MERGED: Huge / crazy Utility Bills - Help & Advice

RandyRos

I've been a bit lax with my money saving of late.......I was with Virgin Home Energy and they were cheap for me. But then they got bought out by EDF Energy, who I'd got away from! Typical!! Anyhoo, I didnt bother checking for a better deal, I thought I'd wait until I got my first EDF bill thru.....
.........I really wish I hadn't!!! £274!!!
I've been upset about it all day, as we'd been expecting a bill for around £150. This one is really gonna skint us out and send us a little into the red with the bank.
But the thing I want to know is, who is the cheapest supplier?? I've checked out Powergen (big NO), TSB (they dont even show you the tariffs), and that uswitch site seems to be a total rip off!! It told me Scottish power were cheaper for me, but when I worked it out compared to my recent bill, it was more expensive!! ggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! damn money grabbers!!
I do have an application in front of me for Atlantic, complete with tariffs, and according to my calculations, I would have saved nearly £40 on this bill with them!! Plus if I join, i get £30 cashback.
the kWh's i used/were charged for, are as follows;

NIGHT units (kWh) 2981 AT 3.03p £90.32
DAY units 2525 first 271 @ 10.68p £28.94
next 2254 @ 6.32p £142.45

i have no standing charge (Atlantic dont either) oh, better put their tariff in as well lol

NIGHT 2.55p
DAY first 225 @ 12.29
following @ 5.80

can anyone find cheap than Atlantic?? also, if i pay by DD monthly, at the end of every 12 months with them, they refund you one months payment.
can anyone find me a better deal please???
thanks

Fran

Have you followed the steps in Martin's Article?

Which is the cheapest for you will depend on where you live, it's impossible to give an easy answer to this.

RandyRos

thanks. no, i'd not seen it, i'm going to look now.

markj113

I purchased my first first house oct 2003. Its a small 2 bedroom terraced house. I have gas central heating, 1 tv, electric cooker, washing machine, fridge freezer. There had been a new meter fitted. I have been paying my bills on time through the year. Last week I recieved a letter from swalec stating my usage appeared to have gone up and to ring them with a metre reading before they sent out the bill.

I did this and the lady on the phone said my bill seemed rather high. When I asked how much it was she stated it was around £2500 for the 1/4!!!!.

they asked me to take another reading 7 days later which I have. On average I am using around 20 units a day.

However according to their figures I have used 61939 units since 21/10/03 - an average of around 124 units a day!!

I have confirmed the meter serial number and basically they are trying to say the bill is correct and I cannot get any sense out of them whatsoever.

Common sense says there is something definitely not right here..

so what do I do next?

Graham1

You could look at all your previous bills and see how many were based on actual readings and how many on estimated readings - some put letters like A and E on the bill after the meter reading to distinguish between these. However £2500 seems far too much for an error in estimation.

Was there an actual meter reading around the time you moved in and did you take a note of that reading ?

markj113

the actual meter was changed just before i moved in. The original paper was with the meter showing start reading.

Just had an update, swalec rang me to tell me they are going to ring me tomorrow with a new bill amount :eek:

have to wait and see what they say this time!

chalky_bertie

For some unknown reason my latest gas bill (15th) was for £175 (give or take a few pence)! from 22/12/04 - 15/03/05. I am abolutely amazed that I have used that much gas - we only have GCH and hob. Have spent nearly 2 hours on phone tonight with the folks at BG trying to work it out. We have decided to pay 1/2 next week and withold the rest until we decide wether to get the meter read. There is only me and mrs chalky_bertie and we go out during the day. Is this excessive and does anyone think the meter is goind round twice as fast as it should do?

If anyone has had their meter tested can you tell me if you had to pay the fee upfront or did it go on the bill.

Any help most appreciated. I have gas, electric, phone and CH cover all with BG so there is a few discounts I get.

Fran

Have you taken a meter reading yourself to see how it compares to the bill? Have they made an estimate or was it an actual reading? Was the previous bill an estimate?

chalky_bertie

read by meter reading woman and checked by myself - i rarely let them use an estimated bill as they are soooo wrong.

colinw

Could your rabbit be secretly putting the heating on full every day when you go out?
You should switch to Powergen, they are cheaper than British Gas.

loopy_lass

chalky_bertie wrote:

For some unknown reason my latest gas bill (15th) was for £175 (give or take a few pence)! from 22/12/04 - 15/03/05. I am abolutely amazed that I have used that much gas - we only have GCH and hob. Have spent nearly 2 hours on phone tonight with the folks at BG trying to work it out. We have decided to pay 1/2 next week and withold the rest until we decide wether to get the meter read. There is only me and mrs chalky_bertie and we go out during the day. Is this excessive and does anyone think the meter is goind round twice as fast as it should do?

If anyone has had their meter tested can you tell me if you had to pay the fee upfront or did it go on the bill.

Any help most appreciated. I have gas, electric, phone and CH cover all with BG so there is a few discounts I get.

i just had a big bill for me @ £85... small house u see... normally around £55.. i am considering switchin to powergen for gas and electric, i have looked on energywatch site and they have less complaints than my suppliers i have now.. which is BG and n power

summat is up with BG bills

loops