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

Hi ​@Rob1962 ,

I’m afraid the bill is likely valid. Just having the meter in place is arguably enough to trigger Standing Charges and that’s probably what this is. If you have no plans to get a gas supply, you’ll want to have the meter completely removed. I’d suggest you contact OVO Support about that.

0330 303 5063 or https://ovoenergy.com/help .

Are you saying that you do have a gas meter, but that it isn’t connected to any gas appliance?

Does the bill say the charge is for gas usage in kWh, or is it only for the Standing Charge?

If you do have a gas meter you are not using, and haven’t paid the Standing Charge for 2 years or so then £180 would be about right.

Example, (your daily standing charge will be different to this one):

If you have a gas meter then you still have to pay the Standing Charge for it, even if that meter isn’t connected to anything.

The only way to avoid that standing charge in future is to have your meter removed so that you are no longer connected to the gas mains at all.
That has to be done properly.
if you want to do that then contact the provider that charged you the bill and they will arrange with your gas network provider to have the meter removed (you may be charged for that removal work).

I have no connection from the outside old gas meter that was capped off by ovo

I’m afraid capping off isn’t usually enough to terminate the Standing Charges - the meter itself must also be removed because otherwise the industry will consider you to still have a potentially usable supply.

That means the Standing Charges likely remain valid.

Hey ​@Rob1962,

​@Blastoise186 and ​@Nukecad are both correct that if you’ve only had the supply capped then you’ll still be liable to pay a standing charge. The best way to avoid this would be having the meter removed and i’ll leave a link below with more information:

As ​@Nukecad displayed above, any bills should confirm that you’re billed for standing charges and not for “energy usage”. 

Hopefully this helps and if you have any follow up questions we’ll be happy to help.

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).