hit with a £970 electric bill!!!

3angelbaby

Hi I gave my electric an updated meter reading last week to be hit with a bill of £970! I spoke with them yesterday and after giving 7 days readings they seem to be correct, therefore I asked when the last time they were out to take a reading to be told it was in Feb 07. Since they have been out in so long i dont know if i can try and get credit back from them? are they not meant to be out legally every so often? any advice would be great

milliemonster

I think they only have a legal obligation to read your meter ever 2 years so they are within that timeframe I'm afraid, they have obviously been massively underestimating the electric you have been using since Feb 07. If the readings are now correct you need to look at setting up a repayment plan with them.

For the future it would be worth reading your meter yourself once every quarter and submitting your readings to your electric company to ensure you don't end up in this situation again.

spiro

The bad news is milliemonster is right. You will find this forum littered with people who have had large bills all down to receiving estimated bills one after another and they have not bothered to ensure the readings are in line with the meter. Best you can hope for is for your supplier to spread the overdue amount over 12 months which will be £80 on top of your useage, worst case will be 3 months/£323. :eek:

lu_lu_2

Hi 3Angelbaby,

You poor thing.

You didn't say how much you had been paying per month or whether this included your heating as well as lights etc.

Some suggestions which might help. After talking to you provider re a payment plan switch off every appliance and gadget at the wall socket and then look to see if your meter is still running if it is you have either missed something or there is a problem with the meter.

If the latter phone your provider & ask them to check your meter.

Do not leave TVs etc on standby they are still using elec.

Just because something is switched off on the machine it doesn't necessarily mean that it is not drawing elec. After reading other posts I have discovered that my washing machine although switched off, no display showing, was actually drawing 11 watts. My machine is 10 yrs old but other people with newer ones also have found the same. Switch it off at the wall socket.

You are obviously reeling and are going to be skint for a while but by spending a little money now you could get your future bills down dramatically.

If you haven't already got energy efficient light bulbs go out now & buy some for the most often used places in the house ie kitchen, lounge & landing. Make sure you switch off all others immediately you leave the room. Then aim to replace all others over the next few weeks.

Don't use a tumble drier buy an airer & put it up in a spare bedroom, if you have one, close to, but not touching, the radiator. Make sure you leave a window open a little otherwise you could end up with condensation - shut the door so that you are not freezing the rest of the house.

Buy a basic energy efficiency monitor so that you can see how much elec you are using (they show £value as well as the kw used) so that you can monitor your future use.

If you have internet access opt for an online elec account so that you can send in your meter readings. Check whether you are on the best tarriff for you. If you are with Eon one of their fixed rate tariffs included a free energy efficiency meter this was how I found out that my washing machine was using elec when not in use.

I hope the above helps & that I don't sound as if I think you're daft.

Good luck

WhistleBlower

This is one of the most common call types i get at work and milliemonster is right.

Industry standards say that suppliers are only obligated to read your meter once every 2 years. If your bills have been under-estimated then you'll suddenly have a massive catch up bill. *

The companys reasoning is usually along the lines of "We told you on your bill it was an estimated read and asked you to call in" (though to be fair who reads that bit?)

They shoulnd't have an issue with you arranging a payment plan and since, i'm afraid there's little else you can do just call it a learning eperiance and always check what kind of reading you've been billed to.

*ETA: I'd like to clarify this a bit, they only have to *attempt* to read your meter every two years. I've seen accounts estimated for longer than that, also i once saw an account that had been estimated for so long that we had actually obtained a court warrant to gain entry to the place to get a reading. Bit heavyhanded but they were refusing to let us in.

FieryBlondeScot

My experience wa very similar i got hit with a huge bill. From that point i learnt to read my meter myself, submit readings and how to work it out myself to keep tabs on it all. I also learned to switch things off! i used to leave my heating on for days even if i was not in the house! i also learned what my tariff was and how to use economy 7. now 2 years on i have cleared the arrears and my monthly direct debit actually refelcts what i use now - a hard way to learn though!!! i was sooooo convinced that huge bill was wrong i was distressed for ages over it all!! i now know i willNEVER go through that again! now its only the constant rising prices to worry about but at least i know i am doing all my end to ensure i can cope with it