eight emails and another letter by recorded delivery, which cost me £6.70, again enclosing my birth certificate and proof of receipt of pension credit. I have also made several phone calls and on each occasion seem to be passed from pillar to post.
I have received two letters saying that if I do not have a licence after January 31, I will be liable for prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
And I have still not received the refund I am due.
V. M., by email.
Tony Hazell replies: If the BBC is going to demand over 75s buy a TV Licence, it must ensure the system works.
A spokesperson has apologised for the delay in setting up your licence. She says you ‘should not have received those letters which we appreciate caused concern’.
Your free licence application has been accepted and you have received a refund of the £132.92 for your old licence, plus a £30 goodwill gesture. But you tell me the licence has still not arrived.
TV Licensing says that enforcement letters are not sent to older people who previously held a free licence.
The only exception is when TV Licensing is unaware of the customer’s age, as they did not previously claim the concession, or because they’ve moved and not updated their address.
Charged £88 for 30 minute call to Virgin fraud team
I phoned my credit card fraud team twice towards the end of December. Now I have bills from Virgin Media for national rate calls to 0345 numbers lasting 120 minutes and 360 minutes.
In reality, I spoke to the call centre for no more than 30 minutes in total. I have been assured phone lines close automatically at the end of calls.
My bill for those calls is £82.
M.A., Consett, Co. Durham.
Tony Hazell replies: Virgin has refunded £88.37 via a credit note covering the cost of these calls and a couple of shorter ones to the same number.
Your letter illustrates how the cost of waiting on hold can really start to add up if we don’t have national-rate calls included in a package.
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