ma-hoo-sive leccy bill part 2

System

Wait for it to get dark. Check that lights are on in the adjacent properties, and see if any lights go out when you turn off the master switch. Alternatively, pay an electrician to check the system for you.

gilbert_and_sullivan

If someone was devious and nasty enough to steal their neighbours electricity, i would have thought they would run the heavy mains circuit on it and not the lights (which would be too obvious to check), you won't hear or see the washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, immersion heater or anything like those turn off when you switch the mains off.

Suggest you say nothing but to read your meter carefully for a period of days or weeks, night and morning, and establish a record of usage, and to write down the times and dates of your own heavy usage items to go with these figures.

ToomanyPies

Have you got anywhere with this problem?

muppetscotland

ToomanyPies wrote: »

Have you got anywhere with this problem?

Yes and no. We got a monitor and over the past month it''s apparent we use around £2 per day which is more than average but not as much as the £3 the bill would suggest. We will probably never know why it jumped up so much then back down - I'm just glad it's back down!

ToomanyPies

I fear that the problem still exists and will become more apparent again. Keep a close eye on the day and night time consumption.

macman

muppetscotland wrote: »

Sorry also thought - if I turn off power at mains switch (the big one which does all power at once) which resides in our meter box and the dial stops turning, does that categorically exclude the possibility of theft?

No, but it rules out any possibility of you being billed for it, as the 'stolen' power is not flowing through your meter. If it's been tapped into upstream of the meter, that is not your problem. If the incoming supply cable is visible upstream of the meter, it should be fairly obvious if it's been bypassed.
You need to compare your annual kWh usage over a 12m period, not based on two readings overnight, so look at your annual statements.

dogshome

A bit late to the party, but is your meter a 'Dial' meter - The one with a series of small one handed clocks ?

If so these are difficult to read and even Meter Readers can get it wrong