EDF say that I owe £4000 for 19 months

Nicolleistired

Hi everyone.

I'm an EDF customer and up until recently all of my bills were estimated because I can't get to my meter and they didn't send anyone out to read it (they say they did, but I never heard a knock on the door or had anything through).

They recently remotely activated my meter which is apparently a first gen smart meter and now they're saying that I owe them £4305.22 over a 19th month period of estimated bills as they apparently under charged me.

We have never missed a payment and always paid them on time in full. The most our smart meter ever shows us using in a month is £58. To use the amount they've said then we'd have had to use close to £200 per month, but we're a small residential home of only 2 adults and we've always been good about turning things off at night etc.

I've done some calculations and in all fairness there is a roughly £500 discrepency in their favour based on our previous bills and our average usage since the smart meter was turned on. I would be fine with paying that. But I find it really hard to believe that this bill is accurate when it's so starkly opposed to the actual smart meter readings.

Please help, I don't have £4000.

Robin9

Have you now been able to get to your meter ?  You MUST

Read that meter now  - yourself - not your LL , caretaker. 

What is the reading you gave EDF when you became their customer.

Is your heating electricity - if so what form - storage rads/ underfloor/ panel/ wet radiator ?

Robin9

I am presuming that 19 months ago you joined Edf and took out a 12 month fix.  

That would have expired - did you take up a new tariff offer ?  or drift into a standard (ie expensive) tariff.

Other possibilities :- 

Wrong meter being read
Night time / day time being read the wrong way round
You are also supplying another part of the building.

You say "never missed a payment" - presume you mean DD.  That's only a contribution to the kitty - use more pay more, use less pay less.  What info did you give Edf to assess the DD.

Gerry1

Insist on reading the meter yourself at least once per month, no ifs, no buts.  Also do a meter sanity check as follows to make sure it really is your meter and isn't supplying someone else.

Make sure the meter serial number on the bill matches the one on the meter.  Close down and unplug all computers and sensitive equipment and then switch off all the circuits at the consumer unit, ending with the main switch.   Look at the red light on the meter on the wall marked '1000 Imp/kWh' or similar and make sure it never flashes once.  Then switch on all the high power appliances (kettle, tumble dryer, hotplate, oven etc) and make sure the light is flashing rapidly.

Finally, switch off everything except one high power item of known rating (e.g. a kettle) and count the number of flashes (impulses).  If the light says '1000 Imp/kWh' then a 3kW kettle should make it flash about 50 times per minute.   Not an exact test because the kettle's rating may be approximate and the power it draws will depend on the local voltage, but near enough.

Nicolleistired

It's on the ceiling and I'm disabled but I may be able to ask a favour of someone with a large ladder, thanks for the advice.

I'm not sure what the reading was initially - my roommate of the time moved in before me and sorted that out. This is my first time living alone so I'm still not sure what I'm doing with some things and unfortunately didn't keep a record of readings like I should have.

Our heating is purely gas. Our smart meter readings say we use at least £42 a month, at most £58. We'd have had to use over £200 a month for there to be a £4000+ discrepency and I don't see how our usage could have changed so much on paper when it hasn't in reality.

Gerry1

Make sure the immersion heaters(s) are switched off. Electricity is four or five times the price of gas.

Nicolleistired

We took up the cheapest tariff when prompted that our old one had expired - an online only tariff. We live in a semi-detatched rented house so I don't think we're supplying anywhere else? 

EDF went solely off estimated bills until the smart meter was activated - which I'll happily admit that I owe them money from that, around £500 based off our average usage with the smart meter so far. I just don't understand where this £4000 figure has come from. That's after all of our payments as well. I don't see how we physically could use that amount in 19 months.

Thanks for the info Gerryl. I really appreciate it.

m0bov

Sounds like you do owe the money but its only now showing up as the meters not been read. You can request meter reads and chase them if it does'nt happen. Simply leaving it only leads to arrears.

You could ask for a payment.

Nicolleistired

I do owe them money, but I don't understand how anyone could think that a normal small household could use over £200 a month of electricity when our energy insights clearly show we're using at most £58. I don't dispute that there is a debt, just that it could feasibly be that high.

Gerry1

Sorry, I'd assumed the meter was in a locked cupboard or meter room.  There are often cases where meters serving flats have been mixed up.

You might be able to do the sanity test using a mobile phone on a selfie stick (or broom handle) to take a video.  Probably not so easy to take readings if buttons have to be pushed, but might be worth going on EDF's Priority Services Register if you're not already on it.

If all else fails, ask for a Payment Plan.

Robin9

The first move is to contact a friend and get that meter read and the details checked.

On the meter will be a sticker giving details of when it was changed - another possibility is that the meter records have not been updated.

Does your In House Display give the meter readings ?

Are the gas bills all OK ?