A Glasgow man was forced to move out of his flat of four years after a pre-payment meter error caused his energy bills to double.
Justin Valmassoi is moving out of his Victoria Road flat after his energy bills leaped from between £100 and £150 per month to over £300 per month, without the 43-year-old changing his habits.
Valmassoi previously had to shut down Nanika, his popular South-east Asian restaurant on Victoria Road, after its bills quadrupled from £250 to £1,000 a month.
READ MORE: Arrest made after East Kilbride man was found dead in flat block
He told the Daily Record : "I've lived here for four years. I sent them all the information I could, 48 months of electricity usage history. In the summer its about £100 to £115 a month and in the winter I've never paid more than £150.
"I do the same thing every single day. I'm such a creature of habit. So [my consumption] was the same for four years and then ever since October its been £300 or more. [Utilita] said my consumption only went up by seven pence per kilowatt hour. So there's absolutely no way that it can double."
Valmassoi said he had first complained two months ago but the problem has not been sorted. As he is on a prepayment meter, he had to continue paying the higher tariff to stop his electricity from shutting off.
Valmassoi said that Utilita offered to send out an engineer to investigate the problem in the past week but he was already in the process of moving out.
He added: "They finally said that they were going to schedule someone to come out and check to see if it's a malfunction because they also couldn't figure out how or why it would cost that much.
"But it doesn't matter because I have to move out of my flat because I can't afford to pay that much in electricity. So the movers are taking all my stuff out of the place that I've lived for four years. From my home."
Utilita said that Valmassoi had previously been undercharged for his usage due to network problems. They added that he is now being charged at the correct rate.
Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss raised the case in the House of Commons this week during a debate on prepayment meters on Monday. She said: "My constituent Mr Valmassoi has to move out of his home because Utilita has taken so long to investigate a potential fault with his prepayment meter that saw his bills soar, despite no increase in usage.
"What can the minster do really, because Mr Valmossoi says a refund nine months later won't replace losing the flat he's made his home for the past few years. So what exactly can he expect from the minister for him and others like him who've been ignored and let down by providers like Utilita?"
Energy minister Graham Stuart replied that Valmassoi's case showed that the system had to be reformed. Stuart said: "It is precisely for people who have been ill-treated such as the honourable lady’s constituent that we need to reform the system and ensure that suppliers meet their licence obligations.
"It is the job of the independent regulator to work with suppliers and ensure that we minimise that. We would encourage anyone to pursue the system of redress to make up for that as best they can. But no one can make up for the fact that someone lost their flat and home. They should not have done so if the supplier had acted as it was under a duty to."
Utilita said: "Mr Valmassoi’s energy bills have increased as he is now being charged the correct amount for his usage. Previously he was being undercharged, through no fault of his own, nor Utilita’s.
"Unknown to us, his smart meter had been failing to receive tariff updates because of an issue with the smart metering network in his area - something that is beyond our control. Due to recent network improvements, Mr Valmassoi’s meter is now successfully receiving tariff updates."
READ NEXT:
Celtic and St Mirren fans warned of delays ahead of Scottish Cup clash after fire
Footage of plane wing 'on fire' as emergency landing made at Glasgow Prestwick airport
Glasgow man and woman who 'starved and neglected' four children in 'dump' of a house jailed
Remembering 13 people who have died in Glasgow and Lanarkshire this week
Glasgow dad who battled cancer hands out roses every Valentine's Day at the Beatson
