Camden comedy as council doesn’t let me read my meter

I live in a Camden council block of flats but have been unable to read my electricity meter for seven years and therefore have no idea whether my bills are accurate or not. There is a cupboard that contains all the flats’ meters but it is locked, and Camden council will not allow residents or caretakers access. The council tells me all electricity companies have been issued with keys for this cupboard (and others in its area); however, when the meter readers arrive, their keys don’t work or they say they don’t have them.

Camden says it will issue new keys to electricity companies for a fee, or loan a key for a £50 refundable deposit, and that it’s up to the electricity company to provide a meter I can read.

I thought I was onto something when First Utility offered to install a smart meter in my home. However, it needed to read the original meter to set the smart meter correctly, and this appears impossible. Millions of people read their meters without incident, but Camden won’t let us do the same – it’s absurd. AP, north London

What a ridiculous situation, one that could have been a plot line from a 1970s sitcom, made all the crazier by the fact that energy firms increasingly require customers to send in readings.

In a letter sent to AP by Camden, seen by Guardian Money, the council claims that it locked the meter cupboards on the advice of the health and safety executive. It also confirms that it will only give a key to the cupboard to meter readers who attend its head office in central London and hand over a £50 deposit. It also refuses to have a caretaker read the meters each quarter as it doesn’t want to pay any extra costs this would incur. No wonder no meters are being read.

We asked the council to take a second look at this and it hasn’t come up with a solution, except to say it is continuing to seek a workable one. “Electricity contracts are solely between the supply company and their customers. The council is not permitted to move the meter and is required to keep the meter rooms secured to protect residents from the risk of electric shocks,” it says.

I don’t know why the caretaker and residents can’t all agree to meet two or three times a year and jot the numbers down – but that’s too difficult apparently.

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