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First big Gas bill has arrived

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  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    My EDF bills show a credit with a minus sign in front of it. -£13.54 on an EDF bill means you are in credit by £13.54. Very misleading.
    Phone them for free on 0800 365 000 and ask if you are ahead with your payments or behind.
    They were also, always very keen to increase my direct debit payments to more than was necessary. Keep your old bills and work out your annual costs and challenge any excessive increases.
    £18 per month is £216 per year. If your summer bills are £1.75 you have plenty left for the winter months.
    I moved to ebico. For low users they can be cheaper.
  • flashnazia
    flashnazia Posts: 2,168 Forumite
    Some ppl always find something to moan about!
    "fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." (Bertrand Russell)
  • grahamc2003
    grahamc2003 Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    My first big gas bill has arrived. I pay £18 a month to EDF and the bill has come to £75 after all their piddly little discounts!!

    Has anyone else had their bills yet and were you shocked or quite pleased! I live on my own so I was shocked!! Heating is going off January 1st instead of March 1st!!

    mrs s

    I'm afraid you really don't give much info for people to work out how much you are paying.

    Anyhow, I suspect one possibility is that your latest statement shows you £75 in debit after your £18pm dd. If so, I would carefully check on your statement to see whether it says your dd is being increased to cover this deficit (the dd increase could be substantial, e.g. 100% ime) to ensure your account clears the shortfall and doesn't go into shortfall again next winter.

    If your statemnt covers a period before the recent cold weather when your heating has been on all day, then yes, expect a larger deficit on your next bill. As others have said, from what things look like, your gas costs and dd appear to be very low. We are all in the same boat with high, and increasing in real terms, energy prices from now on, imv.
  • alleycat`
    alleycat` Posts: 1,901 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Must be nice to get a £75 quarterly bill in winter!

    I put my meter readings in monthly (pay by variable DD) and the month of November came out at nearly £70 for the month (Gas).

    In summer it was about £10 on average (hot water and gas hob).

    I expected that it was going to be ugly bills wise as a) my wife and toddler are at home a lot and b) when it gets to -12C the heating has to work hard.

    I really feel for people that don't keep track of what things really cost.

    I see a large raft of "my god is this bill correct" come March next year when DD's haven't covered the short fall.
  • grahamc2003
    grahamc2003 Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    alleycat` wrote: »
    Must be nice to get a £75 quarterly bill in winter!

    I put my meter readings in monthly (pay by variable DD) and the month of November came out at nearly £70 for the month (Gas).

    In summer it was about £10 on average (hot water and gas hob).

    I expected that it was going to be ugly bills wise as a) my wife and toddler are at home a lot and b) when it gets to -12C the heating has to work hard.

    I really feel for people that don't keep track of what things really cost.

    I see a large raft of "my god is this bill correct" come March next year when DD's haven't covered the short fall.

    Yeah. Nothing to do with this thread nor the op, but I've been amazed to realise that many people in other threads don't seem to realise what tariff they are on, or how much each unit costs, or even what a unit or kwh is, or that dd payments are not bills, or that unit rates are rising rapidly or that having heating on all day costs more than having it on less (and Many people seem to think that!). I think it should be encumbent on suppliers to ensure that consumers know how to read their meter and calculate how much their usage has cost from the readings - afterall, that is easy to do, and would avoid these shock bills and keep users in control.
  • Yeah. Nothing to do with this thread nor the op, but I've been amazed to realise that many people in other threads don't seem to realise what tariff they are on, or how much each unit costs, or even what a unit or kwh is, or that dd payments are not bills, or that unit rates are rising rapidly or that having heating on all day costs more than having it on less (and Many people seem to think that!). I think it should be encumbent on suppliers to ensure that consumers know how to read their meter and calculate how much their usage has cost from the readings - afterall, that is easy to do, and would avoid these shock bills and keep users in control.
    I know exactly what I am on and what each therm, kilowatt, unit, standing charge, cubic metre,calorific calue, temperature and pressure and other jargonist words these suppliers use. I know exactly what I am doing here and indeed saying. I am sure there are also alot of people who dont give one about what they are using or not using, but I am responsible for my home and myself and therefore I mind very much if my bill is high and I am delighted when its low - thats a real achievement as far as I am concerned!

    So, in short the bill gave me a shock and are you all out there so sure of what your bill is going to be then? And more importantly and that is where I am coming from - can you afford it? I cant.

    mrs s
  • penrhyn
    penrhyn Posts: 15,215 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    You stated in an earlier post that you were paying £18/month direct debit, is it that you can't afford?
    That gum you like is coming back in style.
  • I've put more than that in my prepayment meter this month alone!! But if you weren't expecting it, I can see why it would be a bit of a shock!

    It sounds to me like you need to increase your DD a bit tbh
    Getting fit for 2013 - Starting weight 10.1.13 88.1kg
    Weight 27.3.13 79.1kg :( weight 2.4.13 79.9kg Weight 24.4.13 77.8kg. 4.6.13 76kg

    BSC member 331
  • grahamc2003
    grahamc2003 Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    I know exactly what I am on and what each therm, kilowatt, unit, standing charge, cubic metre,calorific calue, temperature and pressure and other jargonist words these suppliers use. I know exactly what I am doing here and indeed saying. I am sure there are also alot of people who dont give one about what they are using or not using, but I am responsible for my home and myself and therefore I mind very much if my bill is high and I am delighted when its low - thats a real achievement as far as I am concerned!

    mrs s


    Yes, I agree - that's why I said my comments weren't anything to do with this thread, just a response to Allecat's observations. Sorry, I shouldn't have posted off topic.
  • DUTR
    DUTR Posts: 12,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    My first big gas bill has arrived. I pay £18 a month to EDF and the bill has come to £75 after all their piddly little discounts!!

    Has anyone else had their bills yet and were you shocked or quite pleased! I live on my own so I was shocked!! Heating is going off January 1st instead of March 1st!!

    mrs s

    Mine was nearly that for a month :eek:
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