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

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
October 6, 2019
52 replies
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My local area had its gas supply upgraded by northern gas from old pipes to new and when they did this they ran new gas pipes up to every property and capped them. If you used gas they attached your meter and everything was uncapped and back to normal.
We do not use any gas in our property so our supply is capped outside our property to an empty white box.
we still have the meter we always had inside the property but its not connected to a supply or any appliances (ie cooker, heating) it just sits there doing nothing.
i spoke to someone at Ovo and they wanted £80 to remove it even though it’s not connected to any supply, so we left it in as the standing charge is about the same.
We are at the end of our contract with OVO now and we will save money if we change supplier.
My questions are....do I still have to pay for both gas and electric with the new supplier?
Who does the redundant meter belong to when we do change?

Best answer by Eva_OVO

Updated on 28/04/26 by Abby_OVO

Great question to ask about switching suppliers with a capped gas supply. Just for a bit of background info here’s a bit of a breakdown on who’s responsible for what in terms of your gas setup.

Can I switch with a capped supply?

You’re free to switch suppliers, even if your supply is capped. It’s worth bearing in mind that your new supplier will continue applying standing charges and take over responsibility for the maintenance of your meter. If you decide to get the meter removed after a switch your new supplier will be able to arrange this and the cost for this job may vary from supplier to supplier.

What is a 'capped meter'?

A capped meter refers to a gas supply that has been cut-off by inserting some sort of physical block into the ECV (Emergency Cutout Valve) or pipework leading to the meter. This doesn’t refer to a disconnection or dead supply. A capped supply can be uncapped, if safe to do so, by a gas safe engineer.

Can I remove a gas supply?

Even if your gas transporter has capped your supply, you’d still be listed as having an gas supply on the national database and as you’ve found are liable to continue paying a standing charge. In order to get the supply de-activated so you can stop paying this standing charge, you’ll need to contact our Support Team to schedule in a meter removal. As a non-essential maintenance job there is a charge for this however we charge these jobs at cost price and once removed you’ll no longer need to worry about the continued gas standing charges.

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

Chris_OVO

Community Manager

Hey @Rob1962,

You initially said:

I have been sent a gas bill for £180 my gas meter has never been contacted and no pipe work has ever been contacted to the flat

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.

Renewable energy jokes never get old.

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

Nukecad

Super User

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.

I said, Hey - Watts going on.

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

Nukecad

Super User

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, Hey - Watts going on.

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

Chris_OVO

Community Manager

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.

Renewable energy jokes never get old.

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Rob1962

Newcomer

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

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