Impossible to switch suppliers!!!

lady_fuschia

This is partly a request for advice and partly a "Has anyone else had this problem?" post.
Me and my OH are currently renting a one bedroom flat for which the electricity bill appears to be astronomical (around £60 a month, I paid half that in my last flat!. When we first moved in we attempted to switch from the local supplier to npower (mainly because my OH owed them money already than because of any particularly good deal) The switch all seemed to have been approved when we got a letter from npower telling us that our old supplier "Had not registered all our supply numbers" and that therefore we couldn't switch, and a letter from the local supplier telling us that they were awaiting information from npower and couldn't let us switch. In the end after several confusing phonecalls and repeats of the same letters we gave up in exasperation and decided to stick with the old supplier. A few months ago after receiving yet another ridiculous bill (despite the fact that we both work long hours, are hardly actually in the flat for very long, have energy saving lightbulbs, and almost never turn the heating on)I decided to try again. The lovely Uswitch site told me that switching to British Gas could save me £300 a year. Fantastic. So I went through the process, received all the bumph from BG and thought everything was going right this time. Until a few days ago when we got a letter from British Gas saying that due to the fact that "Your property has more than one supply point, we may not be able to offer you the previously quoted competitive rates" and that they are cancelling the transfer. Maybe I'm stupid, but I have absolutely no idea what this means- can anyone enlighten me? Why would I have more than one supply point? What is a supply point? And why does it make things more expensive? Is that why my bill is so high? Can I get rid of some of them?
I am pretty much on the verge of giving up, saying: "Fine, we'll pay your silly 'leccy bill, anything for a quiet life!"
Is there a solution to this? Has anyone else had the same problem?

Ken68

Find your electric meter, the one for your flat, and check usage over several hours or, preferably, days.
It sounds like you are paying other peeps bills as well.

lady_fuschia

Oh god really? You mean we could be paying for the other flats?
Is there something we can do about that?

irnbru_2

Who's yer supplier?

What tarriff are you on?

Do you have storage heaters?

What numer of units are you using?

irnbru_2

lady_fuschia wrote:

Is there something we can do about that?

Find your consumer unit and turn off the main fuse - if anyone complains then you're supplying someone else

Do you live in a conversion?

lady_fuschia

Our current supplier is Southern Electric, I think we're on their standard tarriff, I'm not sure (I find this difficult as I've always used token meters in the past and find the whole meter/bill thing endlessly confusing). It seems odd that we'd be paying other people's bills, it had crossed my mind, but they're purpose built flats, and all have their own meter. We do have storage heaters but they've been switched off since the end of March, so our usage should be very low, surely? How do I find out what number of units we're using- is that the number on the meter?

speedyjoe

Maybe there has been a mega F***up and there are two meters associated with your address, one that really belongs to your address and one that really belongs to one of your neighbours who are quite happily using as much leccy as they like because nobody has billed them.

I suggest you ask your supplier what the meter number should be and check that it is correct.

irnbru_2

lady_fuschia wrote:

I find this difficult as I've always used token meters in the past and find the whole meter/bill thing endlessly confusing.

Do you have any paper bills?

lady_fuschia wrote:

We do have storage heaters but they've been switched off since the end of March, so our usage should be very low, surely?

Your paying monthly - by direct debit?

If so:

1. Your direct debit will not vary with your usage. The monthly rate is based on the yearly estimate.
2. The amount of the direct debit may not reflect the true cost. You could end up in credit at the end of the year or in debt.
3. Prices have risen since your last flat too.

lady_fuschia wrote:

How do I find out what number of units we're using- is that the number on the meter?

You should have two numbers on the meter. These may be as two separate displays or a fancy one with one display and you need to press buttons to cycle through the numbers.

Since you've got storage heaters, you need two numbers (assuming it's an E7 tariff). One for daytime and one for nightime.

lady_fuschia

Thanks, the stuff about reading the meter is helpful. Sorry for being so dumb, but no-one teaches you these things at school! (They should though...)
Although we pay by direct debit, we do get a paper bill through to tell us how much we're using- I'm so certain that it can't be right. If we're paying someone else's bill, that would explain it, I can't think of anything else it could be, unless anybody else can think of anything? Its really frustrating that I put so much effort into saving power (I'm almost OCD about turning things off at the wall!) and still having a higher bill than my friend who runs a 2 bedroom place with a 3 year old kid!

Could the "more than one supply point" refer to the 2 seperate readings on the meter? Or is it more likely to be someone else using our leccy?

lady_fuschia

Have prices really risen that much? I only moved ten months ago.

Ken68

Could it be that the former occupant of your flat also had another flat in the same block, and was paying the electric for, say, a relative.