Bulb and struggling to pay increased payments

3littlegems

niktheguru said:

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.

Thank you Niltheguru i will come back to you on this abit later when the house is quieter!!

Gerry1

alw1971 said:

Maybe this isn't helpful,
Sorry for being unhelpful.

Sadly it isn't helpful because we don't know whether it's a draughty mansion in Thurso or a snug sunny flat in Truro, whether you're all electric with panel heaters on a pre-payment meter, or using GCH on a cheap tariff.

alw1971

22 year old house in West Yorkshire on an Avro pay monthly Tarrif. 22 year old Baxi boiler.
My point really was 'if' there are savings to be made then it would be a massive help would it not. Sometimes money saving changes are not easy to make but it's better than sticking to the same routine and not saving anything?

3littlegems

alw1971 said:

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.

We are double of the size of your family and in a 4 bed house. We are 2 adults and 6 children. Husband showers daily as he has a manual job, older kids not always, depends what they`ve been doing. Younger ones showered when needed and they share. No heating on currently and is only put on when needed. £130 isnt excessive, our previous property was more due to old night storage heating, was marginally better when they were replaced though.
The outstanding amount has been paid
'If unfortunately you cannot afford then dont use as much' this statement bothers me and in all honesty its just a tad rude. The post was never about our consumption, cost or the money i owed.
I am well versed on cutting back when needs must. 

3littlegems

Gerry1 said:

alw1971 said:

Maybe this isn't helpful,
Sorry for being unhelpful.

Sadly it isn't helpful because we don't know whether it's a draughty mansion in Thurso or a snug sunny flat in Truro, whether you're all electric with panel heaters on a pre-payment meter, or using GCH on a cheap tariff.

4 bed semi detached in West Sussex, hubby would say poor cavity wall installation. Windows and roof probably need replacing but thats down to the HA. GCH but cooker and everything else is electric, standard meter on bulbs cheapest tariff (think they only do one?). Not overly draughty but not a sweat box either. 

3littlegems

dunstonh said:

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?

Firstly i dont like your tone, its not necessary. My statement is just my opinion about Bulb, which i am entitled to. If your with Bulb you'll know that they request your meter readings just before the DD goes out each month, so therefore i do pass on meter readings....thanks I did not give duff information to them at any point......again thanks My last meter reading was given on the 7th Jan 2021 so the next one is due shortly, apologies if i made a typo with the year. Our usage is high because we are a family of 8. Id say 6 kids are heavy use items, dishwasher on once a day, tablets and phones charging, washing machine on twice a day most days, oven on every day. I think last years lockdown has played a massive part in our increased consumption, everyone was in the house 24/7 the only difference this time is my husband is out of the house working. Immersion heater, i`ll be honest honest and say im not sure. We have a combi boiler and a dial on the wall in the hallway to increase or decrease the heating and thats it.

niktheguru

If you have a combi boiler it’s very unlikely you have an immersion heater as well, as your water is heated on demand when you turn the taps on. You would need some sort of boiler tank for an immersion heater, (more commonly with system or old style boiler setups)

3littlegems

3littlegems said:

niktheguru said:

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.

Thank you Niltheguru i will come back to you on this abit later when the house is quieter!!

Ok so the first reading i have for last year was March Gas 15102 and Electric 23637
Todays meter reading is Gas 16378 and Electric 28736
Electric - 608kwh@ 15.71p/kwh Standing charge 31 days @ 19.34 p/day
Gas -2491 kwh@ 2.80 p/kwh Standing charge 31 days @ 19.47 p/day

And just as an extra Decembers readings were Gas 15981, Electric 27704
Thank you for taking the time to do this.

3littlegems

niktheguru said:

If you have a combi boiler it’s very unlikely you have an immersion heater as well, as your water is heated on demand when you turn the taps on. You would need some sort of boiler tank for an immersion heater, (more commonly with system or old style boiler setups)

Yep definitely don`t have one, just doubled checked with the 18yr old! Its a combi boiler and only just over 2 years old

Gerry1

3littlegems said:

3littlegems said:

niktheguru said:

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.

Thank you Niltheguru i will come back to you on this abit later when the house is quieter!!

Ok so the first reading i have for last year was March Gas 15102 and Electric 23637
Todays meter reading is Gas 16378 and Electric 28736
Electric - 608kwh@ 15.71p/kwh Standing charge 31 days @ 19.34 p/day
Gas -2491 kwh@ 2.80 p/kwh Standing charge 31 days @ 19.47 p/day

You've seriously under calculated your usage over those 10 months, for both gas and electricity.  You've used 5099kWh electricity and 1276 cubic wotsits for gas (which you need to convert to kWh).