i am not a crook but i think i might be doing something naughty. a while ago when doing some DIY i knocked my electric meter off the wall. then as part of that job i boxed it in. this means that it is hard to read the meter so i keep missing the meter man and they keep sending me letters. but now i think the meter might be broken because the dial does not spin round. if this has been broken for a year (when i did the DIY) what am i going to do about it? what is the cost of a new meter, what about the back pay? help!

How did you re fix the meter without breaking any seals?

When they post you a card saying they tried to read the meter there is usually a bit where you can self read and ring in the reading. You should do this , If it is actually functioning and you are mistaken that its damaged then fine .... if its stuck on a reading and not moved on then they should notice this and probably get the meter checked /changed - often at their cost.
In the meantime though surely they are sending you estimated bills ( or perhaps you are on a monthly DD plan) which should be aproximately what you would expect the ongoing usage to be so (assuming you have paid these - and I have no sympathy if you have not paid these I hope they hunt you down and squeeze you until you cough up) they will probably just replace the meter if neccessaary and go with estimates based on historic usage.
But you really should remove whatever boxing in is making the meter inaccessible - if it does need replacing it really is not fair to expect the fitter to piss about removing whatever it is you have put around it.

thanks scotty and amicus.
it was the delivery of the meter card through the door that has prompted my question. they have delivered loads over the last year and beacuse the meter is relatively inaccessible i kept missing the alotted time but i made a special effort this time and read the meter.
it was me that knocked the meter off the wall athough i didnt realise it had stopped turning until this week.and i am paying my bills by estimate.
so you reckon i should wait for them to let me know if they think the meter is not working? i really dont want to be landed with some outrageous bill to replace a battered old meter

thanks boys

phone your power supply company they will have a look for you ?