Bulb demanding a huge one off payment of £500 and want to increase my DD by more than 50%

4littleone

Is anyone else having problems with Bulb since they announced administration?
I received multiple calls on Monday and Tuesday from Bulb claiming they were responding to my "support" request and telling me I have to agree to a huge hike in my D/D. We live in a 4 bed with three adults full time and one adult 2-3 nights per week. Showers not baths, we're all out of the house during the day and heating / hot water is set to 19.5 degrees on a timer for a couple of hours in the morning and 3 hours at night.

We had a smart meter installed in May, as soon as it was installed we questioned if it was correct as from our previous meter readings supplied to them we were always overpaying each month to build a credit for the winter,my D/D is currently £90, as soon as the smart meter was installed our usage went up from around £70 - £80 per month (all taken from regular meter readings)to over £130 per month. We went in to winter with a credit balance of almost £200, at the start of October I was sent a bill for £162, so a hike of £30 which I'd put down to rising energy prices. I've been sent an email today by Bulb stating that my D/D has been adjusted to £270 per month and I have to make an immediate payment of almost £500!!
More calls today demanding this £500 payment, the calls are definitely from Bulb so it's not a random scam. Surely this isn't right??

MWT

Using monetary amounts is just going to confuse things as prices change.

Look at the amount of energy you are using and work out your monthly cost on the basis of the current tariff, then see how that compares to the DD they are asking for...

Do also consider that we are barely into winter now and the weather has been mild so far, so your use will increase.

Similarly look at your account and see if you owe them money right now, if so how much and how does that compare to the £500 they are asking for...

Gerry1

Think in kWh not ££ so that you can make meaningful comparisons.  Also remember that your DD is not your bill: if you've been using more energy than expected then your DD will increase to reflect your higher usage.

Normally your DD would also increase a bit more to claw back the arrears, but it seems that Bulb may be a bit desperate / impatient right now, so they've asked for  lump sum instead.

Take weekly meter readings from the meter(s) on the wall and check how your consumption relates to your estimated annual consumption.  Are you using gas?

4littleone

I don't owe them money right now, we are in credit by £18 ish.

The DD they are asking for is over double our actual usage cost. We have a smart meter and I've been tracking our actual usage against their current prices.

The smart meter is one issue - our usage didn't change when it was installed but the difference they were charging us for our actual usage was huge.

The other issue is the demand for over £770 immediately and an ongoing £270 a month. That's absolutely not right looking at our usage even if we take in to account rising demand through the winter.

emmajones1976

I think you need to post your bills, redacting any personal info.

4littleone

Yes, if I look at kWh and then convert to ££ for the tariff we're on the amount being demanded absolutely does not compute.

MWT

4littleone said:

I don't owe them money right now, we are in credit by £18 ish.

That is at least part of your problem, Bulb expect customers to pay a month in advance, so the balance in your account should never be less than the predicted cost of the next months bill, so they are right in asking you to make an additional payment now to correct that problem, but the answer is probably not '£500'.

When is your next bill due and when is your next DD going to go out?

TheMilkmansDad

from what I can gather - the issues you have started around when you got the Smart meter?

So, pre Smart meter, were your bills accurate based on Actual meter readings - was the final meter reading correct?

In regards to the Smart meter - was the opening reading correct on your bill and have all subsequent bills been provided with actual readings that reflect what is showing on your Smart meter?

Also, at any point during this time frame - has your tariff changed? That could be a big influencer on increase cost of usage.

4littleone

Next bill is due around 20th Dec and DD goes out on the 23rd Dec.

Have just checked and the account is now showing £47 in debit. I've got no issue adjusting a DD and clearing a current debit balance, I would have expected that with the price rises, but £270 a month is almost £100 per month over their current annual prediction for our use and bill on the vari-fair tariff.
Having been in the account this morning, they are now predicting a monthly cost of £180 per month which has gone up from approx £145 per month last month.

Our usual direct debit would have covered the annual cost over time in the usual way, ie we end up in credit through the summer and gradually lose that credit through the winter.
So, if I now increase the monthly DD to £180 and pay the £47 that should tie in with what will cover the annual cost. But when I pointed that out on the phone to them the agent kept repeating that I have to make this huge payment now or they will take further action. 

MWT

4littleone said:

So, if I now increase the monthly DD to £180 and pay the £47 that should tie in with what will cover the annual cost. But when I pointed that out on the phone to them the agent kept repeating that I have to make this huge payment now or they will take further action. 

The agent is right though, that doesn't really cover it.

If £180 is the correct amount and you are already £47 in debt then you need a payment of £227 now to put your account where it should be, and your next DD should be raised to £180 and moved to come out on or before the 20th, if that is when your bill typically get produced.

I would suggest that to the agent as that would meet their requirement to pay a month in advance.

4littleone

TheMilkmansDad said:

from what I can gather - the issues you have started around when you got the Smart meter?

So, pre Smart meter, were your bills accurate based on Actual meter readings - was the final meter reading correct?

In regards to the Smart meter - was the opening reading correct on your bill and have all subsequent bills been provided with actual readings that reflect what is showing on your Smart meter?

Also, at any point during this time frame - has your tariff changed? That could be a big influencer on increase cost of usage.

 Yes, so pre-smart meter the bills were actual meter readings given monthly and not estimated readings. The final meter reading was correct. 
We have queried the accuracy of the meter installed several times as there was such a big immediate jump in usage according to the meter but we were all back to being out of the house for most of each day after lockdown etc.

The smart meter often loses connection and resets itself, we have raised a query re the unit and it can switch itself off for a couple of days sometimes.
Our tariff is the same as it has always been with Bulb.

I have asked for an accuracy check or failing that a replacement unit several times but keep being told "we don't do that".