Empty House

moneydadldn

Hello there, 

I wonder is this normal under the current energy situation?

My late father's house is empty, only a few plugs on timers and the gas heating kicks in once a day for an hour. 

He was/is with Shell Energy who are charging £220pm on a Flexible October 21 Tariff (apparently they can't do any cheaper).

Unless there's an electrical leak somewhere I can't understand why this is so high. I'm submitting monthly meter readings at the moment as his account was a little jumbled previously. 

Has anyone had any similar experience? 

Thanks

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

You seem to be confusing the DDs with the bills.  They are not the same.

Do the sums based on actual meter readings; are the bills accurate?  If so, ask Shell to make the DDs realistic.

Better still, switch to Variable Direct debit and that will fix the problem once and for all.

jimjames

If you're taking monthly readings what do they show for consumption? Presumably very little if nothing is on at the house? Or is the DD catching up from previous underpayments? If you haven't switched bulbs that are on over to LED then that might be worth doing to keep use even lower

penners324

Stop the direct debit and just pay the bills when they arrive by bank transfer. After reading the bill to ensure it matches the readings.

MattMattMattUK

penners324 said:

Stop the direct debit and just pay the bills when they arrive by bank transfer. After reading the bill to ensure it matches the readings.

That may result in an increased cost due to DD tariffs being cheaper. It would be advisable to find out what the actual situation is first rather than acting rashly and shooting oneself in the foot. 

penners324

MattMattMattUK said:

penners324 said:

Stop the direct debit and just pay the bills when they arrive by bank transfer. After reading the bill to ensure it matches the readings.

That may result in an increased cost due to DD tariffs being cheaper. It would be advisable to find out what the actual situation is first rather than acting rashly and shooting oneself in the foot. 

That'll depend on how long the house will be empty for.

If it's being sold and has been massively overpaid it'll be a nightmare getting money back.

QrizB

Until the OP gets back with some facts and figures, we''ll never know ...

moneydadldn

The account was massively in the wrong due to my elderly father putting the gas readings in the space for electric. 

So it was in £400+ credit

It's been rectified over the past 3 months with regular readings on the 1st as asked for by Shell. 

Usage wise: 

Elec: 480 kWh / Gas: 2239 KWh — Are these figures high? It seems so to me, there is a fridge on and the heating once a day. Unless it's the immersion heater that's on 24-7. 

The house is a fair distance away, I'll get to it this coming week to check. 

moneydadldn

The bereavement team have been decent, nothing will be due until the house sale. But still wary of high prices and racking up bills.

moneydadldn

"Elec: 480 kWh / Gas: 2239 KWh — Are these figures high?" — These are for 'This Period' whatever the hell that is.

Gerry1

moneydadldn said:

"Elec: 480 kWh / Gas: 2239 KWh — Are these figures high?" — These are for 'This Period' whatever the hell that is.

The period will be shown somewhere on the bill.  What's important is whether meter readings are estimated or actual.  Have a look at any letters next to the readings, e.g. Customer, Actual, Estimated.