IS this too much for gas and elecric...

I think £90 sounds fine, given that the energy company will want you not to be in debt in the spring. Energy saving bulbs make little difference, it's heating and hot water that eat energy. Just read your meter after one month and ask them to reconsider if necessary.

I have found in the past that when we have moved in somewhere the energy company always overestimates the monthly direct debit. It appears to be standard practice, not saying I agree with it though!!!
When we first had a flat our energy company wanted £75 a month, it was a 2 bed place and brand new so had double glazing, etc. Our bills were no where near that so it was lowered. We are now in a 3 bed semi detached and our monthly bill for electric and gas is now £91 a month. Personally I think thats alot for us but we do have kids, there's always someone in the house. Definitely get the company back out to read the meter, if they have estimated it to be 10000 units more than it should be and know fine that it is well over they need to get it sorted. Usually they end up blaming the customer!! I had the problem early on when I moved to the house we are in that Scottish power never came to read my gas meter and blamed me!! The meter is outside the house so they could have had access whenever they liked, for some reason they wanted an appointment!? Eventually they came and read it and they had to give us a £200 refund as we were so much in credit. I don't mind being a wee bit in credit but that was taking the mickey.

Your energy company has standards of service to follow and you are usually entitled to compensation if they don't follow them, for example if you are in credit by a large amount and they take months to refund you. Hassle them to get your readings correct and if you want to pay a little extra just incase then thats fine, better to overpay a wee bit. Couple of extra quid a month on your direct debit once they have sorted out the right amount you should be paying. Good luck!

NovaBlack100 wrote: »

yeah i dont mind that, i mean , i understand that anything i pay extra will take me into credit.

I just dont like paying them money i dont have to, i can afford my bills as ive been saving for a long while before i moved here. I dont see why i should pay them £90 when the current bill is say £60 and they get to hold onto £30 for next month. :S could be in my account getting interest.

totally aree about the meter thing though ill have to just make a reading and beg them to reconsider (they claim they only review once every 6 months) however, im only contracted to live here for 6 months at the moment!!! so itl be too late

Is the current bill £60? What period does that cover, how much heating did you use and is that based on actual readings?

It's November: few people get into credit in the winter months, quite the reverse. If EDF had set your DD at even £60 in May, you'd have cause to worry they are going to be profiting from the excess. Your alternative is to go onto a quarterly billing tariff and pay in arrears.

You need to watch EDF like a hawk. They will try to charge you too much. Ring them up and say what you think it should be.

However I used to make sure I read the meters monthly and update them with the readings by phone or on the web - that way I didn't get any nast shocks.