Scottish Power Gas & Electric Bill

snoopjiggyjigg

Hi Guys

Any help is much appreciated. We moved into our house 3 years ago in May and changed the card meter to a normal meter. Alot of the bills had been estimated in this time, due to the fact that myself and my wife are out most days and we generally hadnt phoned in many readings, maybe 1 or 2 per year.

Last year we had a bill for £3000 for a quarter, which we phoned in about and they changed it. In March i got a bill for over £2000 so I rang and in they said that this was right.

This month I had a bill for £1600 and again they have said that this is right and that we are using 7 units of gas per day and the average is 8 - 10.

We live in a 3 bed semi, we don't have the gas central heating on from around March to the end of October. We do cook with gas.

They gave me the payments that I made since November 2007 until today and it total £2700, with the £1600 added on to this in 2 and a half years it now works out that my bills would have been over £4300.


The meter was zero'd when it was changed in around Aug 2007. We have checked meter reading and everything. We have also spoken to friends and family about their utility bills and people with much larger houses than us pay far less and are in credit.


To get the meter checked they would send someone out, but if it wasnt faulty we would be charged £90.


Can anyone offer any advice?

Cheers

notbritishgas

As you had your meter changed in 2007 almost certainly it is a metric one.
Are they billing you for a metric one or still as an imperial one.
If you are unsure, if you post the number of units from one of your recent bills and the kwh figure that they are converted to then someone on here will help.

Scottish_Power

Hi snoopjiggyjigg

The first thing to check, like notbritishgas has said, is to make sure that your gas is not being charged on an imperial conversion rate when it should be metric. You will see on the back of your bill how to convert it but I will detail this below:

Imperial (7 units of gas) = 7 x calorific value (around 39.3) x volume correction (1.022640) x 2.83 divide by 3.6 = 221.15 kWh
Metric (7 units of gas) = 7 x calorific value (around 39.3) x volume correction (1.022640) divide by 3.6 = 78.15 kWh

If your gas meter was changed to a metric meter and you are being billed on the imperial conversion rates then you will be overcharged for the gas you are actually using.

Have a look at the statements you have been given and see if you can find accurate meter readings approximately 12-months apart. This will also help us confirm how much you should be paying per month.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

snoopjiggyjigg

I have a couple of readings if this helps.

The meter was 0000 on August 2007. The latest reading was 6862 at the end of June.

The reading for 25/01/2008 was 1055.

The reading for 17/02/2009 was 1468.


I hope this helps.

Cheers

KimYeovil

£1500 per year is a lot to pay if you are not living in a sauna. If this is the case then the £90 is worth spending. But 25,000 kWh pa is not impossible - do you heat the whole house to a warm temperature? The meter could be faulty but I doubt it - you probably just have a different idea about what being comfortable is.

dogshome

Hi snoopjiggyjig - OK. Some very rough numbers - You used 6842 meter units between Aug 07 and June 10.
On a Metric meter this would convert to appx. 76854 chargeable Kwh, say at 3pence each this would cost £2305 over the 34 months - £800 a year A bit high but within average
However you have been billed £4300 - £1517 a year which is near the classic ratio of over charging when there is supplier confusion between Metric and Imperial gas meters

Quick check - Look at the meter to see if it says M3 for metric on the front, or Ft3 for Imperial. Look at a bill and divide the meter units into the number of Kwh charged. If the answer is around 11.2, you are being charged for a metric meter, if the answer is around 31.5 you are being charged for an Imperial meter - If the meter plate and billing don't match up, get onto your supplier immediately

snoopjiggyjigg

KimYeovil wrote: »

£1500 per year is a lot to pay if you are not living in a sauna. If this is the case then the £90 is worth spending. But 25,000 kWh pa is not impossible - do you heat the whole house to a warm temperature? The meter could be faulty but I doubt it - you probably just have a different idea about what being comfortable is.

I hate having a hot house, im a fat lad so get hot quickly!

snoopjiggyjigg

dogshome wrote: »

Hi snoopjiggyjig - OK. Some very rough numbers - You used 6842 meter units between Aug 07 and June 10.
On a Metric meter this would convert to appx. 76854 chargeable Kwh, say at 3pence each this would cost £2305 over the 34 months - £800 a year A bit high but within average
However you have been billed £4300 - £1517 a year which is near the classic ratio of over charging when there is supplier confusion between Metric and Imperial gas meters

Quick check - Look at the meter to see if it says M3 for metric on the front, or Ft3 for Imperial. Look at a bill and divide the meter units into the number of Kwh charged. If the answer is around 11.2, you are being charged for a metric meter, if the answer is around 31.5 you are being charged for an Imperial meter - If the meter plate and billing don't match up, get onto your supplier immediately

Thank you for this, ill check when im home from work!

snoopjiggyjigg

Unfortunately the meter said m3 on the front

dogshome

Hi again snoopjiggyjig - Sorry I have not responded to your post on June 13 earlier
OK, we now know for certain that you have a Metric meter, but thats only half the story.

Your old meter would most likely have been an Imperial model and when these are changed they are replaced with a Metric model - However the entire supply industry should be hanging it's head in shame as since 2002, time and time again suppliers have failed to fully amend thier records and continued to bill customers on the basis of an Imperial meter

Look at any bill since Aug '07.
The number of meter units used is converted into KwH for chargeing - On a Metric meter each unit will be converted to appx 11.2 KwH - On an Imperial meter it converts to appx 31.5 KwH

Divide the meter units on the bill into the KwH charged - If the answer is appx 11.2 you are being charged correctly - If the answer is appx 31.5 get onto your supplier immediately as you are being overcharged by 281%

snoopjiggyjigg

dogshome wrote: »

Hi again snoopjiggyjig - Sorry I have not responded to your post on June 13 earlier
OK, we now know for certain that you have a Metric meter, but thats only half the story.

Your old meter would most likely have been an Imperial model and when these are changed they are replaced with a Metric model - However the entire supply industry should be hanging it's head in shame as since 2002, time and time again suppliers have failed to fully amend thier records and continued to bill customers on the basis of an Imperial meter

Look at any bill since Aug '07.
The number of meter units used is converted into KwH for chargeing - On a Metric meter each unit will be converted to appx 11.2 KwH - On an Imperial meter it converts to appx 31.5 KwH

Divide the meter units on the bill into the KwH charged - If the answer is appx 11.2 you are being charged correctly - If the answer is appx 31.5 get onto your supplier immediately as you are being overcharged by 281%

Thanks for this, im being a bit thick today, and im not sure what part of the bill I am supposed to be dividing and by what!


i emailed customer services and had this response, I asked what my total bill should be from August 2007 when my meter was zero'd up to this week when the amount was 6911 on the gas:

Dear Mr Clarke

Thank you for your email.


The total consumption amount from 2007 is £5568.81 and we can not set the direct debit at £100.00 due to the balance on the account.

When calculating your new Direct Debit instalment value the following factors are taken into consideration: -
? Current unit price
? Service package discounts
? Current account balance
? Forecast energy usage over the next 12 months

The breakdown of your forecasted energy over the next 12 months is as follows:

Current Service Package: Capped for free premier plus

Electricity 3991 kWh x Unit price 8.561p £341.67
Electricity 978 kWh x Unit price 12.913p £126.29
Discounts £11.97
VAT £22.80
Total £478.79



Total Electricity £478.79
Current Debit Balance £20.83
Total Cost £499.62

Dividing this total by 12 months shows your Direct Debit should be set at £41.63

Your direct debit has been set to £42.00 per month for Electricity to reflect the above calculations. This amount will continue being deducted from your bank from 01 August 2010



Gas 30916 kWh x Unit price 3.027p £935.83
Standing Charge £37.76
Discounts £5.96
VAT £48.38
Total £1,016.01

Total Gas Charges £1,016.01
Current Debit Balance £1,605.35
Total Cost £2,621.36

Dividing this total by 12 months shows your Direct Debit should be set at £218.45

Your direct debit has been set to £219.00 per month for Gas to reflect the above calculations. This amount will begin being deducted from your bank from 01 August 2010

Total Electricity and Gas Instalment amount is £261.00 Per Month.

.
I trust that the above meets with your satisfaction, if I can offer any further assistance in the future please do not hesitate to contact myself or one of my colleagues at the above address.



Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers