£1000 bill from Avro didnt expect

Strawberry26

Hi just wondering if anyone could advise. I just changed supplier from Avro and have had my final statement of over £1000 which I'm in absolute shock.

When I looked at the statements they were all estimated amounts used. The issue is I have submitted meter readings throughout the year, but not every month, so am in complete shock.

Can anyone advise where I stand on this. Is there any room for me to get them to reduce the bill because of their mess up with the meter readings obviously I'd have had an inkling that I was spending more than my agreed monthly direct debit and would not have had a huge amount to find. 

Any help and advice would be helpful. I'm feeling sick at the thought of trying to find this money to pay this. 

poppellerant

Contact Avro and let them know that they have used estimated readings, despite your continued submission of readings during the year.  It's probably just a simple mistake that can be quickly fixed.

Neil_Jones

Did you give a meter reading to the new supplier when they asked for it?  If not, it will be estimated.

Find some old bills out and look at the last time an actual meter reading was used for a bill.  Or post the bills here as atttachments, remembering to scrub out personal information like name, address etc.

This sort of situation almost always occurs because you were not paying enough on the direct debit in the first place, and/or haven't read the meter for a long while.  How often is "throughout the year"?

Strawberry26

Hi thanks all. I submitted readings about 6 times throughout the year. 
I checked all the statements and they are all estimated despite submitting the readings. 
I plan to contact them but just cant afford to pay that bill. Do you think I have a leg to stand on with them reducing it because of their mistake? 

Reed_Richards

No.  But I think you have a strong case for getting them to let you pay-off the outstanding amount a little at a time. 

lohr500

If your final statement was based on actual readings, then that's what you have used and what you have been charged for. If this is the case, then I don't think you have any grounds to dispute the final bill with them. If your actuals throughout the year were differing from the estimates them this should have been an early warning sign that you were under paying.

Strawberry26

Yes lohr500 I agree but as the submitted readings weren't used I would have known I was using more. 
Anyway I will try to sort a monthly payment. Thanks 

Gerry1

Make sure the closing read for Avro and the opening read for the new supplier are the same.  Thanks to The Mysterious Third Party the reading may not be the one you gave to the new supplier, but the important thing is that they both are the same.

It might be worth sending a formal complaint to Avro stating that their failure to use your readings meant that you didn't reduce your usage as you would have done.  You'll still have to pay for what you've used, but you should ask for a Payment Plan to make things easier, and with luck you might even get £50 as goodwill or compo.

Strawberry26

Thanks Gerry1 I will give it a go and see if they are reasonable! 

Gerry1

Good luck.  Don't forget to come back and tell us how you fared !

welshmoneylover

How much was you paying each month?
did you not check your estimated bills against your actual meter readings at the time to ensure you were paying enough?
You may have to agree a payment plan with avro to pay it back over a period of time