Excessive Electricity Quotes/bills

AFoster90

Good afternoon All,
This is my first post, and hopefully my last. I am looking for some advice regarding electricity and SSE. I recently had a disagreement with SSE regarding my statement. They have put me more than £6000 in debit. They have slowly been bumping my bills up, to which I always asked them to revert. I contacted the Ombudsman, and they have to come a decision that SSE are correct to charge me. I have to accept this, however, this is the fun bit. The ombudsman have stated that going by my meter readings, my MONTHLY bill will be around £465. The national average is a third of this I believe after a little bit of research!

I live in a 3 bedroom, terraced house. There is no gas, only an electricity supply. The windows are new, the doors are new, and we have carpets throughout. There are 2 adults living in the house, but we work 0700-1700 Monday to Friday, so little usage during the day.

Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone have any advice? I have declined the Ombudsman's decision, but this has closed the case. I need to act fairly quickly, so any support would be well received. Do I take this to a small claims court? 

Any support, and comments welcomed. 

TIA
Adam

The_Fat_Controller

I think you are mistaken about the average electricity bill for an all-electric home.

If they are bumping up your Direct Debit amount you need to realise that is not your actual bill, just the amount they estimate to cover your actual usage, it's not "all you can eat" for that amount.

If you have been getting them reduced you have very likely been getting into serious arrears for months.

If the meter readings are correct, which you do not seem to dispute, you need to set up an arrangement to pay the arrears.

The only people going to court will be your energy company if you do not pay.

You have no claim against them at all if their billing is correct.

Alnat1

What kind of heating do you use? How long is it on for each day? How do you heat hot water? Electric heating is much more expensive than gas/oil

AFoster90

Hi. Everything is done by electricity. We have new smart heaters installed in the house. Only a couple are on, and these are set to around 18 degrees, but only come on when required. (Rointe radiators)

Hot water heated overnight (immersion heater)

We have no option of using anything other than electricity unfortunately. 

AFoster90

The_Fat_Controller said:

If they are bumping up your Direct Debit amount you need to realise that is not your actual bill, just the amount they estimate to cover your actual usage, it's not "all you can eat" for that amount.

If you have been getting them reduced you have very likely been getting into serious arrears for months.

If the meter readings are correct, which you do not seem to dispute, you need to set up an arrangement to pay the arrears.

What I don't agree with is that the meter reading I have given them, which I do agree with, is causing me to use £465 a month. This would be not to clear the arrears, but my monthly usage only!! How can this be possible? Surely my meter is running fast? Is this even a thing that is possible? 

The_Fat_Controller

@AFoster90

What was your actual usage in kWh over the last 12 months ?

What was/is the unit rate and daily standing charge ?

Have much have you contributed in £ in the last 12 months ?

Ectophile

Heating a house using only electricity can be extremely expensive, if you use the wrong sort of heating.

You don't say why you think the bill is in error.  Has someone misread the meter?  Do you think that the meter is reading incorrectly, and have you done anything to check that?

Ultrasonic

I'm afraid that you have the most expensive form of heating there is  . Traditional night storage heaters with an Economy 7 supply are the better option from a financial perspective in an all-electric home. I know you're not going to want to rush out to replace all your radiators but I'm saying this to put your high bills in context. The majority who have lower bills will have cheaper heating options.

Alnat1

How long is the immersion heater on for? Overnight, as in 8 hours? We heat ours by gas but find 40 mins is enough each day for a shave, 2 showers and dish washing. We've also turned the thermostat down to 50C

AFoster90

Alnat1 said:

How long is the immersion heater on for? Overnight, as in 8 hours? We heat ours by gas but find 40 mins is enough each day for a shave, 2 showers and dish washing. We've also turned the thermostat down to 50C

The immersion heater is only on for a couple of hours, I will knock it right down, thank you for the input. We don't have a thermostat as the heaters are all individual. Most are all switched off, but the ones that are on are set to 18 degrees. 

Ultrasonic

For context, do you know roughly how much electricity you are currently using per year? As mentioned above, your £465 figure is likely in part paying off a previous debt that has built up rather than what your actual monthly usage costs are. So once the debt is cleared your monthly payments will decrease.