Energy suppliers could be allowed to continue installing the first generation of smart meters for more than a year despite questions over their compatibility, the Government has hinted.
Almost eight million smart meters, which come with an interactive display allowing customers to track their energy use, have been installed in British homes. But problems with the first batch of meters - known as "SMETS I" - mean that some lose their smart functionality when consumers switch energy supplier.
Some energy companies have already begun installing an upgraded version, SMETS II, which the Government insists will fix the issue - but the Telegraph can now reveal that?thousands of homes could still be given an old meter, even after the new ones are available.
Consultation papers,cheap jordans, published on Monday by the Department for Business,http://users.atw.hu/promotionscorp/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=16513cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, Energy and?Industrial Strategy (BEIS),cheap jordans for sale, suggest that the original July 2018?deadline for switching to SMETS II installations could be extended by six months.
This could mean hundreds of thousands of additional first-generation meters being installed in homes,cheap retro jordans. Some energy insiders have claimed these will la...to be physically replaced,jordans for cheap, but the Government has repeatedly insisted this will not be necessary.
British Gas confirmed it is already installing SMETS II meters in a small number of homes and will widen the programme early next year. Fellow "big six"?supplier SSE is not currently installing SMETS II meters, but plans to in the coming months.
Experts have condemned the banking industry for its inconsistent approach in dealing with victims of “transfer fraud” – which is now one of the fastest-growing forms of financial crime.
The fraud usually involves email interception or some form of trickery,cheap authentic jordans,http://users.atw.hu/promotionscorp/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=16513cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, whereby the victim unknowingly sends money to a criminal’s account. In many cases – but not all – where the recipient is proved to be a criminal, the bank that operated their account makes good the victim’s loss.?
Telegraph Money reported how David Burton and Derek Mackenzie were reimbursed by TSB after falling victim to eBay fraud, on the grounds that the bank allowed fraudsters to open accounts with false information (see box below).
Now, in a remarkably similar case, Nationwide has refused to pay back victim Balazs Kelemen the ?8,cheap real jordans,700 he transferred into a fraudster’s account operated by the building society. Mr Kelemen believed he was buying a BMW.?
A police report later confirmed that a false Romanian ID card and counterfeit British Gas utility bill in the name of Constantin Chescu was used to open the Nationwide FlexAccount on Jan 10.?
The criminal was apprehended and in May charged with “fraud in relation to opening accounts, using false identity documents and money-laundering, in relation to receiving victim’s monies and subsequently withdrawing the funds”.?He was sentenced to 12 months in prison in July.
Mr Kelemen,http://users.atw.hu/downfall-team/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=8661cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, 33,cheap air jordans, made two payments totalling ?8,cheap jordan shoes,700 on Jan 23 and 24 to a firm called BC Motors, which turned out to be a fake website. He was one of 32 people who reported the company to the police.