£5000 gas bill for the year.

williewonder

Our gas bill was reclaulated and it turns out we havent been paying gas this past year. I live in supported living and a member of staff gave the gas people a wrong meter reading in November last year. A new meter reading calulates that we now owe £5000 in Gas.

This is split 6 ways so £700 each as their are 6 of us sharing the complex (2 bungalows and 1 house plus a staff office with sleep room in building in back garden). £700 isnt a problem for me but 3 people here can't afford £700 outright.. 

I think it's unfair that the managers are going on about me paying all mine off in full and the other 3 people (on the complex) pay in installements. I think I should pay in installments too. So we all have our monthly payments going up from £110 to £160? so we can pay this debt off. This makes it even i think. 

I think its a ripp off that in total we all pay £660 a month for ulities. So thats only water and eletctic for 2 very small bungalows and a normal terrace house. Plus a office but the supported living company should be paying the electic and gas forthat. Surly £660 a month for water and eletic can't be right for 6 people? Plus now this massive gas bill.

Also I've been here 10 years and always paidf £110 a month and its never been a problem. Bill always paid. I know its everything as gone up in price recently. I think this is supported living mismangement to let it get to 5k. Why has 6 peoples £110 a month paid all the bills before and why do we have a 5k bill now just for this year. Thats what I'm asking in a meeting we are having next week

£5000 That sounds alot since November 2021.

Mr.Generous

People tend to be less careful with how much energy they use when they only pay a proportion of the bill, so I can imagine this is right. I've seen heating on full with windows open, washing on radiators on a glorious day etc because they aren't directly paying for the cost.

williewonder

Mr.Generous said:

People tend to be less careful with how much energy they use when they only pay a proportion of the bill, so I can imagine this is right. I've seen heating on full with windows open, washing on radiators on a glorious day etc because they aren't directly paying for the cost.

I been here 10 years and nothing has changed with usage., This new 5k bill is from Nov last year. Our £110 a month we pay has always met our utility oblegations before. These past 10 years. This bill is from November on new meter reading.

enthusiasticsaver

There could be a £5k discrepancy I would say if the  wrong meter readings have been given for a while.  When you say £660 a month for gas and electric split over 6 units so £110 each that sounds reasonable but I find it hard to believe it has  not gone up in 10 years. I think the fairest thing is for all of you to spread the cost.  I would be asking for a breakdown of how that £5k undercharge occurred though.  Can you have individual meters or would that cost more? 

williewonder

We only have one meter for the complex The house is just a coaching/terrace house shared between 4 people and there are two small bungalows built after the house. They are connected to our meter. its always been £110 a month each. I thought for £660 a month we could get gas, electric and water for that.

Floss

I live in a small, well insulated 2 bed home with a water meter, and pay just under £130 a month for my water & dual fuel bills, so £110 to me seems a reasonable amount.

Perhaps you can ask to see the breakdown of how that £5k bill has been arrived at, and also confirm that the staff accommodation & office bills are being paid by the managing company (unless your lease states that the tenants payment covers the whole bill).

williewonder

Email I sent to supported living manger. does this sound okay?

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I suspect that for a 5k bill the meter readings have been read wrong a lot longer than November 2021.

Inflation is 9% and the avenge annual energy bill for a house is £693. I know we have our heating on a lot but still.

Also have (name deleted) been paying towards the heading and water, elasticity for the sleep accommodation?

I’m going to go to Nat-West (bills account) and get the bank statements for past 11 years (I’m able to do this) I would hope to see that (name deleted) have been making a contribution towards the utilities on the bank shared bank statements. Also if we have a 5k bill from November 2021, why didn't we get previous 5k yearly bills the years before? I’ve been here 11 years and we have never experienced this problem before.

We need to ask the Gas company for previous gas readings for past 11 years. Calculate how much gas we were using each quarter and see how much the total gas bill is for this said quarter.

elsien

If you’ve just off a fix over the winter then that will also help to explain any increase. 

Is this not something that your appointee will be looking into in your behalf. Don’t they sort out your bills for you? 

QrizB

This thread would probably be better on the "Energy" forum:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/energy

williewonder said:

Also I've been here 10 years and always paidf £110 a month and its never been a problem. Bill always paid. I know its everything as gone up in price recently.

Energy prices have gone up a *lot* in the past 12 months.

Do you know if you have a domestic tariff or a commercial one? From the description of your living arrangements you might be on a commercial tariff, and those have risen even more than domestic ones.

But let's consider the situation with a domestic tariff.

2 very small bungalows and a normal terrace house

OK, call it three properties. An "average" domestic fuel bill is almost £2000 a year, with another £400 a year for water. That's £2400 a year. Three properties would be £7200 a year, £600 a month. That's pretty close to the £660 a month you're currently paying.

In October the "average" fuel bill is expected to rise to £3000 a year. Including water, and for three properties, that works out as £10200 a year, £850 a month. £140 a month each for the six of you.

molerat

and the avenge annual energy bill for a house is £693

The average domestic bill was around £1.3K last October, is currently around  £2K and is expected to rise to over £3K this winter.  Your figure is way off the mark.   You have said yourself that the heating is used a lot so that could easily explain the bill.