Need Help!!!

Scottishlass123

Hi, I need some advice.

I recently moved from Scotland to live in England. The house I lived in, in Scotland only had an Electric supply. I changed from a pre-pay key meter to a digital meter around April last year and was told over the phone that for the size of my house and the fact my heating was storage heaters that my direct debit would be £31 a month.

Everything going great..........

I called the Hydro to inform them of my moving house and told them to forward the last bill to my mothers address - no problem.

UNTIL............. a fortnight later.

I recieved a bill for over £650!!!! Which I was told today was correct due to the fact that the £31 a month was only for my electric, not my heating or hot water tank!!!!!

Where do I stand, as I was not informed of this at the time of the switchover???

They also regretted to inform me that they were going to debit the full amount on the 21st, which would have bankrupted me. As it happens, i'd cancelled the direct debit to the hydro last week as I no longer thought I needed it. Therefore they couldn't take the full payment.

I just think they should have told me that I was being undercharged so to speak!!!

penrhyn

Its your responsibility to check that your bills match your meter readings. Did you not notice that they were estimated?

Have you checked that they are using the correct meter readings to bill you.

I guess you have a dual rate meter where your heating/water is on a cheap rate, and for some reason this was not taken into account.

Scottishlass123

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I was never told the direct debit was an estimate as the woman on the phone sid £31 would cover me for the electric I would use for the size of my property. She also never mentioned that this direct debit was only for the electric use only and not the heating or hot water.

I never recieved a "bill" from the Hydro so had nothing to compare my meter readings to. I also can't remember the meter being read by anyone for the few months that I had the digital meter.

I did have a dual meter, but the heating and water was the most expensive!!!!!:mad:

penrhyn

So you are saying that the high and low rate periods were reversed, it has been known.
If its not electricity heating your home and water what was it?

Something gone wrong, perhaps a company rep will come on and advise.

macman

You can't possibly think that you could heat, hot water and power a house for £31 a month though? Even on E7!

spiro

Are you saying that you had a credit meter from April last year and did not think it strange that you had not received a single bill? Bills are normally posted quarterly unless you have an online tariff in which case its your responsibility to check you bill online.

How much did you put in your ppm a month? Also bear in mind we have had a very cold winter so more heating equals more elec equals bigger bill.

molerat

As long as you are happy that the meter reads are correct this falls well within the one year back billing rules so I am fraid you will have to pay for the electricity you used. Yes they seem to have screwed up but you did not (or chose not to) notice it for 9 months.