Iresa cost me loads - can I sue?

BoojieBen

My gas reading today is 11351

ValiantSon

Hmmm. Your bills don't shed any light on the situation as they don't show your payments or readings history.

Have you been providing regular readings to Spark?

Have you been making regular payments to Spark? If not, when did you last pay them and what was the state of your account at that point?

BoojieBen

I havent provided regular readings but they are up to date now. They have not been billing me so I!!!8217;ve not paid them anything yet.

ValiantSon

So is the £725 bill based on the readings that you have now provided, or is it based on their estimates? If it is based on the estimated readings then you need to ask them to recalculate it based on the correct readings. If it is based on the correct readings then, while it is high, it isn't beyond the realms of the possible.

If you cannot afford to make the full £725 payment in one go, then you need to speak to Spark and discuss a repayment plan with them. They should come to some sort of agreement with you. You won't be able to move supplier for the electricity until this has been paid off, but at least it will give you some breathing space.

If I've understood correctly, you have been paying IRESA £70 per month since (roughly) the end of March, so in total you have most likely paid them £280. Some of this will have been used to cover your gas usage with them, but the remaining balance will be protected and the new supplier who takes over will factor this in to your new direct debit amount.

One of the key things to take from this is the need to provide regular meter readings (at least once a month) to your energy suppliers, so that you know how much you are actually spending, and can keep on top of this cost. You should also be paying them a monthly agreed amount by direct debit, which is calculated on your annual usage. As long as your usage doesn't significantly increase then you shouldn't face any further problems. If it does increase then the supplier will review the direct debit and increase it to take this into account.