First big Gas bill has arrived

Dan_Gleebitz

mrs-stressed wrote: »

Yes thats a quarterly bill. I use gas for cooking and heating. I have it on timed for 4 hours a day (1 in morning and three at night). But with the latest weather I have had it on all day when it was really really bone chillingly cold.

My last bill was for £1.75 in the summer! So maybe I was being swayed by that comparison. I still feel compelled to turn it off except for heating the water of course. If this is bad now what the hell is it going to be like for the next 2-3 months....

I am scared witless TBH.

mrs s

Your last bill was for £1.75 in the summer. Well you didn't do much cooking then.
Could it possibly mean you are £1.75 in credit or debit.?

Then in post 24 you say the following.
"Its the bill from 16th October to 22nd December".

That is 68 days, not a quarter.
Could it possibly mean you are £75 in debit.
Something is not right about your 'bill' or the way you read it/understand.
Dan.

mrs-stressed

Dan_Gleebitz wrote: »

Your last bill was for £1.75 in the summer. Well you didn't do much cooking then.
Could it possibly mean you are £1.75 in credit or debit.?

Then in post 24 you say the following.
"Its the bill from 16th October to 22nd December".

That is 68 days, not a quarter.
Could it possibly mean you are £75 in debit.
Something is not right about your 'bill' or the way you read it/understand.
Dan.

Firstly, you are right about the summer cooking. I didnt do any. The £1.75 was after everything was taken off and cant remember the intial amount.

As for the rest of your post you are right. I am £75 - now reduced to £57 as another dd has been taken off in debt. Whats a quarter when its not quarter, when is a bill not a bill, when is a statement not a statement.

I have read this b****y bit of paper so many times now that I am getting hacked off. All I know is this - according to my account online I owe £57 for my gas for 68 days. If I take off another 3 x £18 I shall owe them £3 on the next bill for starters. Does that make any sense.

confused mrs s

Dan_Gleebitz

So the £1.75 wasn't a bill. it was your running total of £1.75 debit or credit.
The bill for £75 wasn't a bill either. It is your new running total of £75 in debit.

So after all that, you don't know the total value of each bill.
Neither do we!

A quarter is a quarter when its around 90 days.

I would stop using your gas like you said you would, but even if you do, you will definitely be in debit again next quarter which should be round about March 22nd.
Dan

grahamc2003

mrs-stressed wrote: »

Firstly, you are right about the summer cooking. I didnt do any. The £1.75 was after everything was taken off and cant remember the intial amount.

As for the rest of your post you are right. I am £75 - now reduced to £57 as another dd has been taken off in debt. Whats a quarter when its not quarter, when is a bill not a bill, when is a statement not a statement.

I have read this b****y bit of paper so many times now that I am getting hacked off. All I know is this - according to my account online I owe £57 for my gas for 68 days. If I take off another 3 x £18 I shall owe them £3 on the next bill for starters. Does that make any sense.

confused mrs s

The difference between a bill and statement is critical to understand your situation. I understand why you are getting confused over the difference (not least because your statement states 'Your Bill is ....'), but it just confuses those trying to help not knowing nwhether it is actually a bill, or a statement.

A bill is a demand for payment, a statement is simply information requiring no action. In the old days it was simple - you used energy, got a bill for that energy every 3 months and paid it. These days its usually a bit different. You pay a fixed amount each month, and get a statement every three months showing how much you are in credit or debit. If you pay £30pm, and use £100 in the quarter, then your statement will show you in debit by £10, which will then be carried over to the next statement. To confuse things even more (but it makes sense really!), a credit is shown as a negative (e.g. -£10) and a debit is shown as a positive (e.g. £10). So taking into account all that, if your statement says 'Your bill is £75', that translates to 'Your current situation is you owe us £75, and we'll carry this forward to your next statement, and this is not a bill'

If you are currently in debit (which it looks like you are), then it's likely your dd will be increased (in fact i'd say it is almost certain to be increased, sorry). They often don't make it clear they are raising your dd, often just an insigificant sentence in small print hidden somewhere in your statement. To be honest, if I were you i would budget for a higher direct debit payment, so it won't be a shock when it comes.

Are your meter readings on your statements? If you could post a list of readings and dates from your statements going back over a year, we could have a good stab at estimating what your likely dd will be.

penrhyn

55 posts and OP still does not appear to understand their energy statement.
I'd suggest either taking the paperwork to the CAB, or possibly ask a friend to go through it.

Or maybe ring up Energy De France and get them to explain it.

If you are on direct debit you don't get separate bills, you may have your direct debit adjusted 9 usually annually)to reflect your actual usage.

When ever you get a statement, check your meter readings and if they don't agree phone/text/email in the correct one.

If you want to be really anal take readings weekly and use a site like https://www.imeasure.org.uk

mrs-stressed

penrhyn wrote: »

55 posts and OP still does not appear to understand their energy statement

I thought I did actually!! Its just that I keep getting posts that then confuse me further! I have more than a nanno brain cell and still find the wording ambiguous. Hence the repetition on some of posts......

BTW- so it was a statement then! That I can go with. But !!!!!! didnt it say so at the top of the page in bold...

thanks for response though

mrs s

mrs-stressed

grahamc2003 wrote: »

If you could post a list of readings and dates from your statements going back over a year, we could have a good stab at estimating what your likely dd will be.

Thanks for that - I will when I recover my will to live as its fast going down the plughole!!!!! It involves rather a strategic plan of attack in file drawer and I need to have at least two glasses of grape juice to generate the energy (sorry for pun) and inclination.

Will do though. Your post was extremely helpful BTW and your command of the english language far outweighs any guide-to-energy speak. All I needed was someone to explain stuff and thanks for that. Appreciated

mrs-stressed

Dan_Gleebitz wrote: »

So the £1.75 wasn't a bill. it was your running total of £1.75 debit or credit.

Gotcha! thanks for that.