Gas bill £360 in 13 days!!!!!!! HELP!!

applecore_2

Hi all,

Just received my bill from npower. My normal gas bill comes to £95 per quarter (which isnt much) but this bill shows that i managed to use up £231 within 13 days of the bill prior to that (the remainder of the 360 . I called nPower up and they told me that sometimes the meter reading "catches up"???? (what ever the hell that means!) from time to time and that is what caused my bill to jump.. im a student and do not have this type of cash just to pay a bill of this amount.

The meter readings are

27th Mar (7780) - 10th Apr (8076) 296 UNITS??
10th Apr (8076) - 30th Apr (8123) 47 units
30th Apr (8123) - 31st May (8208) 85 units

these are the summer months so that still makes it even odder..

please help!!!

AC

espresso

You need to check if these readings are actual or estimated. Stay on top of the situation by providing your own meter readings regularly as suppliers only actually have to read them every two years I believe but most do it more frequently i.e. once a year.

applecore_2

Our meter reading was given to them once a month.... thats what makes it worse!! the one time that the agent came to read it, the meter reading was sky high! and i checked after that and it was fine, but the damage had already been done.

espresso

Perhaps they ignore readings if you provide them once per month. Just correct any estimated readings when you receive an invoice and they will send out a re-calculated one.

applecore_2

ive done that.. it just looks like the meter has jumped and i do not understand why or how.

MarkyMarkD

If the 7780 and the 8076 are both actual meter readings, then I would be asking your supplier for a meter check as that's a ridiculous amount to use in 13 days.

I would have thought it more likely that the 7780 was either an estimate or a mistaken manual reading - maybe a typo for 7980 - but the bill before that should make it clear if the usage was unusually low in the period up to the 7780 reading.

beingjdc

This remind me of that news story about the man with the £24,000 gas bill.

"It appears we inadvertently charged Mr X for the gas which was used in the explosion which destroyed his house", etc.

Sorry, no practical help. You would think if someone used that much all in one go having previously used much less they'd send out to check for leaks!

applecore_2

thanks all for your suggestions, and MarkyMarkD, all meter readings from that one and onces after have been accurate and all show numbers over 8076. Seems to me that the meter jumped. We've tried the whole "7 day meter test" thing but it has come up with "regular usage - Normal" rather than exceptional usage.. i really do not understand how i could have used that much gas, seeing as i only have the cooking hob and central heating.

MarkyMarkD

If it was electricity, I would suggest that someone had left the immersion heater on for a few weeks and not 'fessed up to it.

But for gas, it's hard to see how you could use a huge amount in a short time.