Dual Energy Large Bill

cricskip

I brought a new build house that i moved in on 25 August 2017. When i moved in the main contractor who build the house gave me a letter stating that they will get in contact with Scottish Power and advise them i am now living in the property so they can set an account up for me. On the letter it stated Scottish power have been having issues with there systems and will be sometime before i receive my first bill.

In January 2019 I received a bill for £2000 for the gas and electric in this time, this bill was completely out the blue. The rates on this bill are ridiculously high, this is a 2 bed flat. I have been quoted less than half this on comparison sites. I never signed up to these ridiculous rates, they just say these are there 'standard' rates. There is only 1 person that lives in this flat who is a student. The bill is ridiculously high and i didn't think they was able to back charge more than 12 months in advance?

What should i do now and how do i move forward?

Any help will be appreciated :j

Robin9

By default when you move into a property you are in a "deemed contract" and these are on a standard (ie expensive) tariff - you don't sign anything. It is up to you to select a better tariff either with the present supplier or a new one.

have you been in touch with SP?

Is the bill based on actual or estimated readings ?

dogshome

As posted, as a new account holder you will have been on SP's Standard Variable Rate, ie. the most expensive

However, it's taken 17 months for SP to issue it's first bill, which in the case of late billing may bring into play the Back-Billing rule that prevents suppliers from billing power used earlier then 12 months before they do produce a bill.

Was this bill addressed to you by Name or Occupier ?
Is the Start Date the same as your moving in day ?


If the bill is named and the dates match it's reasonable proof SP were correctly notified by the builder, and the billing delay is not due to lack of information but SP's own systems, in which case Back-Billing restrictions would apply

matelodave

Have you tried to get a bill from them or just let it go. 18 months is a long time to just hope that a bill was going to arrive. Did you send in meter readings, did you actually have an account.

Most people would have tried to chase it up and at the very minimum put some money away in anticipation.

Did you read your meters when you moved in and send reading into the supplier. If not all you can do is assume that the meters were zero and the readings now will indicate the amount of energy that you have used and should pay for.

It doesn't really matter what size of house you are in, the meters will have recored the amount of energy that you've used and unfortunatealy by not being a bit proactive you may have been on their most expensive standard variable tariff.

Have you checked your bills agains the meter readings to establish whether they are estimated or actual meter reads - if they are estimates then read you meters and get onto the supplier to get them corrected.

You might get away with the back-billing and only have to pay for 12 months worth but you should take some responsibilty for not chasing it it regularly

[Deleted User]

The meter start readings are placed on a card and usually wedged behind the electric meter .The gas meter details and start reading are on a yellow sticky label attached to the gas meter below the reading
The gas meters always start at either 99998, 99999, or 00000. The couple of units before the five 00000 are there to allow a little gas purging of the whole system to clear it of air.You should be billed from 00000 as a new occupier.
Electric meters are installed at 00000 but its very rare to see a new occupier moving in without the meters having around a 100 units on it where the builders/decorators have been using power and lights . They could even use some properties with electric fires on using a lot of electricity.
You can locate your electric meter in the meter cupboard to find your meter serial number and find the start reading on the card which could even be on the floor where some end up.
Standard/Variable prices are a little higher than fixed deals but not drastically higher..60% of users are on them. Bulb only have standard/variable and are pretty competitive .
Just make sure that you are being billed for the correct meters . Virtually every new build estate I ve been to over the years as a meter reader has "crossed meters " where the chap in the hard hat has sent off plot numbers which then get mixed up with house/flat numbers which can be different
New build .estates always leave out the number 13 nowadays for some superstitious reason and plot numbers then vary from house numbers after number 12.
Do a "kettle test " and a gas flow test to monitor if you are being billed for the correct meters