Gas bill

Agi_

Hi,

Just need a bit of advice, I have currently moved into a flat (rented) and just received the first gas bill (energy provider is Spark) for over £500 for just 1 month? Safe to say I have spoken with one of the Spark's customer assistants but the bill and gas reading seems to be accurate? Now, we have central heating but we haven't used it and gas cooker, which is obviously used once a day in the evening. Apart from that we have combi boiler that is constantly on but only for the hot water which, again, we use in moderate amount (morning/evening). Any clue why the bill is so high?! Or what we could do to lower it? They are sending us a form to fill the gas reading hourly as now it's seen as a dispute so they are trying to help but it is still very stressful as we are onto month two of living here and I really don't want another crazy bill that we might ending up paying if it's correct?

ChrisK....._3

If check you are not being billed for any conjoining flats

Gerry1

Did you give them a meter reading when you moved in? You might be paying for a year's worth used by the previous tenant.

Is the number on the meter the same as on the bill and is the reading estimated, from yourself, from a meter reader or a smart meter?

Are you on a demed tariff? That will be very expensive. Put the boiler on a timer.

Don't just think £, think accurate readings in cubic feet or cubic metres converted to kWh and then do the sums. You need to deal in hard facts, not emotions.

Agi_

Hi,

Yes we did give them a meter reading when we moved in and then been updating them weekly for couple of weeks as they asked for it and now that it's still high they want us to check it daily.

We update our readings online every fortnight so the bill is accurate rather than estimated.

We have changed the tariff recently so it was actually even worse before that.

I think the accurate reading converted to kWh is actually the issue so thanks for that suggestion! We spoke to one of the neighbours earlier (she used to live in the same flat as we do now) and said that they did indeed have same issue with super high bills and it was down to converting the reading and she swapped suppliers as Spark was unable to provide accurate readings and didn't have an issue since.

[Deleted User]

Hi,


so what is the actual start reading and final reading on the bill, unit price, standing charge and how many days?

Robin9

Could you post the readings you used please ? It should look like 012345.67 you ignore the figures after the decimal point but include the leading zero (s)

Gerry1

You are not alone ! Spark had a dreadful reputation before it went bust. :eek:
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/other-energy-companies-reviews/spark-energy

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/best-and-worst-energy-companies/which-energy-survey-results

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/11416590/Spark-Energy-fined-after-blocking-29000-customer-requests-to-quit.html

https://selectra.co.uk/energy/providers/spark-energy

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/spark-energy-worst-energy-firms-11656072

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2332581/Spark-Energy-faces-billing-probe-flood-complaints.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_Energy#Issues

It remains to be seen whether it improves now that Ovo have taken it over.

Agi_

So the start reading was 0058991 on the 16th of June, according to paperwork from the letting agency and we moved in on the 2nd of July, so I know it was 100% our fault for not checking ourselves straight after moving in ... and then 0060192 on the 2nd of August (that's when we've been told that it was way too high and asked to submit a reading in a week's time), which currently today was 0060447. Hope that makes sense!...we are now asked to check meter readings everyday for the next two weeks as they still reckon it's too high.

In terms of unit price it is 4.12p and standing charge is 26.51p.

I'm not able to tell you the exact amount we had on the bill as it was online and was just above £500 for July itself but they cancelled it until the case is resolved and I'm unable to see it.

Gerry1

Switch the gas supply off and instead use the immersion heater and microwave oven for a few days !

Have you checked that it's not a case of actually having a metric meter but Spark are doing their sums assuming it's imperial?

In any case, those rates are incredibly high: I'm paying 2.72475 p/kWh and standing charge 32.56785 p/day inc VAT. Your letting agent must be laughing all the way to the bank ! Find a better deal from Citizens Advice.

Agi_

Yeah, so I think that's the issue and something we haven't considered before. As someone mentioned earlier the gas meter is in M³ rather than kWh?

Yes we are looking at switching just rather resolve that before we do so we don't end up with an insane bill that we have to pay.

Gerry1

The meter is never kWh, it's always cubic feet (but shown as hundreds) or cubic metres. Have a look, it will be marked on the meter.

The usage figure will be nearly three times as much if you have a metric meter but they think it's imperial.

Is the meter in your flat, or could it be someone else's?