First Utility want £280 a month more!!!!

spiro

christmas_carole wrote: »

Hello, just been looking back at emails from last July, my gas reading is 11601 and my electricity from 31/8/12 is 11801, the readings now are gas 14183 and electricity 27315.
Is that any help?

Two things: What type of meter do you have (digit or old clock style one)? and what are the readings and dates of the readings you have submitted since July?I agree that you should only used about 4000 for a house with GSH not 16000.

Perelandra

I'm wondering if the electricity reading from 31/8/12 was actually the gas meter reading? The figures are very similar, and the difference (+200) might be a reasonable gas usage over the time between the readings.

Do you have any other elec readings, either before or after the August 2012 bill?

marluc

Hi
Sorry to hyjack your post, but I came on here to see if anyone else is having the same problem as me with First Utility.
My story is as follows: In 2012 I was with Southern Electric paying £104 by DD and in MSE style went onto a comparison energy site and FU came up with £48 for dual fuel. I thought wow what a good provider and only charging a fair price. I paid £48 per month for 7 months and like the poster, received an email stating that there would be a shortfall and increased my DD to £180 a month - an increase of 375%. About a week ago, another email - this time it's up to £240 a month. Their energy prices increase again on June 1st. We live in a 4 bedroomed house - most of the year its just the 2 of us as the children at Uni. We have gas central heating and everything else is electricity.
Surely this is illegal and / or mis-selling?
Thanks for any help or advice that you can give.

dogshome

There appears to something wrong with these meter reads

Gas Start read July '12 11601 - Reading now 14183
This works out to 2582 Meter Units which is appx. 29,918 Kwh used over 10 months - To be correct these readings have to be for a house that has zero insulation with draughty Single glazed windows & doors, that is occupied by people who are at home all day

Elec Start read July '12 11801 - Reading now 27315
This works out 15,506 Kwh which is the sort figure that would be expected if the house were electrically heated by storage radiators with an ECO7 meter - For a house with Gas CH it's well over 4 times more than the national average
( Unless that is you have a hidden allotment in the loft )

The key to both the Gas & Elec readings, are the Meter Readings given on the Final Bills issued by N'power - These are the Start readings FU should be useing and there can be no arguement

christmas_carole

No hidden allotment in the loft!!!! teenage daughter recently left home so that may have an effect on my electricity bill, showers, hair straighteners, tumble drier.......
We are now a couple in our 50's, sensible and at work all day, we have no storage heaters, immersion heaters, or tumble drier, what the heck is going on?

Pineapple88

Carole, try making a note of the meter readings next Sunday evening so you can see how much gas and electricity you have used over the week. This will hopefully give a more 'normal' reading.

Do you have a dial meter (series of clocks)? Is there a 0 or blank space before the first digit of the reading and are you only reading the digits before the decimal point/in white?

dogshome

Hi christmas c
FU's reputation for accurate billing is not good, so it's important you go back to the Meter Readings that N'power stated on their Final Bill/s and work out your Gas/Elec consumptions from then, until today - If there is a discrepancy in what FU say it is, you must WRITE a letter headed Complaint

joshw86

I'm in the same boat. I'm actually in credit with First Utility, and I had an email to say that my monthly payments will be going up from £60 to £115 for the next four months until my payments are up to date.

I'm just about to unleash some hell on them over the phone.

joshw86

Well they didn't put up much of a fight. Back to my normal monthly payments of £60 now.

You haven't noted how far in debt or credit your account is yet, but unless you're really deep in the red I think you'll probably be able to convince them to revert your monthly payments back to the original level or at least get them to settle for a surplus amount significantly less than the £180 they are asking for.

Adopt a tone that at once conveys a sense of annoyance and disappointment, tell them how outrageous it is that they want to triple your bill, and ask to speak to a line manager.

Call them on 01794 510 194 as that goes straight through to an office without the ballache of having to sit through a load of switchboard options.

christmas_carole

Just a quick update, I have been in touch with NPower my previous supplier and they have been able to give me my final reading for my electricity! It is 21247kWh and not the estimated 11801 that FU have been using, that is a massive 9,446kWh difference and explains why they want all the extra money from me.
I am now about to get in touch with FU and tell them exactly how I feel. Thank you to all of you who have helped me with this, I may finally be getting this sorted out. Then I will be looking to part company with FU.