Massive increase in electricity bills out of nowhere

Talldave

riblem said:

There was a sticker but dated back to 2015 so I don’t think that’s much help.  No I don’t have the keys to the cupboard so he helps me check when I ask. 

Unacceptable.  You need access to your meter, end of. Ask for a meter cupboard key and withhold the next rent payment until its forthcoming. The mess you're in is partly due to not having access to the meter yourself.  You probably won't know this, but was the old meter a pointy dials one? If so it's highly likely it's been misread, but it could be impossible to prove because it's now buried in a landfill site. 

If your consumption really was 1200kWh (almost impossible in an electric-only flat) and it cost you £320, then you're being robbed.

Robin9

Agree with Talldave  - you appear to be paying about 18p a unit -   12 or 13p is quite possible.
A copy of that bill please. Just scan it and blank out the private info

What appear water heating - immersion ?  

_Jem_

Talldave said:

riblem said:

There was a sticker but dated back to 2015 so I don’t think that’s much help.  No I don’t have the keys to the cupboard so he helps me check when I ask. 

Unacceptable.  You need access to your meter, end of. Ask for a meter cupboard key and withhold the next rent payment until its forthcoming. The mess you're in is partly due to not having access to the meter yourself.  You probably won't know this, but was the old meter a pointy dials one? If so it's highly likely it's been misread, but it could be impossible to prove because it's now buried in a landfill site. 

If your consumption really was 1200kWh (almost impossible in an electric-only flat) and it cost you £320, then you're being robbed.

It's not a good idea to withhold your rent even if you are having problems, make sure you have copy of letters that you are sending your landlord for the key to the cupboard but never withhold rent as it goes against you and you end up the one i  trouble. 

[Deleted User]

riblem said:

  I currently have 2 storage heaters in the apartment I only use 1 of them around 2 months of usage for 4 hours a day, I also have underfloor heating which is not used.

Hi,

are you sure they are storage heaters?

Storage heaters are meant to charge up overnight, so how do you only use them 4 hours a day?

macman

Something very wrong here. The flat (we are told) has night storage heaters, but the OP is on a single rate tariff, as they have only given us one meter reading? But then the LL has installed u/f heating, which, if it were in use, would be crippingly expensive to run on an E7 meter. OP needs to post pics of the alleged NSH's.
As already stated, OP needs to get urgent access to check the metering.
I'd agree that 1200kWh pa is unfeasibly low, even with minimal use of the heating, unless the OP also doesn't use any hot water in the property.

riblem

Hi guys I will include my previous bill from coop energy from my first year of tenancy.  With the storage heater I would turn on the heater for 4 hours with the switch on top of the heather and just switch it off when I'm done as well as switch it off from the socket.  The landlord has installed underfloor heating but this has never been turned on for the time I have been living here.  I have been told by octopus that it is a smart meter but don't know if its an E7 meter.  

riblem

riblem

This is the heater, just to confirm is it a storage heater?

A_Lert

Six thousand six hundred pounds is blatantly an error, and any competent person at the supplier would understand that. Co-op have messed up the meter readings somehow; the readings dated 23rd Nov is clearly not in line with the other readings, and the estimates are obvious nonsense too.

bsms1147

The meter number didn’t change - was the physical meter actually changed? Looks like it didn’t start at zero so that’s another reason why I ask. It looks like it started sending monthly smart meter readings, so something must have changed.

If the physical meter didn’t change, when was the last actual meter reading before the smart readings (which we assume are accurate)? Can only see Estimates, so it is possible that you are catching up with several years or underpayments.

If the meter did change, and the new smart meter didn’t start at zero, the issue is that the estimated readings of the old meter were carried over (incorrectly) to the new meter so there’s a large billing error.