My electricity reading rocketed and now I fear a mammoth bill

MY STREET suffered a very severe power cut because of bad weather.

During the repairs, 400 volts were erroneously pushed through the neutral cable instead of 240 volts through the live one. This resulted in a massive power surge to all 11 houses, some of which saw their fuse boards catch fire and sockets burn out — many lost all electrical appliances.

More repairs have since been carried out, but I still have an issue with my British Gas electricity meter; after the incident, there was a mammoth increase in the reading.

I have sent numerous emails, which are actually now verging on being rude, I’m a bit embarrassed to say. I have asked many times for British Gas to check the meter and have been promised visits that never occurred.

The meter now appears to be working fine, but obviously there has been a huge forward wind at some point. I fear I will soon face a monumental bill. Mrs L. E ., Essex.

YOUR reading leapt from 8511 on december 13 to 99960 on March 15. British Gas has investigated and, to be honest, i think it is as bemused as you and i.

it says it’s highly unlikely a power surge would have caused the problem you experienced, and that the meter was working properly when it tested it.

A spokesman says: ‘All the tests we have done indicate that the meter is not malfunctioning. But Mrs e’s meter reading pattern does seem unusual.’

One thing that struck me was that, if you remove the final zero of the 99960 figure you provided, it’s very close to the 9997 British Gas later calculated. That would also be consistent with your readings before and since then.

Like many old- style meters, yours has six dials. When taking a reading, you usually disregard the last digit on the dials, so British Gas wonders whether it is possible that, with the readings being provided in different formats and by different people — including you — some may have disregarded the last digit and some may have included it.

To resolve the matter, British Gas promised that you would not be overcharged and is manually calculating your bill based on previous actual readings that you agree are consistent.

And to be absolutely sure all is well in the future, it has installed a new meter. MY MOTHER died in 2004 and left me her flat. Initially I rented it out, but now my son lives in it while my husband and I live in our own house.

When I die, will the children have to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on the flat when they sell it to share the value? I think we are safe with inheritance tax as both properties together are worth about £700,000.

Is there any way to avoid CGT? Would it be better, for example, for me to sell the flat now? Mrs H. S., Berkshire.

I PUT your question to richard Morley, tax dispute resolution partner at accounting firm BDO.

He told me that as long as you still own the flat in your sole name and your children inherit it from you, for tax purposes, they will acquire it at its value at your death. so, if they sell it shortly afterwards, any capital gain should be within their annual exemptions (£11,700 each).

in contrast, if you give them the property now, you will pay capital gains tax calculated as if you had sold it at market value.

‘if the flat and your other assets not passing to your husband are worth less than your inheritance tax [ IHT] nil- rate band — currently £325,000 — when you die, your children will inherit it free from IHT,’ says Mr Morley.

‘in addition, if your husband dies leaving everything to you, both properties could pass to your children tax-free.’

Mr Morley points out that as well as inheriting your husband’s IHT nil-rate band, you both have a main residence nil-band that can apply when passing your main home to direct descendants.

‘For couples where the second death occurs in 2020/21 or later tax years, this can exempt up to £1 million in assets passing to their children. But do make sure your wills are properly drafted so your family benefits from these tax reliefs,’ he says.