Extortionate and Inconsistent Electricity Bills

Sangahyando

In July last year I moved into supported accommodation, a 1 bedroom flat with me as sole occupant.

For the first few months my electricity bills seemed OK averaging approx. £40 per month. Then I received my bill for 19/11/13 - 13/12/13, and this came to £114.52. I paid this and the following month reduced the settings on my sole electric convector heater by half, and used it for less time.

I then received my bill for 13/12/13 - 17/01/14 and was shocked to see it come to £175.00 for 1250 units when I would have thought it should have been less than the previous bill. During this time I have not used my shower as the flat is too cold, and I have hardly used the electric cooker. The only other appliances in use are a fridge, washing machine, LED TV, laptop and games console.

Next, my bill for 17/01/14 - 17/02/14 came to £111.30. Now I know this should have been for approx. £40 - £50 given my usage (heater only used for approx. 10 hours, no cooker usage, no shower usage). The number of units used came to 795.

The following month I started checking my meter for myself, and the subsequent bill was for a much more reasonable £61.00 for approx. 264 units, which seemed strange as my electricity usage was pretty much identical to the previous month.

Now for some background. The apartment I live in belongs to a business on the ground floor of the building. This flat was previously part of that businesses offices. I do not have direct access to my electricity meter without appointment. My bills come on said businesses headed notepaper, not from British Gas. Though I have what I'm told is my own meter, I am billed as part of their supply. I have been until recently charged at their commercial tariff of 14p per unit, my most recent bill was charged at their current commercial tariff of 18p per unit (apparently they did not realize until recently that their tariff had increased).

I just wondered if anybody had any thoughts/advice for me, as these bills don't even come close to matching what I consider my actual usage, they are also very inconsistent in regards of units used. Obviously, I have no way of proving how many units I've used, and would consider taking legal action if that became necessary.

Sorry for the lengthy post, I have complex mental health issues (hence supported accommodation), and this issue is frankly driving me to the brink.

Thanks for listening
Andrew

JJ_Egan

As you receive your bills from a source that is not the provider i suggest Citizens Advice Bureau is your first stop .
This problem looks more legal than anything .

Sangahyando

My thinking exactly. I'm just not to good at these things with my mental health issues, but I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet.

macman

You need to request meter access on a monthly basis so that you can verify the readings are correct-you will then know if the billing is correct or not.
Essentially you appear to be on a private meter-the LL can resell to you, but not at a profit. Unfortunately since it's a business tariff, it's very much higher than a domestic rate, and subject to 20% VAT not 5%.
As long as you are being billed on the correct rate for the correct no. of kWh's, then I see no reason to involve CAB.