Edinburgh family left fuming at £1,500 energy bill after Scottish Gas meter mix-up in Sighthill flat

A Sighthill family has been left infuriated by an energy bill which they say is mistaken due to an ongoing issue at their home which saw energy meters incorrectly assigned to the wrong homes.

Leanne Walkling and her family of four live in a block of Sighthill flats on the recently completed housing development off Calder Road next to the fire station. Last November the family had their power cut off during freezing temperatures through no fault of their own, with a mix-up of serial numbers when the meters were installed at the flats found to be the cause.

The issue was resolved by engineers much to the delight of the Walkling family, with compensation also arranged. However, the family recently received a £1,500 energy bill for the months leading up to the meter mix-up discovery and are struggling to make contact with Scottish Gas to have the bill scrapped.

Leanne, who believes the gas and electricity bill is for a different flat, said: “Scottish Gas came out and replaced the meters in November, so as far as we were concerned everything was fine and we accepted the compensation.

"However, we received a bill for £1,500 last week for June to November last year. This is due to a mix-up caused when the meters were registered to the wrong address. The serial numbers didn’t match up. And that’s why we ended up with no power.

"The engineers came out and replaced the meters and submitted the right meter readings. So as far as we were concerned everything was now registered properly, to the right house. It transpires that the smart readers in our house, Scottish Gas are not receiving them properly, as it’s still registered to a different flat. Scottish Gas turned round to say the serial numbers are not registered to our account.

"I thought the whole point of a smart meter is to get a more accurate reading, but they don’t match up. We were told this was all resolved but this is still a problem. The people at the other flat probably don’t even know what’s going on, but I think we are getting their bill. I have tried phoning and emailing to find out what’s going on, nobody can answer me.”

Scottish Gas owners Centrica apologised to the family for sending the wrong bill, which they blamed on an “administration error” after the meter issue was resolved in November, which led to the Walklings receiving the bill for the other flat as they had suspected.

Centrica added that they stopped the bill when Mrs Walkling contacted them in February and that her “payments were not affected” as she pays by a set monthly direct debit.

A Scottish Gas spokesperson said: “When Mrs Walkling’s neighbour’s energy provider mistakenly took over her supply in November, we replaced both meters to get her back on supply quickly. However, we recently sent an incorrect bill due to receiving readings from her neighbour’s meter and we are sorry for this. We’re in the process of reaching out to Mrs Walkling to assure her that we’ve updated our records and will adjust her bills based on accurate meter readings.”