Cheeky Tip.....

Jay1b

If you have plenty of cash at the moment, phone up the utility company with your meter readings. Add on a reasonable (but not stupid) amount. This means you will pay a higher amount on your next bill before the prices go up.... On the following bill, if you give an accurate reading, it will show that you used less then you really did.

So in other words it enables you to 'buy' you gas and electric inadvance, before prices go up

Enjoy....

lauren_1

So what happens when some guy comes out to read your meter and reports it to be less than your quoted amount? Wouldn't that be classed as fraudulant?

notbritishgas

Jay1b wrote: »

If you have plenty of cash at the moment, phone up the utility company with your meter readings. Add on a reasonable (but not stupid) amount. This means you will pay a higher amount on your next bill before the prices go up.... On the following bill, if you give an accurate reading, it will show that you used less then you really did.

So in other words it enables you to 'buy' you gas and electric inadvance, before prices go up

Enjoy....

Apart from this being fraud, if you ring in a higher reading then next week a meter reader comes round and puts in the actual reading which is lower than your reading, the computer thinks the meter has "gone round the clock, ie through zero and back again" and you will get a bill for £1million.:rotfl:

Gavioli_UK

notbritishgas wrote: »

Apart from this being fraud, if you ring in a higher reading then next week a meter reader comes round and puts in the actual reading which is lower than your reading, the computer thinks the meter has "gone round the clock, ie through zero and back again" and you will get a bill for £1million.:rotfl:

Why is it fraud to pay in advance? I just do noy see it as fraud and I doubt any court of law would.

When the cost of postage rises, the Post Office even run advertising campaigns to stok up on 1st and 2nd class stamps and beet the rise. Whats the difference?

notbritishgas

Gavioli_UK wrote: »

Why is it fraud to pay in advance? I just do noy see it as fraud and I doubt any court of law would.

When the cost of postage rises, the Post Office even run advertising campaigns to stok up on 1st and 2nd class stamps and beet the rise. Whats the difference?

It's fraud because you are giving false information, ie the meter reading is not what you are saying it is.
PS I agree with you on the Post Office analagy but you do not give them wrong information.

Jay1b

Well its hard to read the properly in the dark tucked away under the stairs...

Its a tip. If you dont agree, then you didnt have to post. Some people... grr....

Gavioli_UK

notbritishgas wrote: »

It's fraud because you are giving false information, ie the meter reading is not what you are saying it is.
PS I agree with you on the Post Office analagy but you do not give them wrong information.

So its not fraud by suppliers when so many people are billed on wildly wrong estimates.

The supply industry has been so widely criticised for relying too much on estimates by the industrys' watchdogs, and more recently by the Citizens Advice Bureau's national body.

What's the difference between your supplier using a meter reading that is not what it actually is, and you providing an estimate?

Viper_7

I've done this a few times already.
Can backfire of course if the price per unit comes down - but we all know that never happens!
If they ever came back at me, I'djust say I must have mis-read it, just like how they always get the estimates wrong - and they always get it wrong on the high side to try and pocket all that money from DD payers, lots of interest to be made.

vipes

Sooler

Similarly, watch out for companies about to raise prices giving low readings on estimated bills.

SiuLoong

From Wikipedia 'In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain.'

Which is what you are suggesting. I completely agree that incorrect billing and incorrect estimates are just as bad on the part of the company but that doesn't justify acting as bad as they are. If you want to avoid their fraud, read your meters at least every month and provide your own accurate reading to them on a regular basis. Most will let you do this online if you don't want to wait on their phone system and it takes all of 5 minutes.

Then go and buy all the postage stamps you like

Andy_Hamilton

i've done before I capped my tarrif. If they do there own reading before my next bill i'll say "oops sorry"