completely confused about my energy bills!!

kisses93

Hi, I am completely confused and hope someone can explain things to me?? I am with british gas for electric and gas. I only moved into my property in Feb this year and when I set up my direct debit they asked what I wanted to pay each month - I asked them if £25 for electric and £35 for gas would be ok. They said yes and that is since what I have been paying. I have now received a quarterly bill stating on top of what I have been paying each month I owe £150 to the gas and I am £25 in credit on the electric??? I had been living overseas so am not used to the costs of utilities here for a single person in a small 2 bed bungalow. I am now confused as to why they agreed £35 to gas and £25 to electric each month if this wasn't enough to cover my usage and am confused now as to what it all means regarding fixing your tariff. If you fix your tariff - what happens if your usage is more than was agreed??? Do you then get a whopping great bill after the term of your fixed term for all the shortfall??? If anyone could shed any light on all this for me it'd be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!!

keith1950

Hi, the fix refers to the tariff not the direct debit.

If you fix you would need to set the direct debit at a realistic level.

If you have used £150 over your direct debit it means your gas dd should have been approx. £65/month which is about right for the winter/spring period.


If you don't pay this as a lump sum they would normally recover this over the next 12 months making your gas dd £77 ( £65+£12 )............
plus whatever premium is needed to fix ( probably about another 10% making £85 ) plus your £25 electricity.

If you were not sure about your useage you should really have entered weekly meter readings online to monitor the credit/debit balance of your account.

When you apply for a fixed tariff and enter approx. useage figures these are only to give an indication of what the dd should be set out. The more you use , the more you pay, it's just the price per unit thats fixed!!

macman

Because the utility co's are not psychic. Only you know how much you are using, and everyone's pattern of use is different. You might be out all day and use very little heating. Someone else might be at home all day, do five loads of washing and tumble drying, have 3 showers and have the 'stat at 25C 24/7. That's why the meter is there for you to check and supply readings, at least every quarter. That way you avoid a big catch-up bill like the one you have had.
Did you seriously think that a fixed tariff meant that you could use as much gas and electricity as you wanted for a fixed sum each month? All that is fixed is the unit cost.