Help I received an electric bill for £4,200 today

Daisy_1983

Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise. Ive taken over looking after the bills for my mother who is ill with cancer and when I rang the company SSE today they told me that because they had been averaging the meter reading much lower then the usage the back dated bill for the year is over £4,200. My mothers only income is a state pension. So any advice would be greatly appreciated!

DragonQ

I'm pretty sure they're meant to check the meters twice a year. Have you asked them why they didn't do this?

Ecodave

I think the minimum that they have to take readings is once every two years. What period are they back-dating to? Why is your mothers back-dated bill so high? Even a high domestic user would not consume that much in 2 years.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Gas and electricity suppliers have a duty under their gas and electricity supply licences to inspect their customers‟ meters at least every two years unless Ofgem consents to other arrangements.

spiro

Does your mother just have elec? If so a very high bill could be to do with her illness and having the heating on longer/hotter than normal because elec heating is expensive compared to gas.

On the point of reading meter every 2 years, with elec the clock is reset every time you change supplier unlike gas.

Joyful

Once you work out if the bill is correct get your mum set up on Fuel direct. They will work out her weekly consumption amount and add £3.55 per week to cover the arrears irrespective of the amount ( may have gone up by a few pence).

dogshome

".....the back dated bill for the year is over £4,200. " ? !

To build up a debt of this size, Estimate Bills that are too low must have been issued for far longer 12 months - Apart from that you seem you have had this information via a phone call from Customer Services, who's utterings often cannot be relied upon

To give help responders need to know:
What type of meter is it - Does it have lots of small dials with pointers?

What is the heating set-up in in your mother home, is it Electric thro' an ECO7 meter or something else?

What date was the last bill based on a meter readers reading, issued.