The Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015

Faulty meters

4.—(1) This regulation applies where—

(a) a customer notifies their supplier that the customer considers that a meter, through which the customer receives a supply of gas or electricity from the supplier, is operating outside the margins of error; or

(b) a customer notifies their supplier of matters relating to a meter, through which the customer receives a supply of gas or electricity from the supplier, that the supplier ought reasonably to expect to mean that the meter is operating outside the margins of error.

(2) This regulation does not apply where the meter through which the customer receives the supply of gas or electricity is a prepayment meter.

(3) Where this regulation applies, the requirements on the supplier set out in paragraph (4)(a), (b) and (c) are each an individual standard of performance.

(4) Within 5 working days of receiving a notification under paragraph (1)(a) or (b), the supplier must—

(a) complete an initial assessment of whether the meter is operating outside the margins of error;

(b) take an appropriate action; and

(c) offer to confirm, in writing—

(i) the nature and outcome of that initial assessment and that appropriate action; and

(ii) the actions which the supplier will take to ensure that the customer is receiving the supply referred to in paragraph (1) through a meter operating within the margins of error and the timescale within which those actions will occur.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)—

(a) where—

(i) the supplier has advised a customer of a particular postal address that is appropriate for receipt of the information described in paragraph (1)(a) or (b); and

(ii) the customer notifies the supplier of that information by post alone,

the information is to be treated as received by the supplier when it is received at that particular postal address; and

(b) where notification is given to the supplier outside working hours, the period of time within which the individual standard of performance must be completed begins to run at the commencement of the next following period of working hours.

(6) In this regulation—

“appropriate action” means action which will assist the supplier to—

(a)

identify the cause of the customer’s meter operating outside the margins of error; or

(b)

ensure that the customer is receiving the supply referred to in paragraph (1) through a meter operating within the margins of error;

“margins of error” means—

(a)

in relation to a gas meter, the standards or margins of error prescribed in the Gas (Meters) Regulations 1983(1) or the Measuring Instruments (Gas Meters) Regulations 2006(2), as applicable; or

(b)

in relation to an electricity meter, the prescribed margins of error or the agreed margins of error as defined by paragraph 13 of Schedule 7 to the Electricity Act or regulation 28(2)(b) of, and paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 to, the Measuring Instruments (Active Electrical Energy Meters) Regulations 2006(3), as applicable; and

“prepayment meter” means any meter operating in a mode that requires a customer to pay for the consumption of gas or electricity through that meter in advance of that consumption.

(1)

S.I. 1983/684, amended by S.I. 1991/1471, 1993/1521 and 1995/1251.

(2)

S.I. 2006/2647, amended by S.I 2010/2881 and 2011/1043.

(3)

S.I. 2006/1679, amended by S.I. 2010/2881.