'Deemed tarrif'

Mel!_4

Hi all, just wondering if you can help me, we moved into our property back in December 2019, we set up with an energy company and they came round and fitted a smart meter, then I get this massive bill - last month - £980ish and the guy on the phone was terrible, he said they were about to send it to debt collectors so I paid it, but now just a month later they want another £380 so I tried to find out why, we're on something called a 'deemed tariff' which basically seems like a good way to rip off new customers!  Can they really get away with this?  They fitted a new smart meter, we gave good readings when we moved in it all seems very underhanded - can we do anything to recover this money?  Sorry if this has been talked about before I'm having a bit of a panic about all this money and wanted answers quickly.

MWT

All totally 'normal' and legal.

Everyone who takes control of a property with gas/electric supply is put onto a deemed tariff initially.

From there it is down to you to decide which tariff you wish to be on and if you even want to stay with that provider.

If you did not switch elsewhere and did not ask to be put on a different tariff then you would remain on the deemed tariff.

So I'd suggest you do something about that today...

MWT

... an additional point, just in case...

You did set up that first account with the current supplier at that address? ... you didn't just pick one without checking who was already supplying that address?

The bills are coming from the same company who you registered with and who arranged for the smart meters to be fitted?

Cardew

The 'deemed tariff' is with the company that were supplying the house when you moved in. Presumably you either knew the name of the company or there was a letter addressed to 'the occupier'.

Although you gave the meter readings to the company when you moved in, have you checked that they have used those meter readings for your first bill? You wouldn't be the first person to find yourself paying for the previous occupant's consumption.

The £380 bill for just a month, in mid-summer with presumably no heating, is worrying; have you checked meter readings? If you post details on this thread we can have a look.

Although the 'deemed tariff' is normally the most expensive tariff, it is generally 20%-30% more than the cheapest tariff available; so £380 less 30% or so is still far too much for a month in mid summer.

Robin9

Lets see what that £980 is made up of regardless of the tariff.  Is it gas and electric; what is your heating. £980 for 9 months may not be too bad -£100 a month. Who is the supplier. If gas check the meter  - it will  be m3 -  is that what is on the bill. |Does the bill actually have the new meter details on it.

What were the meter readings when you moved in and the ones on the meter that was removed |(there may be a sticker on the meter) ; the new Smart will be 00000.0  what is it now  - take care when reading and look for the decimal point, if it has a key pad then press 9

The summer £380 suggests a wrong reading 

Photo of the bill please - blank out the private info.

macman

The deemed tariff is Standard Variable-the default tariff.
You opened the account in December '19 but the first bill arrived in July?

MWT

Cardew said:

The £380 bill for just a month, in mid-summer with presumably no heating, is worrying; have you checked meter readings? If you post details on this thread we can have a look.

I suspect the bill will show that the £380 isn't just for one month as the £980 probably isn't up until last month as they wouldn't have been about to send it to the debt collectors if it was that current...

dogshome

Please

Name the supplier - it will help the regulars put it into a category of: "The Good, The Bad or The Ugly" ( There are very few Good )

Is this home Electric only, or does it also have Gas ?

The crew who changed the meter to a Smart version, should have left a card showing the reading on the old meter as it was removed and the reading on the new meter as it was installed, if it wasn't handed to you they would have left it in or by the meter cupboard - Do the readings on the first bill tally with those on the card ?

There is no certainty that a Smart meter is sending regular readings to the supplier, do any of the meter readings on the bills have an E against them ?  ( E denotes an Estimated reading which is more often wrong than right )

Please confirm that the supplier is the one who serviced the property before you moved in, or that you moved in and just chose a supplier at random