Vulnerable neighbour charged £1154 for gas by SSE 25 August 2022 at 8:02PM in Energy 51 replies 6.6K views

Hargreaves1910

We have a lovely old neighbour just across the way from us. He is quite deaf and in his nineties and very frail.

Today he asked if I could phone SSE for him to give them a meter reading as he cannot hear people on the phone.

Even I had trouble hearing as I spoke to a very quiet Indian(?) woman. I gave her the meter reading and afterwards chatting to my neighbour he just happened to mention he had paid today a bill for £1154.20. I was really shocked and thought he meant £154.20 but he showed me the bill and it's correct.

It turns out they have been estimating the meter readings for a very long time and have over estimated his readings by 1210 units. Using my schoolboy maths I think they may have overcharged him £2832! However I could be miles out on this and would appreciate some help before I shoot off some nasty emails on his behalf.

I have some paperwork and some previous bills but possibly not everything.

SSE Standard Gas Tariff

7.39p per unit

30.5p standard charge

Vat 5%

27/01/2022 Estimated meter reading    3864

19/08/2022 Estimated meter reading    5252

25/08/2022 Actual meter reading          4042

This means extra units charged             1210

Using their standard algorithm to convert that into pounds sterling gave me the £2832 figure. I haven't taken into account any standing charges or vat it is purely and simply the extra units and nothing else.

Can anyone confirm or deny my figures because maths is definitely not a strong subject of mine.

If any more information is required please ask.

Many Thanks.

molerat

What units does the meter read in - cu m or cu ft ? It will be on the front of the dial.

Makes a big difference to the kWh used and the overcharge, either around £1001 or £2834

Then look at the bill and divide the kWh charged by the units used, it will be either around 32 for imperial unit billing and 11 for metric.

elsien

Before you go firing off emails you need to find what his last confirmed reading was before the August one. 

If you’re calculating from January then that is an estimate and could also be either an over or an underestimate. 

You may need to go further back to get the true picture and get him properly back on track. 

TheBanker

I deleted my previous reply because it was wrong.

Gas meters can measure in cubic meters or cubic feet. Do you know what your neighbours is?

Now that he's given a reading, his gas account should be correct. He (or you on his behalf) should be able to call SSE and check whether he's now in credit. If he is, he can ask for a refund. 

Does he pay on receipt of the bill rather than by monthly direct debit?

Coffeekup

TheBanker said:

I deleted my previous reply because it was wrong.

Gas meters can measure in cubic meters or cubic feet. Do you know what your neighbours is?

That's already been asked, 

TheBanker

Coffeekup said:

TheBanker said:

I deleted my previous reply because it was wrong.

Gas meters can measure in cubic meters or cubic feet. Do you know what your neighbours is?

That's already been asked, 

Yes. but it hadn't when I started typing

pochase

There is no change to the standing charge, the number of days has not changed. Unit rates quoted to customers include VAT, the 7.39 is including VAT.

1210 x 11.2 * 0.0739 = £1001.49

Or does he have an old imperial (ft3) meter? Than you need to multiply by an additional 2.82 and we get almost your number.

Steve_79_P

I would definitely send emails to confirm the readings you found (remember to get your neighbour to give SSE permission for you to email them first). Make sure you fully explain the situation, as in the worse case scenario they may try to charge your neighbour around the clock!

Cardew

As stated above, you cannot calculate anything by using an estimated reading as the start point.

Also neither you or SSE can use today's huge charges to calculate a refund or an amount owed. It was not long ago that gas was around 3p/kWh. So any calculation must take the varying charges into account.

littleteapot

pochase said:

There is no change to the standing charge, the number of days has not changed. Unit rates quoted to customers include VAT, the 7.39 is including VAT.

1210 x 11.2 * 0.0739 = £1001.49

Or does he have an old imperial (ft3) meter? Than you need to multiply by an additional 2.82 and we get almost your number.

My brain doesn't work as well as it did before having children, but I pray basic maths is still within my grasp. Surely given that one metre = 3.3 feet, then a cubic metre is 3.3^3 cubic feet = i.e. 35.94 cubic feet?

pochase

If the bill is paid up to the estimated January meter read you can use it as a start point.

The problem here are the different unit rates that will come up here, and of course they won't have calculated the whole bill at unit rates at 7.39. Easiest will be to use the same split they have used for units up to 31st of March and 1st April to their next estimate.

It will be almost impossible to get this 100% sorted out if there have no meter readings been given for a very long time.