Please help.... SSE bill is £880 for electricity usage in one bed apartment!!

sumosucker

I moved into my one bedroom flat mid September and gave the company a meter reading straight away. Since then I have been paying £46.00 a month - as this is what I was told would be the predicted monthly usage.

However, I did not give another meter reading until mid February this year, after I received an email from them requesting one.
Being a first time buyer, I hope you can sympathise that I did not realise I was supposed to give more regular meter readings - this was never explained to me.

I checked my account 2 days later and I am met with a bill of £887.24. I had absolutely no warning of this.

I called SSE and they confirmed that this bill was correct and that I would have to set up a 4 year payment plan to pay them back. I am told that I have been using around £250.00 a month in electricity - which is absolutely absurd. I live alone and I am out for the majority of the day as I work full time, 6 days per week.
I have been told that this situation is because of the meter - a ‘Superdeal Meter’, designed for properties with storage heaters so that all heating is done on a lower rate storage tariff. However, I have standard electric radiators and an immersion hot water tank, both of which were there before I moved in.

I do not understand how SSE can justify charging me this huge amount of money when I had an incorrect meter installed before my arrival, that is not fit for purpose and I was absolutely none the wiser.
I am having the meter changed to an economy 10 this week, so going forward I hope that it will be cheaper. 

However I hope you can sympathise that I am still left with an enormous bill that I simply cannot justify paying, let alone afford it!

Neil_Jones

Well this is what happens when you don't give regular meter readings, you get a whopping great bill the next time a meter reading is given.  Unfortunately its not SSE's problem that you have the "wrong" meter.  It may have been right when it was installed but sounds like it is now unsuitable.

If you are all electric then unfortunately this is always going to be insanely expensive, see the other thread in the forum.  Economy 10 probably won't help as with these sort of tariffs you need to move as much of your electricity usage to the off peak period as you can, and with Ecconomy 10 that will be spread out throughout the day.  With Economy 7 it would be a continuous 7hr block from anywhere from 11pm onwards.  Unfortunately the rest of the time on Economy 7 you will pay a premium for usage.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Sumosucker,

You in Scotland ?

victor2

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have found out the hard way that you were on an unsuitable tariff for your flat. You have used the electricity and will have to pay for it, despite being on a very expensive rate. Who told you £46 a month was enough to cover your predicted usage, or who predicted the usage? For an all electric property, even a small flat, that is pretty unrealistic.

From what you say, I am not convinced Economy 10 will be the best tariff for you. You don't have storage heaters and will be using quite a lot of electricity at the peak rate. E10 is better than E7, but a single rate tariff may be more suitable. Ask SSE to explain why they have suggested E10 for your circumstances, assuming they did.

You have my sympathy, but it has been an expensive learning experience, and I doubt your supplier will do much more than offer you a slightly less painful way of covering the debt. You will find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to another supplier unless you can clear the current debit balance first.

RelievedSheff

Two expensive lessons to learn there.
Number one always give regular meter readings to avoid large surprise Bill's. And two electric heating and water heating is the most expensive way to heat your home and water.

As an example our electric is charged at just under 14p per kWH whereas our gas is charged at 2.33p per kWh. Can you see where your extra spend is now?

If you have your immersion heater switched on 24/7 that will eat through a lot of electricity. Only switch it on when you need it.

sumosucker

Richie-from-the-Boro said:

Sumosucker,

You in Scotland ?

Nope, near London...

sumosucker

victor2 said:

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have found out the hard way that you were on an unsuitable tariff for your flat. You have used the electricity and will have to pay for it, despite being on a very expensive rate. Who told you £46 a month was enough to cover your predicted usage, or who predicted the usage? For an all electric property, even a small flat, that is pretty unrealistic.

From what you say, I am not convinced Economy 10 will be the best tariff for you. You don't have storage heaters and will be using quite a lot of electricity at the peak rate. E10 is better than E7, but a single rate tariff may be more suitable. Ask SSE to explain why they have suggested E10 for your circumstances, assuming they did.

You have my sympathy, but it has been an expensive learning experience, and I doubt your supplier will do much more than offer you a slightly less painful way of covering the debt. You will find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to another supplier unless you can clear the current debit balance first.

It was SSE who initially told me £46 was the right amount for my situation and I did ask if I needed my meter changed or updated at the very beginning and the guy told me there was no need... very frustrating.

It was there designated electric heating team who recommended the economy 10, hence why that's being installed tomorrow. They also said I would be able to go to a single rate tariff using the E10 if I wanted to and it means I can swap provider if I want now, which I couldn't with the super deal meter. I hope it works out!

sumosucker

RelievedSheff said:

Two expensive lessons to learn there.
Number one always give regular meter readings to avoid large surprise Bill's. And two electric heating and water heating is the most expensive way to heat your home and water.

As an example our electric is charged at just under 14p per kWH whereas our gas is charged at 2.33p per kWh. Can you see where your extra spend is now?

If you have your immersion heater switched on 24/7 that will eat through a lot of electricity. Only switch it on when you need it.

Very expensive lessons indeed! Never realised electricity could be so expensive, especially in a flat!

I am going to have to set my immersion heater to only come on during the off peak times when the E10 is installed, hopefully that should help

Thanks

Neil_Jones

SSE would have only told you £46 a month based on what you told them.  if this is your first ever home away from living with your parents then your guess would have been as good as mine as to how much you'll use.

Moral of the story here is:  If at all possible try and avoid electric only properties, they cost a fortune and then some more.

victor2

sumosucker said:

victor2 said:

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have found out the hard way that you were on an unsuitable tariff for your flat. You have used the electricity and will have to pay for it, despite being on a very expensive rate. Who told you £46 a month was enough to cover your predicted usage, or who predicted the usage? For an all electric property, even a small flat, that is pretty unrealistic.

From what you say, I am not convinced Economy 10 will be the best tariff for you. You don't have storage heaters and will be using quite a lot of electricity at the peak rate. E10 is better than E7, but a single rate tariff may be more suitable. Ask SSE to explain why they have suggested E10 for your circumstances, assuming they did.

You have my sympathy, but it has been an expensive learning experience, and I doubt your supplier will do much more than offer you a slightly less painful way of covering the debt. You will find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to another supplier unless you can clear the current debit balance first.

It was SSE who initially told me £46 was the right amount for my situation and I did ask if I needed my meter changed or updated at the very beginning and the guy told me there was no need... very frustrating.

It was there designated electric heating team who recommended the economy 10, hence why that's being installed tomorrow. They also said I would be able to go to a single rate tariff using the E10 if I wanted to and it means I can swap provider if I want now, which I couldn't with the super deal meter. I hope it works out!

You could try telling SSE customer services that they recommended the initial monthly amount, but I wouldn't hold out any hope for acknowledgement from them that they told you wrong, at a cost to you, especially as you didn't provide regular meter readings. At least you can switch from E10 to a single rate tariff, if the E10 doesn't work out for you either.

Once the new meter is installed, monitor it carefully - take daily readings for a few weeks to see what your usage pattern is. See what percentage of peak electricity you are using. Make sure your immersion heater is timed to come on only during the cheaper rate times.

Find out what their single rate tariff is and compare your usage on the E10 tariff and the single rate tariff, to see which would work out best. It is winter when you stand most chance of benefitting from E10. In the summer, you will only be heating water anyway on E10.

Richie-from-the-Boro

SSE have not one idea what's in your home. They've never been in it have they. E10=10 hours, E7=7 hours they've simply put you on their most expensive tariff. Whether it suits you they won't care about. They only care about their own profits. E10 is the very most expensive electric heating tariff in these islands. It's an exotic tariff particular to exotic heating systems supported and usually found in Scotland. SSE is SP.

Gerry pointed you to a cheap rate electric tariff