Huge Gas Bill - Please Help!

sarahg2009

Hi,

I'm hoping somebody might be able to give me advice.

My gas supplier is Scottish and Southern. In 2008 I moved in to a rented property and brought them across as my energy supplier and gave them a meter read. Unfortunately I didn't make a note of the meter reading.

When I was moving out of the property in March 2009 I again called them to tell them I was moving and gave them another read. And they said that the read I'd given them was under what they had on record.

They said that they would have to recalculate and estimate our usage. Now, it turns out that they'd only billed us £110 for the year's usage which I know is a lot under what we should have paid but they are now saying we owe them £800.

I'm wondering what I can do and if there is any was to challenge this. £900 for a year of gas for a small 3 bed flat seems very high. And they can't actually prove that the gas was used if the meter reading is saying otherwise - can they?

Any advice would be greatly received - I'm having sleepless nights over this as I simply cannot afford the £900.

Many thanks in advance.
Sarah

Bigun28

Is there anyway of talking to the Landlord to determine what the previous readings were? The previous tenants must have taken a final reading when they moved out, and if there was a gap between them going and you moving in, the Landlord must have taken some form of reading before you moved in.

At least that will give you a 'ball-park' figure for what your first reading should have been and then you can calculate from there.

Other factors will also depend on how often you have your heating on for or indeed your gas for heating the water etc. Do you have a gas cooker etc? Some people complain about big bills and they can't understand why, until you suddenly determine that they've had their heating on for 24/7 throughout the winter, which would explain it.

A final point is that your energy supplier in one area may not necessarily be the cheapest for your new area. Did you go through a comparison site to determine if they were the cheapest at both locations?

All food for thought.

Magentasue

I'm a bit confused by your post - are you saying that your final reading was lower than your starting reading? You say that in Mar 09, they disputed your reading because it was lower than 'what they had on record'. Where did the reading they had on record come from?