IRESA final bill estimation farce.

carl0s

Hi. I just got my 'final bill for your energy use to August 1st 2018'.

It states that I used 10,800kWh of gas for the month of July. Yeah. for my 2-up-2-down during a heatwave, with no gas used other than a shower which I turn the boiler temp down for anyway (rather than heat up then mix with cold..)

Obviously I have responded with the actual readings, which I took a photographs of on 28th July.

How can they possibly get it so wrong ? I only use gas for the shower during the warm weather. My cooker is electric.

I gather credits are protected, which is good, but I'm a bit concerned that they're simply trying it on and other people might get stung.

They have stated that I owe them £117.51. Given that they are so massively out on the figures, I suspect they must owe me quite a bit more than that.

They also over-estimated the electricity too, but not to quite the same degree. I usually use about 210kWh in a month, and they estimated 271, overall though due to previous estimates, they have a final closing figure that is 216kWh higher than the actual meter reading.

You can right-click the image below and choose to view in a new tab to see it full size.

Skools_Out

carl0s wrote: »

Hi. I just got my 'final bill for your energy use to August 1st 2018'.

It states that I used 10,800kWh of gas for the month of July. Yeah. for my 2-up-2-down during a heatwave, with no gas used other than a shower which I turn the boiler temp down for anyway (rather than heat up then mix with cold..)

Obviously I have responded with the actual readings, which I took a photographs of on 28th July.

How can they possibly get it so wrong ? I only use gas for the shower during the warm weather. My cooker is electric.

I gather credits are protected, which is good, but I'm a bit concerned that they're simply trying it on and other people might get stung.

They have stated that I owe them £117.51. Given that they are so massively out on the figures, I suspect they must owe me quite a bit more than that.

They also over-estimated the electricity too, but not to quite the same degree. I usually use about 210kWh in a month, and they estimated 271, overall though due to previous estimates, they have a final closing figure that is 216kWh higher than the actual meter reading.

You can right-click the image below and choose to view in a new tab to see it full size.

Fisrt question I would ask is are all the previous readings estimated or actual?
If they were estimated, were they correct, almost?

I would suggest you take a photo of the meter today and send that as proof the estimated reading they have used is incorrect, as based on the spirit of what you have said, presumably the meter today still has not reached anywhere near that value.

Even if not accepted at this time, I wouldn't worry too much aboutr it at this time.
You see once Octopus Energy start billing you, they will assist you in rectifying any errors. Because presumably your second (final) meter reading will be below that Octopus Energy use as your start reading.

If Octopus Energy do not ensure the reading is rectified, you'll actually be saving money long term, as I understand Octopus Energy are actually way, way more expensive than Ires Energy ever were, so unless they correct their start reading, then they will refund you at a greater rate than you pay Iresa Energy (or their administrators) for that same energy you imply you have not used.

ETA: Just mnoticed this has been your fisrt post for over 12 months, and that itself was the first post for about 12 months.
So on the bright side, at least Iresa Energy has brought you, or at least your account, back to life. That is important as MSE really need vauluable posts from people like yourself to keep this forum alive.
Thank you.

carl0s

That's an interesting though re the refunding at a higher rate!

Yes I'm waiting to be able to choose my own supplier, but I think I need to be onboard with Octopus to be able to switch away and get my credit back etc.

Skools_Out

carl0s wrote: »

That's an interesting though re the refunding at a higher rate!

Yes I'm waiting to be able to choose my own supplier, but I think I need to be onboard with Octopus to be able to switch away and get my credit back etc.

On the basis of nothing in your post to the contrary, and the reading saying it is until 01-Aug-2018, I had assumed you were now with Octopus Energy as 01-Aug-2018 was the date they took over all Iresa customer accounts that were still live at that time.

Either way, presumably whoever you have moved to is more expensive than Iresa ever was, as otherwise why were you remaining with Iresa until the beginning of this month when Iresa had no early exit charges on any of their tariffs.

Energy prices are generally rising at this time, with at least one supplier saying they are increasing their prices for a 3rd time this year.

carl0s

Skools_Out wrote: »

On the basis of nothing in your post to the contrary, and the reading saying it is until 01-Aug-2018, I had assumed you were now with Octopus Energy as 01-Aug-2018 was the date they took over all Iresa customer accounts that were still live at that time.

Either way, presumably whoever you have moved to is more expensive than Iresa ever was, as otherwise why were you remaining with Iresa until the beginning of this month when Iresa had no early exit charges on any of their tariffs.

Energy prices are generally rising at this time, with at least one supplier saying they are increasing their prices for a 3rd time this year.

I am essentially in-migration to Octopus. They sent me that final estimate where I could accept a £117.51 charge (final bill from IRESA) to come on board with them. So I'm disputing that figure, then I will go onboard with them, and then switch to a provider of my choosing.

matelodave

carl0s wrote: »

I am essentially in-migration to Octopus. They sent me that final estimate where I could accept a £117.51 charge (final bill from IRESA) to come on board with them. So I'm disputing that figure, then I will go onboard with them, and then switch to a provider of my choosing.

I dont think you've got any option but to be an Octopus customer as IRESA is now defunct. You are now in a deemed contract with Octopus.

According to Octopus you should be able to transfer from them from 21st August.

I shall be moving even though I've got a dispute between what IRESA have guessed they owe me (about£189) and what I know I owe them exactly £25.50.

Hopefully that should be sorted out between Octopus and the IRESA administrators and I'll send them a cheque when it is. I also expect to have to send another cheque to Octopus for the energy that I've used since 1st August to my switch away from them unless they roll it all up in one.

My suggestion is to keep a very close eye on your consumption and take weekly reads until it all falls into place as IMO Octopus are quite expensive and you don't want to stay with them any longer than you have to nor pay them any more than you need to.

sjkitchie

Have just had a final bill for my elderly mums account with Iresa. Every month I have sent them actual meter readings but this time they have estimated the final reading. Allegedly her gas usage for the period 30/6/18 to 1/8/18 was a whopping 7,620 kwh compared to 682 for the period 2/6/18 to 30/6/18. Considering she only has gas central heating this is either a very big mistake on behalf of Iresa or they are trying it on. I know she has quite a big credit balance on the account. Not sure whether to be concerned or not.

matelodave

I've just had my final closing bill from IRESA and they've agreed with my calculations right down to the penny.

I've just paid the outsanding £25.50 and my IRESA account is now closed.

My Octopus account is now open with my actual meter reading from 31st July until it transfers to Eversmart on 10th September. All standing orders are closed.

Eversmart's leccy is 3.2p/kwh cheaper than Octopus, saving me 7200 x 3.2p = £230 a year.

The Eversmart standing charge is about 3p a day more costing £10.95 extra so I'm saving £220 by swapping.

May I suggest to everyone that they now keep their own meticulous records (at least monthly meter reads) just in case their next supplier falls off the twig. It makes sorting it all out so much easier rather than trying to trawl through incomplete and erroneous supplier info

molerat

carl0s wrote: »

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sjkitchie wrote: »

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Did either of you submit readings when asked for by Octopus ?

Mealyn

I have received my final bill from Octopus /Iresa and they have hugely overestimated my gas consumption. Apparently I owe them £125. and this is with very little gas usage as boiler is turned off! Have disagreed with their figures and sent in new figures of the 20th August and taken photos. They did not use my readings for the 1st August albeit sent in late as was away when the request was made but sent them readings taken from the 12th August. They chose to use readings I sent Iresa on the 27th July which had been requested by Iresa just before they went belly up. Trying to figure out the workings of the costs of my energy usage has been a nightmare and I have given up. Have asked them to recalculate using the current readings. Can only wait and see. I never had any bother from Iresa and were the cheapest on the block. Now my energy bills are to soar from £78 a month to around £100 a month. That's quite a bit extra to find. I would have preferred to have talked with someone from Octopus but couldn't find a telephone number. Energy costs with Octopus are higher than other companies so for around one month I have to pay them their high charges and I have no say in the matter. Octopus must be rubbing their hands together having all of Iresa's customers to charge for the time they are with them. Even in comparison sites Octopus sits way down the list.

matelodave

molerat wrote: »

Did either of you submit readings when asked for by Octopus ?

It's interesting that there's no reply to this one.

Mine's all sorted, no problems so I'm guessing that it's those who didn't bother to respond to Octopus's request for a final reading that are now getting grief.

It's pretty obvious that for a lot of people the final readings that they thought they had given to IRESA have fallen by the wayside and either IRESA, the administrators or Octopus then bunged in an estimate.