My gas supply is capped - Who's responsible for the meter?

I never had the meter capped off it was like that when I moved here I have never had any gas or used any gas so can not be considered as a customer 

You are a “Deemed” customer of whichever company was the last to supply gas through the meter (they own that meter).

The law says that if there is a meter at the property that is registered on the national database the whoever is living in the property is liable to pay the standing charge(s) for that meter and network connection.

You may not like that but it is the law, and whether you knew about that law or not it still applies to you.

As long as the Gas meter has a MPRN (Meter Point Reference Number) on the National Database then it attracts a standing charge that needs to be paid.

And the only way to avoid that is to have the meter properly removed by the supplier, or by the Network Operator, either of which will also have it removed from the National database.

Note that even in properties that are stood empty any registered meters are still attracting the Standing Charges, and the property owner has to pay them.

Ofgem made a statement in 2010 on this point:

Since no gas has been consumed since you moved in or otherwise became responsible for the property’s costs, it looks as if no deemed contract existed between you and the gas supplier. However, you may have (unwittingly?) agreed to opening an energy account covering both electricity and gas, in which case there is a contract between you. 

If Support can’t help, it would be worth submitting a formal complaint. Even on a deemed contract, Ofgem expects the terms unilaterally imposed by the supplier not to be unduly onerous; you could argue that a bill out of the blue for £180 is an onerous burden on a customer who has never used any gas. 

The opinion given in that MSE forum post is simply an opinion.
PS. It is polite to give links so that others can check the full article/thread.

There are a myriad of articles on the MSE forum regarding Deemed contracts.
Many of them do not agree with the interpretation in the one that you quoted.

The one that you quoted itself quotes just one sub-clause of the legislation, Sch 2.8(1).
Quoting selected bits of legislation like that can be very misleading.

In this case without also considering the rest of the section 8 sub-clauses the meaning of 2.8(1) becomes distorted.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/45/schedule/2

It's the term "supply gas to the consumer" that is the contention.

The term “consumer” is defined in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 2B, to mean 'a person who is supplied with gas conveyed to particular premises… by a gas transporter'.

The MSE poster implies that ‘Supply’ and ‘Use’ are the same thing, but they are not.

If you have a gas meter then 'a transporter' is 'conveying' ('supplying') gas to the premises.
Whether you are using that supply or not is another question.

I believe that it then becomes a question of whether the charges are reasonable in the circumstances, or are they 'unduly onerous'.
Ofgem have stated that in such disputes they will consider each individual case on it's own circumstances, eg.

How long a period is the billing for?
Is this a rental property?
If so is it a Social rental or a Private rental?
Do you know who had the gas capped off, when, and why?
(It is usual for Housing Associations to have the gas supply capped between rentals, for safety reasons).

2 years i do not know who capped it off there has never been any connection to the flat it is shelter housing for old people there is a communal  gas meter that we pay for mouthley 

Hey ​@Rob1962, 

You initially said:

​You mentioned having a communal gas supply, but you're also saying you have a gas meter in your property. Could you please confirm if you actually use gas at the property, and if you have a separate meter from the communal one? It's possible that a communal gas supply was installed previously but the single meter was never removed. This could be a mistake, and you might be paying twice for gas.

We have a communal gas meter that was for the old age tenants that been here forever now the council are taken it out so tenants need to have there own individual gas meters and contact with the gas company 

The only gas I have ever used is from the communal gas meter wich i pay with my rent the other meatr outside has never been contacted to anything 

This does seem to be a quite unusual case.

And it is looking possible that you may not be expected to pay the standing charge in these circumstances, but that will need to be an OVO or Ofgem decision once they are aware of the full circumstances.

You say: “… a communal gas meter that was for the old age tenants that been here forever now the council are taken it out “

You also say:  “… the other meatr outside has never been contacted to anything”.

Sso it does appear that you have your own not-communal meter.

One question is was that meter fitted when the “communal” meter was removed?
Or was it there before that “communal” meter was removed?

And can you please clarify if you are currently using any gas at all, no matter which meter it is coming through?

As ​@Chris_OVO says if you are using gas then you shoukdn’t be being charged twice.

As stated i use the communal meter for water and heating as I always have done the comminal meter has not been removed yet the outside meter has never been contacted to anything 

But previously you said about the communal meter that: “now the council are taken it out”.

You keep telling us different things so it’s hard for us to work out just what is going on.

If you are ONLY using a communal system for heating and hot water then I think that you need a letter from your Housing Association/Council that clearly states that you are only using their communal system.
You then show a copy of that letter to whoever is trying to bill you.

I said for the last 2 years I have only used the communal gas meter as now the council has decided to turn off the communal meter so that the tenants have to have there own gas meter i could not have used any gas from the outside gas meter as it was capped off by ovo sometime before I moved in to the property I have a edf meter installed ready for  the council to connect the pipe work to the flat i have never had the outside meter capped off or have I used any gas the ovo bill did state gas used till I pointed out to them there was no pipework and they admitted it was wrong

Hey ​@Rob1962,

If your property has an outside meter that was previously capped off, you would still incur standing charges unless the meter was completely removed.

I'm puzzled as to why the council would install a communal meter at your property when there was already a working single meter present. Instead of capping off the existing meter, it could have been entirely removed to accommodate the communal supply.

Right let's get this clear the outside meater has never been contacted in any way to my flat capped off long before I moved in to the property apart from the fact the communal gas meter is 10 times a big as the small meter outside the door and in a cupboard on the ground  floor 

Hey ​@Rob1962,

I’d like to circle back to a couple of articles I shared previously, have you had the chance to look at them?

If your meter has only been capped, it hasn't been fully disconnected and removed from the national database. In this case, you're still responsible for the outstanding £180 and any future standing charges.

To stop future charges, contact our Support Team to arrange for an engineer to visit your property and, if necessary, remove the meter. You should also provide the Support Team with your move-in date, if they don't already have it, so they can adjust any billing dates to cover only your period of residency.

Just moved in to a property, energy supplier is Ovo. Smart meter for electricity isn’t working so I sent them meter readings. There is a gas supply but I haven’t used any, the meter was de-commissioned before I moved in. They estimated both and billed me for both despite me telling them I haven’t used any gas. Now they’ve added a late payment charge. What can I do when they ignore my communications?

Hi ​@mikk ,

Just to check… Is there still a Gas Meter physically present in the property, even if it’s disconnected? Please can you answer this for us as it’ll help us give you more accurate advice.

Thanks!

Also how long ago is “Just moved in”?

It's obviously benn long enough for at least one bill to be generated.

Morning ​@mikk and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum!

First thing to check - have you actually set up an account with us in your name, or is the account still in the name of ‘The Occupier’. If its an Occupier account then you’ll need to set up your account with us.

You’ll need to contact our Support Team to discuss the gas side of things. You’ll need to send them photos of the gas meter if it’s still there, or the space where it used to be if its been removed. Please note, if the gas meter is still in place you’ll still need to pay a standing charge for the gas supply. You can get the meter removed, however this does come at a cost (see the guide below). 

Lastly, with the electricity smart meter, if it’s not communicating then our Support Team will be able to book an appointment for it to be replaced, free of charge. Below is a guide for diagnosing smart meter issues via your app and online account, and how to report these issues:

Please let us know how you get on with all this - we’re here to answer any more questions you may have.

Yes, de-commissioned while ago.

July.

​@mikk is a reading visible on the gas meter screen at all? If so send a photo to the Support Team. If the meter isn’t clocking usage then we need to bill you accordingly, but the standing charge will still stand.

If the meter isn’t showing anything at all, and is blank, you’ll need to send a picture to the Support Team anyway. If you wanted to pay for the cost of removing the meter then they can book this in for you, and this would stop the standing charges being billed to you. They’ll also be able to book you in for the electricity meter to be fixed.

Hi Ben, no the gas meter isn't showing anything, the supply has been capped off before I moved in. 

Thanks ​@mikk, I’d recommend getting in contact with our Support Team via email at hello@ovoenergy.com.

Explain the situation to them, and that the gas supply is capped, however you’ve been charged for estimated usage, which needs to be charged as zero usage, and just standing charge only. 

Send them a photo of the capped gas meter, along with any stickers or paperwork that may be by the meter displaying the date it was capped.

Let us know how you get on with this. You’d be within your rights to raise this as a complaint, due to the fact you’ve been charged incorrectly. Our complaints process can be found here.