Help with energy bills please

D4nny

hi guys
really need you expert help as im all new to this.
been in my first home just over a year now and just got my annual (actual reading) statment from my energy supplier.
when i moved into the house scottish power were the supplier of both gas & electric and because i had so much to sort out i just stayed with them.i get a bill every month and pay it over the phone.the bill is the same every month wich is
£125.96.
now after having my annual usage statment iv just been onto a comparison site and entered all the details and my actual usage readings over the last 12 months wich are:
Gas- 7,250.120kwh Electric- 1,795.028kwh
the cheapest quote i got back is

E.ON - Fixed 1 Year v15 Paperless Billing

Assumed annual consumption
1,795 kWh-electric
7,250 kWh-gas

Estimated annual cost
£240.01-electric
£292.79-gas

Estimated monthly cost
£20.00-electric
£24.40-gas

Tariff Comparison Rate (TCR)
12.27p per kWh-electric
3.62p per kWh-gas


so if iv worked this out correctly alltogether for both annually thats £532.80
so if this is correct iv massivly overpaid scottish power.
so how do i switch to the eon deal? and second how do i get all my overpaid money back from scottish power?

thankyou so much
danny

CashStrapped

If you have confirmed those annual readings are correct, then you need to ring Scottish Power or log online and find out if your account is in credit.

To confirm yourself what you have used over the year, you need to look for two confirmed readings nearly one year apart. Sometimes the annual usage figures from the energy company can be inaccurate.

If you have overpaid for what you have used, your account will be in a large surplus.

Regarding switching, use one of the comparison sites and follow the switch process.

Before you do that, double check the annual usage yourself by looking at your readings as I mentioned above.

D4nny

Cashstrapped-thankyou for your post but what i dont understand is on the annual statment it states on there we are around £470 in credit
Iv just looked online and its says our account balance is £0.00.
And in relation to the readings iv still got the reading the old owners left for us wich was on the 16th jan 2014 and they were:
Gas-8895 Electric-37770
Then the readings iv taken for scotish power on the 17th jan 2015
Gas-9545 Electric-39583

So as you can see these readings were taken almost a year apart to the day.

Hoof_Hearted

I wouldn't advise leaving SP while they owe you money. It's like getting blood out of a stone.

D4nny

what I don't understand is how iv been paying £125.96 a month but according to my account online my account balance is zero.
if anybody can work out according to my usage surely you can see I don't use much electric or gas and especially not £1511.40 a year?
according to comparison sights from what I can see I should be paying around the £500 mark.
how do I work out what I have actually used a year looking at meeting readings?or are meeter readings in kwh? because if the meter readings are in kwh this shows the I have used over 12 months:
gas-650kwh electric-1813kwh
or is this not how it works?

Suarez

I cancelled my direct debit as soon as I found we were massively overpaying. Used up most of our credit by doing monthly readings then left them.

They still haven't closed my old account but at least they're not holding too much of my money.

D4nny

are the meter readings showing a reading in kwh? does anybody know?
I cant get through to anybody on the phone at the moment and as iv never done this before Im trying to get as much info together as I can so they cant tell me a load of rubbish. I would say im due money back tho from the amount iv paid,but I aslo don't understand why online it says my account balance is £0.00

saveallmymoney

I think you need to get straight first.

Move to a Scottish Power online tariff (they are nearly the cheapest at the moment anyway) and enter your meter readings online on the 1st of every month.

In a few months you will know where you are, and possibly Scottish Power will refund any credit, then if you still want to move go ahead.

Hoof_Hearted

I think if you cancel your DD, they put you on the standard variable tariff.

Things to do:

Read the meters today then look at your last bill. What is the difference between your meter readings and the meter reading on the last bill you received? Just forget about kWh for the moment.

If you are being billed for the energy used, it wouldn't be the same every month, so it is highly likely that you have been overcharged, After about 27 phone calls, you may persuade them to refund this.

D4nny

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

I think if you cancel your DD, they put you on the standard variable tariff.

Things to do:

Read the meters today then look at your last bill. What is the difference between your meter readings and the meter reading on the last bill you received? Just forget about kWh for the moment.

If you are being billed for the energy used, it wouldn't be the same every month, so it is highly likely that you have been overcharged, After about 27 phone calls, you may persuade them to refund this.

thankyou for this info I don't pay by DD I just pay on a monthly basis over the phone when I get the bill through the post.
when I get home from work tonight I can have a look at the meter readings and record them and see what the difference is from the meter readings that were taken on the 19th of this month.
I will then also take the meter readings again on 1st of feb and then again on the 19th of feb as the 19th will be a full month from the original last actual meter reading.i will email scotish power now asking why I have been paying so much and see what there response is.

thriftylass

It should tell you on the meter if it is units, kWH or sth else. Also the bills should have a units to kWh conversion calculation on it if you don't read kWh from your meter. For instance our meter for gas reads units that are then transferred into kWH. But your annual usage numbers look like kWH and are about half of what we use and we pay about £1100 a year with EDF. So an quote of 500 sounds right.

As others have said. You must have had a estimated bill then every month as it unusual to be same every month. And maybe they were so high because they were based on the previous tenant's/owner's usage. Give them actual readings every month.

Also when was that final bill issued based on the last accurate reading. Maybe it just hasn't registered yet with your online account? Mine takes about 3 days after I gave them a reading to show the accurate credit/debit online.

Did it give you a payment history or balance on the final bill?