Electricity BIll Queries

theoriginalseabiscuit

HI All,

I have been engaged in a 6 month dialogue with SSE (all very amicable but we are politely disagreeing over the bill).

SSE sent a bill for £6,700 for approx 2 years of electricity after conducting a meter reading.
We pay monthly and had not missed a bill.
We had not sent meter reading (not been asked to) and SSE did not read the meter either.
SSE said they tried to read the meter but could not gain access - meter is external and accessible and have accepted this fact.
My monthly consumption is astronomical - £303 per month. We use electricity for lights and tv and a non vented cylinder but we use gas for hob and heating.
SSE are not interested in why our consumption is high and offer no help to establish cause of high consumption. They say that their responsibility stops at the meter - which may be fair enough.
We have had dreadful service from SSE: engineers not turning up (despite me taking time off work to meet with them), one telephone adviser told my wife to 'look for wires' in case our meter was being tapped (dangerous advice) engineer verbal report to us had changed by the time written report submitted. Emails to say 'we have tried to contact you numerous times' despite no contact (feels tactical - ie make customer look bad)
Check meter fitted by SSE shows meter is accurate.

I have the following questions:
1. Am I being back billed - SSE did not read the meter then later realised our consumption was higher than charged, some of this is older than 12 months.
2. Do SSE have a responsibility to help determine cause of electiricty usage?
3. Should I go through the ombudsman - I spoke to them briefly and they said there was plenty to investigate.
4. Can I trust SSE? I don't have faith in SSE to deliver an accurate and fair conclusion to the process given my current dealings with them.

Its also worth saying, I'm not looking to get out of paying, I accept I've used electricity and I'm happy to pay for what I have used. my issues are that there is clearly a problem with my consumption and SSE have been late to identify it. They want to bill me for the whole amount without taking into account backbilling and non-beneficial use of electricity. I feel there must be a middle ground.
Any advice gratefully received.
Bests, D

JJ_Egan

Up to you to read the meter to keep on top of billing .
Did you not send in meter readings ??

Consumption thats down to you unless the fault is the meter .

nigelbb

theoriginalseabiscuit wrote: »

1. Am I being back billed - SSE did not read the meter then later realised our consumption was higher than charged, some of this is older than 12 months.

They cannot backbill more than twelve months. If they didn't send a bill then that's their problem especially as they didn't ask for a meter reading & didn't send anyone to read the meter. Ideally you would have recorded your meter readings (a photo on your smartphone helpfully date stamps it) but failing that you should agree a sum that is about half the amount that they are claiming for two years consumption.

It's unlikely that TV & lights could be racking up £300+ of electricity consumption per month. It's most likely that you have an immersion hater switched on or an electric heater somewhere. To track it down you need to switch off all appliances at the socket then check the meter. There is an outside chance that the meter is faulty but it's far more likely that you really are using that much electricity.

theoriginalseabiscuit

Thankyou Nigel - that's so helpful. I will do as you suggest.

Cheers

theoriginalseabiscuit

Hi Again, Nigel - I've just been thinking on what you were saying about the immersion - our non-vented cylinder is always on, I assumed this would regulate itself but it's conceivable that its just 'ON' all the time. I'll go througgh a process of elimination this eveing.


Also - SSE fitted a check meter which they say has determined my meter is accurate - so it would point to the draw coming from inside the house.

Thanks again - great help : )

nigelbb

theoriginalseabiscuit wrote: »

Hi Again, Nigel - I've just been thinking on what you were saying about the immersion - our non-vented cylinder is always on, I assumed this would regulate itself but it's conceivable that its just 'ON' all the time. I'll go througgh a process of elimination this eveing.

Usually the gas boiler heats the water & the electric immersion heater is just a backup.

Robin9

Going back in time in there a meter reading from when you started with SSE ?

Could you read the meter today please? What sort of meter is it - does it looks like a series of clocks going clockwise and anticlockwise or a cyclometer type or a modern digital ? All have their challenges to read - don't forget not to read anything after the decimal point.

theoriginalseabiscuit

Hi Robin,
Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I can't upload images as I am a new user (new users are prevented from posting to avoid spam).

I do have an early bill from SSE - I will have to find it tonight.

My meter is digital - here are some readings from SSE in case this gives you some insight.

Turned off Saturday 16 February 17:46pm

Meter A08X079764 read : 80512

Meter D16R13025 read : 03812



Meter remains switched off 18 February 12:33pm

Meter A08X079764 read : 80568

Meter D16R13025 read : 03868



Results

Meter A08X079764 used 56 units

Meter D16R13025 used 56 units



Check Meter - Previous usage from 9 January 2019 read : 1740 to 5 February 2019 read : 3231 which is 28 days usage was 1491 which is 53.25 units per day

Service Meter - Previous usage from 9 January 2019 read : 78449 to 5 February 2019 read : 79934 which is 28 days usage was 1485 which is 53.03 units per day (running slightly slow)

Again this would indicate no issue with the meter as the same usage has been recorded on both

Robin9

56 units in 2 days - winter time. About 10,000 units a year. Above average for a modern house. £1700 a year plus standing charge plus VAT.

You need to look where this energy is going.. electric showers, american style fridge/freezers .......... forget about lights, computers

Yellow_mango

Agreed that 50kwh a day seems very high. I’ve looked back at the last month and the most we’ve used in a day (household of 5, American fridge / freezer, dishwasher, electric shower, 2 teenagers on Xbox 24/7 etc) was 25 kWh. And that was a day I did 4 loads of laundry, all tumble dried.

The immersion heater is a good place to start. I’d start by switching off everything you can think of, then looking at the meter to see if it’s still moving. Then go on a mission to find anything else that might still be switched on until you can get to zero usage.

Good luck!

theoriginalseabiscuit

Thanks Guys, much appreciated - I'll get onto that tonight and report back.