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Original poster

Gas meter screen is totally blank

26 replies

ToughAndDurable · 19/11/2022 12:07

Went to give my meter readings on 30th October, electric was fine but my gas was just a blank screen that wouldn’t light up like usual.

We’ve since spoke to our provider who is having it replaced on in 2 weeks. We have asked and asked about how they will charge us our bills as so far the bill we have had is hugely over estimated, as most are we are barely using the heating. A lot of information online is that they will just use last year estimates (which for us was way higher that what we have used this year). Called and spoke to them and they have confirmed on the phone that they will be able to get a reading once they’ve took the broken meter off, but I’m struggling to see how!

Has anyone had this happen. I’m worried they’ve told me what I want to hear then are going to slap me with a big bill and say well we couldn’t read the meter so had to use last years estimates.

We do have gas, so I’m guessing it could just be the battery but again, advice online is they’ll estimate. Going to ring again to have confirmation from two separate people but honestly, I’m worried as based on last year it could be very costly, something we wouldn’t be able to afford.

OP posts:
GerronBuzanDoThaWomwok · 19/11/2022 12:20

You don't have to pay an estimated bill. Find the most recent reading, then compare it with the new reading on your new meter as soon as it comes on.It is absolutely OK to take time to work out your usage, I submitted 8 months' readings to EoN and received an £800 refund-good luck 🙂

FixTheBone · 19/11/2022 12:34

GerronBuzanDoThaWomwok · 19/11/2022 12:20

You don't have to pay an estimated bill. Find the most recent reading, then compare it with the new reading on your new meter as soon as it comes on.It is absolutely OK to take time to work out your usage, I submitted 8 months' readings to EoN and received an £800 refund-good luck 🙂

problem is, the new meter will either be set to 00000, or will be set to whatever the estimated reading is, if they are unable to read the old one...

Original poster
ToughAndDurable · 19/11/2022 13:44

@FixTheBone

thats exactly my worry. If it’s broken how can they set it at anything other than 0000 and use estimates. They’re saying they can get a final reading but this is just a CS representative not an engineer. Apart from people being screwed over by energy companies, there’s not much RL experience with this issue online so was hoping someone might have been through similar. We’re with shell if that makes any difference. Meter was replaced less than 5 years ago when with BG and we had a smart meter installed. We do not have a smart meter now so just give monthly meter readings.

OP posts:
userxx · 19/11/2022 15:08

It's not in sleep mode is it ?

Original poster
ToughAndDurable · 20/11/2022 07:59

@userxx

I’ve tried pressing the buttons I normally would to take a reading but the screen is just dead. Doesn’t light up, or show me anything.

I just know I’m about to get a huge bill when I’ve barely used any heating.

OP posts:
loudbatperson · 20/11/2022 08:11

It's quite possible it's only the screen that is broken so the usage information can still be retrieved.

RelativePitch · 20/11/2022 08:33

I'm in the same situation with British Gas. Our meter has been stuck on the same reading since 20th October. They still haven't done anything about it and I am also concerned they will estimate on last year's usage when we've hardly had the CH on. No adviser at BG has been able to tell me what they will end up charging us.

Original poster
ToughAndDurable · 20/11/2022 12:00

@RelativePitch I believe they have an obligation to fix it within a certain time period if you look on CAB. It’s so frustrating as I know we’ve cut back so much, last year I was only working PT due to having DS2 at home with me, now I’m working full time and the CH is off at the boiler unless it goes below 14/15 degrees and even then only on to warm the house up, get rid of condensation etc. I would say no more than 12 hours between Sep-Oct and they charged us £140 which was well above the actual usage amount + standing charge. Once we realised it was broken (30th Oct) we have written down the hours we’ve used it, at what temp etc. but I’m not holding my breath that they will believe it if they can’t get a final meter reading.

Ours will have been a long time due to the fact we give a meter reading every month on the 30th. We gave on 30th September then didn’t look again until 30th October when we realised it was broken and they can’t fit us in until 7th December.

OP posts:
RelativePitch · 20/11/2022 14:46

@ToughAndDurable I first noticed that it wasn't working at the beginning of November. I logged a call with them on the 2nd, they said someone would update me within 5 days, which they should according to CAB. No one did. I then rang again (each time a 40 minute wait to get through) and the adviser asked me to send photos of my meter over two days with a copy of the day's newspaper as proof of date. I emailed them over and I was acknowledged and thanked. Still nothing has happened. I'm not chasing them up again. I am also noting down the few times the heating has been on on my calendar. We just +1hr, but much of the time it times out after 30- 40 minutes because the house is at temperature. I don't know how they will work it out. The whole reason my gas meter is kaput in the first place is because they started migrating my account over to their new system on the 20th October and coincidentally it froze my meter that very day. So totally their fault.

SunnySheffield · 28/01/2023 21:33

Hi, any update on this? We've got exactly the same issue, gas meter stopped working in November, same as comments on here. Surely it's not a coincidence? I've had to contact them twice so far and each time they ask for photos, videos etc to prove it's not just sleeping. They are now satisfied. We've got a wood burner and have heavily relied on that this year and not had the heating on much so won't allow them to base it on last year's. So 2 months down the line and still no word on an engineer but they say they are waiting and it will happen. I'm very confused at this stage and would be great to hear any outcomes 😁

soboredtonight · 29/01/2023 10:02

They might be able to download the readings from the meter when they take it off.

Original poster
ToughAndDurable · 01/02/2023 18:45

@SunnySheffield hi, so they came and changed it and gave us a smart meter. They billed us based on our estimates but they are allowing us to go off an averages weekly usage when the temperatures warm up a little (closer to the average temp in October/ November for our area.

The engineer couldn’t get a reading (which we knew really, they just lied).

So far apart from being out of pocket around £100-£150 based on our own estimations, it’s been pretty hassle free, they were quick to say we could give new averages when it warmed up a little and even agreed in the email that we’ve been overcharged.

We’re with shell but I guess it depends who you’re with.

OP posts:
AdeleT1966 · 02/02/2023 22:35

Had exactly same issue. Turns out the 'batteries' in the gas smart meter run out after 2 years and national grid had to take away and replace my meter 4 Jan as not working since sometime after I took last reading at beginning of October.....I only found out when I tried to produce November reading. Waited 2 months for a replacement to then be told they could not find the accurate reading from faulty meter. I had not had heating on hardly until christmas!! Refused to accept estimated Nov and December readings so they have just produced adjusted readings and offered £40 credit as there is no way to produce an accurate reading. If I had know smart meters had a 2 year battery life I would never have changed to smart meter..... just a big con..... don't do it.... I am now o my third gas smart mater in 5 years..... wish I had never bothered!!! Shoddy!@@

FavouriteSlippers · 02/02/2023 23:02

I had this with eon. But didn't notice for 6 months.
Was told it would be estimated
The new meter took an age to register. It was adding up the usage but not sending across to eon. Eventually it did. Was billed for use.
Did the chat to say what Do i owe for the 6 months of no meter. Was told they'd email they never did. That was 2 years ago.
I have the transcript as a record incase

Paranoidandroidmarvin · 04/02/2023 07:24

omg! This has happened to me as well. I’m with British Gas. Went away for a few days. Came back and could only see the electric side of the metre and the gas was blank.

im not even going into how this is being fixed as we are on week two of it and getting nowhere. My husband is keeping a metre reading and sending it to them.

Edinvillian · 04/02/2023 10:55

Just searched online as I've got the same issue and found this post.
They better not take it from last years estimate as I now have I've heating and don't heat the whole house at once like I did in previous years.

Edinvillian · 04/02/2023 10:55

That should say Hive heating.

RelativePitch · 04/02/2023 14:10

I've posted on here about my frozen gas meter. Has not been working since 20th October and BG haven't sent anyone to fix it. Have lots of emails with me chasing it up with them and them saying that hopefully someone will come soon. Don't know how they are going to bill me for this winter.

RelativePitch · 04/02/2023 14:13

Just realised why BG haven't had any engineers free to fix my meter. They're all too busy forcing prepayment meters on people.

AvocetProfile · 10/09/2024 19:15

I am now experiencing this - it seems there are no gas meter readings since April. I only just realised. What should one do? Feedback on the outcomes from people who originally experienced this last year would be really helpful

CaptainCabinetsTrappedInCabinets · 10/09/2024 19:20

ToughAndDurable · 19/11/2022 12:07

Went to give my meter readings on 30th October, electric was fine but my gas was just a blank screen that wouldn’t light up like usual.

We’ve since spoke to our provider who is having it replaced on in 2 weeks. We have asked and asked about how they will charge us our bills as so far the bill we have had is hugely over estimated, as most are we are barely using the heating. A lot of information online is that they will just use last year estimates (which for us was way higher that what we have used this year). Called and spoke to them and they have confirmed on the phone that they will be able to get a reading once they’ve took the broken meter off, but I’m struggling to see how!

Has anyone had this happen. I’m worried they’ve told me what I want to hear then are going to slap me with a big bill and say well we couldn’t read the meter so had to use last years estimates.

We do have gas, so I’m guessing it could just be the battery but again, advice online is they’ll estimate. Going to ring again to have confirmation from two separate people but honestly, I’m worried as based on last year it could be very costly, something we wouldn’t be able to afford.

Who is your energy supplier?

They should be taking up to date reads from the new meter to assess usage on and estimating the old meters final reading using this figure.

They normally ask for weekly readings across a month

XenoBitch · 10/09/2024 21:23

Not to scare you, but this happened to me. Then I was hit with a £2000 estimated bill.... per month for several months. I live alone in a small terrace, and hardly have the heating on. I am with British Gas, and despite the meter getting fixed and getting realistic readings, they still insisted I owed them £thousands.
It took approaching the Ombudsman to sort it out. It was a very stressful few months,

Original poster
ToughAndDurable · 10/09/2024 23:04

AvocetProfile · 10/09/2024 19:15

I am now experiencing this - it seems there are no gas meter readings since April. I only just realised. What should one do? Feedback on the outcomes from people who originally experienced this last year would be really helpful

This was my post from years ago and in hindsight I panicked for nothing. We did end up overpaying but not by too much. They billed us but when then accepted that we wouldn’t have used as much due to warmer weather so re-ran our estimates in a warmer time of year.

would be best to contact them for a repair, ask them to go off your readings from last year in the same months if similar usage.

OP posts:
FluffBomb · 10/09/2024 23:17

Had the same with British Gas. Gas metre went blank in April 2023. Kept telling BG but they did nothing. Went nuts with them in October 23 and they still did nothing. Finally got it changed to a new meter which was set to 0000 in Feb 2024. Was not charged for any gas usage for the entire time, just the daily standing change. Wish I’d kept quiet now.

AvocetProfile · 11/09/2024 10:06

Dear FluffBomb,
Thanks for replying!
If I could count on what happened to you happening to me, it'd be lovely, some trepidation as others above were not treated so nicely...
DH has emailed Octopus - but I'll not chase it. Just file the email for record...

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