Bulb and struggling to pay increased payments

Gerry1

earl123 said:

On every bill there should be an estimate of annual usage. 

They are often very inaccurate.  If you switch frequently your supplier may not even have a full year's usage, so the estimates can be way off.

It's far better to keep your own records, it's not difficult, and you will be aware of any events that may have caused fluctuations (e.g. holidays, remember them?).

3littlegems

niktheguru said:

3littlegems said:

Ok so here is what i hate about Bulb and a little update 
Before paying i checked my online account which stood at - £311.50
My recent statement states my account is -£ 448.05
And a recent email says i need to pay £503.06 to bring my account into credit
So i messaged the person i had been in contact with yesterday asking for confirmation on what to pay. He confirms that its £311.50 to clear the account not the £500 i had originally been told, that amount included a credit being on the account which should be there for this time of year, he said. But i wasnt required to pay it
Ive paid the £311.50 without making any more debt
I ask him going forward will the £132.23 cover my usage, yes he says.
Looking at my online account just now and the DD is for £132.23 but it states to cover my usage i should pay £159.60 and at a minimum i can pay £143.64. So he is wrong telling me that the above amount will cover my usage!
I also asked him to tell me what my full usage was from Jan 19 to Jan 20 and he replied with only sending me what i used for each January and not the entire year. So ive asked again.
Why is it so difficult for them to provide their customers with their confirmed annual usage??? Its not even available online just what your spending.
So Bulb are happy to keep me on £132.23 knowing full well this is absolutely not covering my usage. I of course will up the DD until such time i can change suppliers but im not prepared to jump ship until i know exactly what my usage actually is. 

It’s very simple to work out. 

Take your latest bill and note down the meter reading, then get a bill from exactly a year ago, note that meter reading, subtract one from the other and that’s your annual consumption. Given that you take and submit regular meter readings this should be very easy and totally accurate.

then take this figure, multiply it by your unit rate and that’s your annual consumption cost, add on the (standing charge x 365) and that will give you a value of the electricity you’ve used this year, divide that by 12 and that’s what your average monthly payments SHOULD be.

I know bulb should work all this out for you, but don’t expect or take that for granted, often whoever you speak to won’t know or won’t work it out, it’s better for you to have ownership of it,

Thank you, i shall take the time to have a look. I only have statements online back to Feb and they were estimated readings with a customer reading from the March

3littlegems

pearl123 said:

3littlegems said:

pearl123 said:

Why don't you request to know what your  annual usage has been via email. When request is put in writing it's likely to get a better response. 

See my last post, i have done and was given details comparing what i had used last January compared to this January. I asked as plain as day 'please can you provide me with my total usage from Jan 19 to Jan 20" So i have asked again and am awaiting the reply. Why would they be dodging my request at actually providing me with my usage??

Via email, instead of chat?

Yes via email

3littlegems

[Deleted User] said:

3littlegems said:

Deleted_User said:

Each and every Bulb bill shows your estimated annual consumption:

Yes i have those estimates which i have stated previously in this thread. They are not a true representation of what im actually using though are they?? Even though i send monthly readings why are they presenting it as an estimate. Im being told my DD of £132 is enough to cover my usage but in the same breath they are telling me to up my payments. See the details on my last post

You are seriously overthinking this in the hope that you can see a way out of your problem. The annual usage estimate is just that as no supplier has a crystal ball. It is based on past usage and some average forecasting assumptions. If we have a Winter which is colder than average (which our present one is), then the annual usage estimate is flawed. I suspect that most of us are looking at increased annual usage estimates going forward. Understandably, your supplier wants to ensure that the amount owed to it is reduced through an agreed repayment plan. 

Given that two energy suppliers went to the wall yesterday, customers cannot really expect a supplier that made a £121M loss in 2019 to provide its customers with interest free loans until things improve. 

Finally, if you do decide to switch suppliers then the old supplier will demand immediate repayment of the amount owed, and the new supplier will want the first DD to be paid in advance of supply. This might add to your short term cashflow problem.

Please, please, please - walk away from this forum and seek appropriate advice from someone trained to deal with the unfortunate situation that you find yourself in.

Oh my days have you read the thread at all?
I dont have a problem and i am not in an unfortunate situation !!!
The £311.50 that was actually owing has now been paid without incurring any further debt. My account balance is zero.
Didnt ask my supplier for an interest free loan either.
Please, please, please if your going to offer advice read the thread first

3littlegems

niktheguru said:

I think littlegem has been quite clear that she is not seeking debt management advice, so I don't think people should keep telling her to seek external help as it will only annoy. (It's already been clearly stated throughout the thread)

She has asked some clear questions in frustration about the mixed answers she is getting from bulb about what she owes and how much she should pay in the future. She already stated that she has found a way to pay the amount to cover what is owing. I can understand her frustration that she isn't getting a clear answer from bulb.

Littlegem, I go back to my previous post that it is very easy to accurately work out how much you have used in the last year and therefore easy to project how much you should be paying over the next year (assuming your bulb balance is now cleared and at zero, and assuming you'll use the same amount of energy over the next 12 months....obviously you may use more or u may use less and that will vary the amount slightly.)

Thank you niktheguru
The account balance is now zero. I`ll be honest and say im struggling to sort out my usage. I,( probably wrongly ) assumed that my estimated usage would go on the previous 12 months and seeing as that we all spent most of last year at home that would be quite high and therefore this years predicted usage and payments would reflect that. Clearly, my usage is high but the current DD of £132 isnt going to cover that so why are Bulb even offering it as a payment? It seems they are projecting a bog standard usage even though i have provided my usage for the previous year. It just feels sneaky to me and i wonder how many other people are caught out and end up owing higher than what we did. Personally i think Bulb entice with low payments and then up them as the months go on. I have always been up front, done my readings, passed over readings when we moved house (with bulb there to) but still they offer payments that wont cover usage.

3littlegems

pearl123 said:

On every bill there should be an estimate of annual usage. 

There is but it appears to be no where near what im using. That figure should be based on what ive previously used in the past 12 months should it not? 

Hasbeen

3littlegems said:

pearl123 said:

On every bill there should be an estimate of annual usage. 

There is but it appears to be no where near what im using. That figure should be based on what ive previously used in the past 12 months should it not? 

Yes that is an annual Estimate.

Which could be well out on actual.

If you can photo and post the Feb and March Bill's with personal info redacted and the current meter reading.

Someone will work out your yearly actual.

niktheguru

3littlegems said:

niktheguru said:

I think littlegem has been quite clear that she is not seeking debt management advice, so I don't think people should keep telling her to seek external help as it will only annoy. (It's already been clearly stated throughout the thread)

She has asked some clear questions in frustration about the mixed answers she is getting from bulb about what she owes and how much she should pay in the future. She already stated that she has found a way to pay the amount to cover what is owing. I can understand her frustration that she isn't getting a clear answer from bulb.

Littlegem, I go back to my previous post that it is very easy to accurately work out how much you have used in the last year and therefore easy to project how much you should be paying over the next year (assuming your bulb balance is now cleared and at zero, and assuming you'll use the same amount of energy over the next 12 months....obviously you may use more or u may use less and that will vary the amount slightly.)

Thank you niktheguru
The account balance is now zero. I`ll be honest and say im struggling to sort out my usage. I,( probably wrongly ) assumed that my estimated usage would go on the previous 12 months and seeing as that we all spent most of last year at home that would be quite high and therefore this years predicted usage and payments would reflect that. Clearly, my usage is high but the current DD of £132 isnt going to cover that so why are Bulb even offering it as a payment? It seems they are projecting a bog standard usage even though i have provided my usage for the previous year. It just feels sneaky to me and i wonder how many other people are caught out and end up owing higher than what we did. Personally i think Bulb entice with low payments and then up them as the months go on. I have always been up front, done my readings, passed over readings when we moved house (with bulb there to) but still they offer payments that wont cover usage.

You said your last bill with a reading you actually gave was in february right? So if you give us that reading, and take a reading from your meter today. Its roughly a year between these two readings, so you can get your annual consumptions from that. Even if its 11 months apart, you can divide it by 11 to get a monthly figure and add that to your 11 month total.

If you're struggling with the numbers, just put the 2 readings with the dates on here, and one of us will give you the annual consumptions.

Give us the unit rate and standing charge of your bulb tariff and we will work out the cost too. You don't have to struggle by yourself, these are straight forward sums we can help with if provided the details.

dunstonh

I'm with Bulb.  Their info is on each statement and easy to read.  However, estimates are unreliable and can cause arrears if left too long overstate what you are actually using.  Bulb routinely estimate incorrect on mine in respect of the year ahead.   However, I give them a monthly meter reading.

 It seems they are projecting a bog standard usage even though i have provided my usage for the previous year. It just feels sneaky to me and i wonder how many other people are caught out and end up owing higher than what we did

There is nothing sneaky going on.   The problem with estimates is they are just that. An estimate.    To avoid this, you should give a monthly meter reading to them.   You only pay for what you use then.

Personally, i think Bulb entice with low payments and then up them as the months go on.

They do no such thing.  They provide the amount to pay based on the information you supply them on your usage.  Garbage in, garbage out.   So, it's more likely you gave them duff info.  Usually people in similar situations have taken one month and multiplied it by 12 or 6 months multiple by 2 (or other variations) to give it a yearly figure and didn't take winter into account.   Or they used some calculator to estimate use and the estimate was way off the mark.  Or they just told them what they were paying with the old supplier but didnt state what they were using.  Or they move house and assume similar to the old house when systems are very different in the new house.

I have always been up front, done my readings, passed over readings when we moved house (with bulb there to) but still they offer payments that wont cover usage.

Forgive me if I am wrong but didnt you say earlier on the thread that the last meter reading was Feb 2020? (too many pages to look back now).  If so, that is not at all frequent enough.

Like others on the thread, your usage seems high.  I pay £170pm with Bulb and are classed as way above average.    We account for all ours due to some heavy use items that a typical house would not have.  So, either you have some heavy use items or something is wrong.    Are you leaving the immersion heater on for example?

alw1971

Maybe this isn't helpful, but we have a family of 4 and a D/D of £71. We don't have loads of money and while it's lockdown (no school, work etc) we don't get baths/showers every day. We don't even have the heating in using the thermostat. We put the heating on if/when needed. We wear enough clothes to stay warm. We are happy with this and the bills remain low. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made and to me I couldn't image spending/using £130+ a month? 
If unfortunately you cannot afford then don't use as much. You will find that the outstanding amount will reduce.
Sorry for being unhelpful.