greatly overestimated bill -cant pay

moneybadger

Hi guys, long time lurker first time poster,

I'm with utility warehouse for all my utilities. The last few bills i've had have been high but i assumed it was because of the cold winter. this month i have checked my gas and spark readings against utility warehouse's estimated readings and there is quite a sizeable difference. they have estimated a usage figure for the 28th of feb and we still havent passed that figure now on the 23rd of march.

I have contacted them as i cant really afford to pay, and they turned round and blamed me for not supplying my own readings to them. I wasnt even aware i could do that, they certainly don't advertise it. He said the only thing i could do is pay this month and have it credited back in coming months. I cant afford this though. Do i have a leg to stand on if i refuse to pay? and will they cut my gas, electricity or worse still disconnect my broadband?

thanks in advance

moneybadger

jd87

With any other supplier you would just send them the actual readings and they would send you a revised bill. Don't know about Utility Warehouse...

spiro

They can not force you to pay for something you have not had/used. Phone them up, give them todays readings and ask for the bill be reissued using these readings.

If he says no or 'we cant' ask to speak to a supervisor if he is no help ask to speak to a manager. If they still complain tell them you are disputing the bill they have sent you which means they are very limited in what they can do about it in terms of chasing for it or marking your credit rating as having missed a payment.

JasX

spiro wrote: »

If they still complain

you could threaten them with an Ofgem complaint too for putting you into financial hardship demanding money for gas/electricity you've not even used!

checking your bills against readings supplying accurate readings to get it corrected is pretty standard, most people do know about that I'm afraid and its regularly reported in the press/consumer articles

DVardysShadow

spiro wrote: »

They can not force you to pay for something you have not had/used. Phone them up, give them todays readings and ask for the bill be reissued using these readings.

If he says no or 'we cant' ask to speak to a supervisor if he is no help ask to speak to a manager. If they still complain tell them you are disputing the bill they have sent you which means they are very limited in what they can do about it in terms of chasing for it or marking your credit rating as having missed a payment.

Follow up in writing - and give your readings and the date.

janninew

moneybadger wrote: »

Hi guys, long time lurker first time poster,

I'm with utility warehouse for all my utilities. The last few bills i've had have been high but i assumed it was because of the cold winter. this month i have checked my gas and spark readings against utility warehouse's estimated readings and there is quite a sizeable difference. they have estimated a usage figure for the 28th of feb and we still havent passed that figure now on the 23rd of march.

I have contacted them as i cant really afford to pay, and they turned round and blamed me for not supplying my own readings to them. I wasnt even aware i could do that, they certainly don't advertise it. He said the only thing i could do is pay this month and have it credited back in coming months. I cant afford this though. Do i have a leg to stand on if i refuse to pay? and will they cut my gas, electricity or worse still disconnect my broadband?

thanks in advance

moneybadger

If you have a look at your bill, you should see instructions on how to submit your meter readings, the onus is on you to supply regular readings to ensure your bills are accurate. It may interest you to know that you can submit readings every month and get an accurate bill every month, instead of estimated bills.

You have very strange priorities if you consider have your broadband cut of as being worse than having no gas and electric!! :rotfl:

kjsmith7

JasX wrote: »

you could threaten them with an Ofgem complaint too for putting you into financial hardship demanding money for gas/electricity you've not even used!

Or you could just provide an accurate meter reading. It says 'estimated'. Just read the meters.

markharding557

you should be aware that uw are expensive

kjsmith7

Surely they'll accept a meter reading. If not, switch.

rudywilson

hey,

we have had the exact same problem and they owe us over 300 pounds and they arent willing to give it back as they are blaming us for not giving the meter readings. we have never been told this until earlier this month like yourselves.

we have said we are going to cancel our direct debit but then they just said we have to make a plan to pay but they dont to get the concept that they owe us money and are still making us pay an over the top bill. i mean their estimations are ridiculous as it is and are not really willing to help in anyway.

i always thought if we are owed money we could get it back but they just keep saying we will be in credit (i know that means they owe us that money) but they wont give us a way of getting it back.:mad:

i was wondering if you got it sorted and if you how did you?

Cardew

rudywilson wrote: »

hey,

we have had the exact same problem and they owe us over 300 pounds and they arent willing to give it back as they are blaming us for not giving the meter readings. we have never been told this until earlier this month like yourselves.

we have said we are going to cancel our direct debit but then they just said we have to make a plan to pay but they dont to get the concept that they owe us money and are still making us pay an over the top bill. i mean their estimations are ridiculous as it is and are not really willing to help in anyway.

i always thought if we are owed money we could get it back but they just keep saying we will be in credit (i know that means they owe us that money) but they wont give us a way of getting it back.:mad:

i was wondering if you got it sorted and if you how did you?

The principle of the DD scheme is that you should pay 12 even payments each year.

Most firms give a discount for payment by DD which far outweighs any lost interest on the firm holding a surplus.

In fact most of the posts on MSE present the opposite situation to yourself, i.e. the DD is set too low and a large debit balance builds up.

It depends what you mean by 'getting back money you are owed'. Certainly if you have a large surplus at the end of the year, that will be returned. Also if it is obvious from your consumption figures that you are paying too much, then some should be returned or the DD payment reduced.

However you can't demand back money(and stay paying by DD) any time your account goes into credit, as it is designed to have a surplus at some times of the year.

Had you monitored your bills and corrected their 'ridiculous estimations' then this situation of a large surplus at this time of year should not have occurred.