187% increase in gas usage

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

YES!!! It's still turning when I throw the switch!!

It shouldn't be turning. Your meter is supplying another consumer unit somewhere, either in your property or not.

I would think the next step is to get an electrician in to see who, or what else you are supplying.

If it turns out to be somebody else's building, then you need to start thinking about how you can get some of your money back. Somebody else may be able to advise you on this.

At the very least the electrician can cut off the supply that isn't connected to your own consumer unit.

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Just got a letter from E.on charging me a 10 quid debt collector's fee, too...

You need to contact EON before this escalates out of control. Every little cost pushes your bill higher and higher. If you don't deal with it they will force a prepay meter on you and you will no longer have the choice of a competitive tariff.

You need to find someone at EON who can give you some proper one-on-one assistance. Explain your situation and you should be able to get some proper help.

If you don't do this, you will cause yourself awful trouble!

molerat

Big important question which will point to who should pay for the electrician - do you rent or own ?

macman

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Just went on to E.on's website to get a quote… just impossible… fell at the first hurdle as it did not recognise my address despite it being there on the menu!! Then it was 'choose a tariff'… there were about 200… I just gave up… this is done to keep people on high tariffs… they know it's too confusing for most people to make a decision if there are more than about 3 options…

Sorry, but this is nonsense. There are four domestic tariffs, one being Standard variable (your current one), two fixes (a one year and a two year), and the Age UK one that you've already asked about, which is a 2 year fix, and the cheapest, if you qualify. Where do you get 200 from?
https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/products-and-services
Now that you know your kWh usage, it will take you less than a minute to put that and your postcode into any comp site to find the cheapest tariff. It couldn't be simpler.

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Does this mean that wherever the supply is going there is no way to isolate it? Isn't that dangerous?

There is no way to know. There clearly isn't anywhere to isolate it at your end though, because you would see it.

If the intention was to leech electricity from your supply, putting an isolator in your house would make it to easy to spot and turn off.

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

There was a drop down menu… A-Z…perhaps they belong to other suppliers...

It was probably asking for your current tariff.

You need to select 'Standard Variable'.

macman

You can't tackle this yourself. Get someone in straight away to track the source of this usage.
The tariff change to Age UK can be done with one phone call, as can the switch to DD.
This thread could go on forever. You've discovered the cause of your huge consumption, now you need to act to stop it.

geoffken

Just get an electrician in to get it sorted rather than ask endless questions!!!!

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Guys… would you say it was the responsibility of whoever fitted the meter to ensure that there wasn't a drain on the supply?

No. Everything that side of the meter is your responsibility. You need to get an electrician to disconnect any cable that is not feeding your own consumer unit(s).

You also need to switch tariff and sort out a repayment plan for your high bill. Given what you have been paying, and how little you use, this should be fairly easy.

lstar337

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Does that mean that I will have to pay for all the leakage that's been going out who knows where for possibly several years?!

Yeah, but if it possible to trace where all that energy has been going, it may be possible to make a claim against whoever has been using it all this time.

That is something you will need to get legal advice on though.