my bill

emma1808

i pay 116.00 direct debit to green energy every month, i have just got this months bill and i will not be able to pay this £504 im a single parent with 2 children one with SEN and disabilities i am struggling as it is but now this huge bill that i can not pay is really knocked me for six, i am entitled to warm discount but my energy provider does not except it i do not have access to a meter reading, i dont know why i'm posting this nothing is going to change every month im going to get deeper and deeper into debt that i cant cope with

Mstty

Hi Emma, take a deep breath. 

Energy prices have gone up a lot but we are finding on the forum that energy companies are sometimes getting people to sign up to expensive fixed rates which means their Direct Debits are unaffordable.

If you can get some details together there are plenty of people here that can help

Your kWh usage for the last year for gas and electricity or just electricity if that is all you have.

The amount you are being charge per kWh for each gas and elec

The name of the plan your energy company have you on and when that plan started/will end

pochase

Hi Emma,

Green Energy went bust last year in September and Shell is now your supplier if you did not change to another supplier.

Who did send you the bill, was it really Green Energy or was it Shell? Was it really a bill or was it an increase of your direct debit?

What do you mean you don't have access to your meter readings? Do you have a smart meter or have you never supplied any meter readings?

Can you post a picture of the bill you received (remove all personal details and meter number)?

Gerry1

Make sure you are on your supplier's Priority Services Register.

You need to make sure your meter readings are not estimated.  If you don't have a smart meter (or if it's gone dumb) you MUST insist on getting access to read your meters.  If you have gas you also need access so that you can switch off the supply at the meter if you can smell gas.

If the meter(s) are not in your property, e.g. a meter room or locked cupboard it's also worthwhile doing the Meter Sanity Test to make sure the meter really is yours and that you're not paying for someone else's usage.

Might also be worthwhile contacting Citizens Advice to make sure you're getting all the benefits to which you're entitled.  If your supplier does not offer Warm Home Discount it might be worth switching to one that does.  At the moment you can switch to the Standard Variable Tariff with EDF and Octopus, but you have to phone them, it can't be done online.  Make sure you don't accept an expensive fixed rate, stay with the SVT.

emma1808

its the first ive heard that green energy has gone bust it was GEUK that sent my bill ive never had a bill from shell, ive looked into switching supplier but only one came up and they want £300, upfront, my reading is in a communal locked cupboard and it gets posted threw your door when you request it, ive done that today 

this is my bill
 

emma1808

so sorry is so small i can not see it myself

comeandgo

Have you been paying your direct debit?  I notice a debt collector fee.

emma1808

yes
it comes out automatically 

emma1808

my boiler was leaking a while back and my bill went so high im paying off my arrears through step change but since we had the agreement to pay my arrears ive not missed a monthly payment 

comeandgo

I do t see it being credited to your account, that £504 should have three payments of £116 reducing it to £156.  Are you sure the direct debits have been taken as green energy went bust so they would not still be taking direct debits.

pochase

Sorry, I got Green mixed up with Green Energy UK, they are still trading.

The bill you posted is for you energy usage for February, March and  April. First thing is that it does not show any payments, have you checked that you are still paying the 116£ by direct debit? At least they don't seem to think so. If you have paid, the we are no longer talking about 504£, it will be more like £160.

Also there is 40£ for the visit of a debt collector, so that would mean that there is money owed to them already for a a while. Again if you have paid the 116pm there is almost 50£ more that would be not justified.

The screenshot only shows the cost for this months, is there another page that shows how much you owe in total, and maybe also shows your payments?

The 116£ per months was by hardly enough to cover your use before the price increase, there will be a substantial monthly increase.

You are using a very high amount of electricity each month. What type of heating do you use? Do you have storage heaters or maybe panel heaters/radiators?