A shock from Southern Electric

HannaB

We had a letter from Southern Electric to say that they are going to increase our DD payments because they are not longer enough to meet the bill amount. The increase...from £57 per month to £83 per month!!

We live in a two-bed terraced house with NO CENTRAL HEATING and no one is in during the day. Does this seem a bit high?? I know it's been all over the news about the increase, but surely this is a bit extreme.

spiro

What fuel? 'NO CENTRAL HEATING' - How do you heat the house.

KimYeovil

How can we tell? You have your bills. You know your consumption. You know when your prices went up. Do the arithmetic and call them if they are incorrect. That is, if you were where you are last year.

A 50% increase at this time of year is not unreasonable for those with a normal pattern of consumption (in fact, with the recent increases it is less than required). If you are not normal, as your op suggests, then tell them.

HannaB

We have one gas fire in the back room and two plug in heaters that we haven't turned on since last year.

I'm heated by a nice fleecy blanket I got from Primark for £8 about 5 years ago!! My partner seems to be made of stone and doesn't feel the cold.:D

Our electricity usage will be just solely on appliances, TV, Xbox, Sky, etc. We have the water heater though.

Magentasue

Yes, Hannah, but how much electricity do you use? In kwh (meter units). You need to know your annual and current usage to know how much you need to pay over the year to cover your bill - if you don't work this out, how can you say £83 a month is too much?

HannaB

Sorry. I'm a bit of a noob when it come to these types of bills. I have just gone through my bills for the past year and my usage is below. I know that there are people at lot worse off by the recent price increases, but any increase you haven't budgeted for is a blow when you're on a low income.

Gas (usage only) - Southern Electric – No Standing Charge
20/10/07-31/01/08 = 518.39kWh
01/02/08-23/04/08 = 842.25kWh (Actual)
24/04/08-24/07/08 = 332.19kWh (Estimated – Actual bill amount was zero)
25/07/08-24/10/08 = -243.65kWh (Actual bill amount 40kWh)

Total for year 2007/2008 = 1449.18
Cost for year 2007/2008 = £84.00

Electricity (usage only) - Southern Electric – General Domestic No Standing Charge
20/10/07-25/01/08 = 364 units (Standard) & 2022 units (Discounted) (Estimated)
01/02/08-23/04/08 = 363 units (Standard) & 1649 units (Discounted) (Actual)
24/04/08-31/07/08 = 364 units (Standard) & 1409 units (Discounted) (Actual)
01/08/08-24/10/08 = 363 units (Standard) & 1149 units (Discounted) (Actual)

Total for year 2007/2008 = 7683 units
Cost for year 2007/2008 = £684.00

Now £83 per month, so based on the above, the bill for 2008/2009 will be £996.00

Magentasue

So, last year 1450kwh Gas and 7683kwh (assuming opening reading wasn't estimated). Your electricity seems very high but, no central heating so I suppose some of that is heating? Or do you have your water heating a lot?

Now you need to look at your kwh charge (both tiers) and work out your annual bill and divide by 12 to get a monthly amount. Unless you have a fixed tariff, it'll be higher than last year. £83 a month doesn't seem bad for all that electricity.

It seems from posts this week, some people are being told their DDs are being increased so that they will have a zero balance in the spring. I can't see how you've built up much of a credit with all that electricity and only £57 a month paid.

Premier_2

I'm sorry, but I don't think you're paying enough even @ £83 pm

Bunging your figures into energyhelpline indicates an annual cost of based on Southern Electric - Nil Service Charge tariff for Southern region, the expected annual bill will be £1084 at current prices (remember unit prices have gone up twice in last year)

That means £90.33 per month.

Have you considered switching supplier? You could save up to £334 (30%) per year


Btw, adding up your gas consumption I only get 1400kWh, but used your 1449 in the comparison site - probably only equates to about a couple of quid anyway!