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

MWT

4littleone said:

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.

Your tariff name may not have changed, but the tariff rate will have been going up during this year.

Also, don't confuse the 'In-Home Device' (IHD) with the smart meter.

The IHD display you have somewhere in the house just displays what the smart meter sends to it, but depending on where it is in relation to the meter it can drop connection quite often, but that will have no impact on the accuracy of the actual meter reading.

4littleone

Yes I know the tariff rate has gone up, and even tracking that the sudden huge demand doesn't add up.

We were told the smart meter itself was losing connection / signal / magic beans, I know the IHD is just display. I literally have no idea where to go with this. I've had another email now stating that we're £137 in debit and need to pay £256 per month plus an immediate £452.

MWT

Those numbers are all over the place aren't they.

Do your bills online show actual readings from the smart meter or are they estimates?

Would be good to work out you real use over the past few months, perhaps you already have that?

Also take a look at the kWh/standing charges used on the last few bills and compare to the current tariff rate just to get a sanity check on just how much the prices have gone up recently.

EssexHebridean

Bulb do, in fairness, have form for inflating people's use seemingly just in order to claw in some extra cash - it's the reason we left them. Our position was broadly similar in that they suddenly decided that we need to massively increase our DD - the amount they were asking for far outstripped their own projections of our use over the upcoming year. On challenging it even their CS agent had to agree that they were asking too much, but was unable to over-rule what the computer was demanding. 

Out of interest OP when was your smart meter installed? 

4littleone

So, looking at my account, they are asking me to send meter readings, but I can't because we have a smart meter so the account page won't let me add actual readings because in theory this isn't needed. So I'm guessing it could be possible there is an error somewhere between meter readings and actual usage?
BUT.... the figures they are quoting still don't make any sense when I look at the actual usage they are quoting. In other words, if I pay the new DD figure they are demanding of £256 they are asking me to pay far more than I would use even without paying the huge lump sum of £452.

Have done a sanity check as you suggested, it really doesn't add up. I was expecting to up the DD and was waiting for Novembers bill to work out a sensible figure based on the new prices. Their demands aren't matching the new prices, I kind of feel they're in a pickle and are trying to maximise cash from their existing customers.

Smart meter was installed in May but we have had queries since day 1.

4littleone

I've paid the debit balance that is showing on my account of £47 now and have upped my DD to £180 per month as per their estimated use guide so I'll see what happens next I guess.
Neighbour is also with Bulb, I checked in with them this morning and they have had the same issue with a sudden lump sum demand over the last day or so.

MWT

4littleone said:

So, looking at my account, they are asking me to send meter readings, but I can't because we have a smart meter so the account page won't let me add actual readings because in theory this isn't needed. So I'm guessing it could be possible there is an error somewhere between meter readings and actual usage?

That is the place to start.

What was the meter reading they used for your most recent bill, and what is the current actual reading?

Ectophile

Meters that over read are very rare, but it does happen. If you insist (and it may need a formal complaint), then they must fit a check meter to compare with the current one. If your meter turns out to be correct, then you'll be billed for the cost of the check. So think carefully before insisting.

It's always possible that your old meter was under reading.