Electricity Bill Estimate vs Actual discrepancy?

Spacker

I hadn't taken a meter reading for quite a while due to cancer and not being in the property.

I received a bill for £950 based on estimated readings over 7months. I paid £450 and a few days later submitted a meter reading of 337 units more than the actual reading. This, spread over the last months of estimated reading (average of £0.30 per unit) is ~£100 extra. My bill went from £500 back up to £940 when I submitted the reading - an extra £440.

I'm trying to get clarification from the company and they stand by the bill stating a "catch up bill will be a collection of all the underestimated charges"

Spreading the 337 units over the estimated months shows the extra charge should be £98.03 not £440. Either I don't understand what's going on, or they don't?

I'm ignoring standing charge as that's independent of the meter reading and already taken into account on the bill?

Scot_39

Does the revised bill acknowledge your £450 payment ?

Or is simply a small corrected duplicate / restarement in place of estimated bill. Without that credit taken into account.

Why did you only pay 450 if bill said 950 ?  

And how was the 450 paid - 7 months DD - or one off in response to that bill.

Did the new £940 bill have a different start reading and date to the 7m estimated £950 version?

The problem is you need an accurate start and end reading to get an accurate bill.


If the 950 bill started with a true reading.

I'd guess simply

950 est + 100 corrected to actual reading - 450 paid  = 600 balance now due plus any odd days of SC.

But if it too was based on an earlier estimated reading - as you said estimated readings (plural) who knows - sometimes the underestimation can last years - without customers noticing.

And given you haven't been in home - any preceding underestimation before those absences - could have been during higher monthly use = higher cost.

You may need to go back to that bill and if necessary earlier bills if estimated to find a true reading.

In my disabled mums case SG issued 2 years of estimated bills 4 6m bills - despite 2 meter visits as on PSR - leading to a £700 demand for payment when I phoned to correct the readings.

Chrysalis

Did some quick maths based on a 30p unit rate which came up to £101. (I didnt add any VAT either)  I doubt you are paying over £1 per unit, so I think the most likely thing that is happened is the bill got revised with the new reading, and your credit has not yet been applied.

I understand you may be under stress and unwell, but try to clarify if thats what happened, I do think thats the most likely scenario given the numbers you have supplied.

If you are able to post screenshots of their own adjustments, whether its a new bill, or some kind of online statement of credits and what not that would help us help you as well, but if you do this edit out personal information.

Spacker

Scot_39 said:

Does the revised bill acknowledge your £450 payment ?

Or is simply a small corrected duplicate / restarement in place of estimated bill. Without that credit taken into account.

Why did you only pay 450 if bill said 950 ?  

And how was the 450 paid - 7 months DD - or one off in response to that bill.

Did the new £940 bill have a different start reading and date to the 7m estimated £950 version?

The problem is you need an accurate start and end reading to get an accurate bill.


If the 950 bill started with a true reading.

I'd guess simply

950 est + 100 corrected to actual reading - 450 paid  = 600 balance now due plus any odd days of SC.

But if it too was based on an earlier estimated reading - as you said estimated readings (plural) who knows - sometimes the underestimation can last years - without customers noticing.

And given you haven't been in home - any preceding underestimation before those absences - could have been during higher monthly use = higher cost.

You may need to go back to that bill and if necessary earlier bills if estimated to find a true reading.

In my disabled mums case SG issued 2 years of estimated bills 4 6m bills - despite 2 meter visits as on PSR - leading to a £700 demand for payment when I phoned to correct the readings.

I simply did not have enough to pay the entire amount as I've been struggling to keep a small business afloat during the cancer treatment and pay other bills.

My confusion comes from:

They billed me £950 for a estimated reading that was, say, 5000units.
I paid £450. The website showed £500 outstanding so this payment was credited.
A few days later I entered a manual reading for say, 5337. The website erroneously showed £50 owing.
The next day I logged into to pay the £50 to clear it and it now showed £940 outstanding (after briefly blipping up to £1600, then recalculating back down to £940!?).

Regardless of all other information it seems that my actual reading for 337 over estimate is being charged at £440 instead of the value of 337unit which is around £100.

Successive support staff are stating it is correct but cannot clearly state why. I get explanations like:

"catch up bill will be a collection of all the underestimated charges between August and February."

But regardless, my total usage was ~£100 over estimate, not £440 over estimate - I don't see how previous estimates make a difference as they are reading a running total not separate values for each estimated reading. It seemed to be suggested that the 337 was divided by the number of months the estimate was taken over and (which gives 48units extra per month) but this still doesn't add up to £440.

Gah, Apologies for the confusion but this situation is genuinely bugging me.

Chrysalis

Has there been another bill issued for a later time period?

The staff need to give you a better explanation, sadly "catch up" seems a lazy scripted type response to bill queries.

Scot_39

Put simply - if previous bills were also based on low estimated readings - you would likely have been underpaying at each billing period.

Those underpayments will now fall out of the maths - given a good absolute reading - and so added to final bills.

You mention in one of your later responses they are talking about corrections over several months.

I could be wrong - but thinking about it with a simple example - might help explain the problem

Say you were paying SC - and the suppliers last few bills were also based on underestimated usage - for simplicity 5000 kWh underestimated by 1000 kWh per billing period

Bill Period                               1          2         3          4        

True Reading         10000  15000  20000  25000  30000   

True usage                         5000    5000    5000    5000     

                                                                                      

Est Reading                       14000  18000  22000  26000  

Est Usage /Paid                 4000    4000   4000    4000

Period Error                       1000    1000   1000   1000

Accum Error                       1000    2000   3000  4000

In that scenario the bill 3 would have been based on 22000 - 18000 and so be hiding 3000 kWh of actual use not yet billed for / paid for in many cases - 1000 on each bill.

The original period 4 bill would have been issued on the 26000 - 22000 - so 4000 kWh again - and in complete ignorance of the 3000kWh missing from the period 3 bill (25000-22000).

You come along and submit the true 30000 for real period 4

And suddenly the impact of any previous estimated billing falls out of the woodwork.

They could for instance issue a seperate bill for a few days  - if you like a period 4b  (had this - in my case - dates 10 days apart)

for 30000-26000 = 4000 kWh

But note - that would sit on top of the standing period 4 bill - of 4000 kWh - based on the 26000 - fixing the 3000 historic and the 1000 error in estimate for period 4 usage itself  - so 8000 kWh total - as one way of tying to real 30000

So in your case a bill period on n days for 337 kWh - plus potentially carried forward credit / debit - from old bill.

Others may decide to cancel the old period 4 bill - and simply re-issue the period 4 bill.

for 30000-22000E = 8000 kWh.   (in my simple example - double the previous period 4 bill)

But your right - the 30000 is ultimately the master - just as in your case your 5337 or actual latest (= estimated + 337 extra) is the ultimate master.  

But the 337 extra doesn't mean that is all that will be due - over the last billing cycle.

As their could be that equavelent of my 3000 - unpaid usage - inherent in the start reading as well.

So just as my example the meter vs estimated period 4 bill correction is 4000 - the total due is actually 8000.

Likewise your 337 - is the extra on end point - but only in respect of the corrected baseline.

And if you like the ultimate check - is going back to the last actual reading in my example the 10000 - so 30000-10000 = 20000 total due.  In my exmaple - the 12000 paid for upto end of period 3 based on 22000E - plus now the 8000 for revised period 4 billing to catch up.

But exactly how they deliver that message sadly can get confusing very quickly. And to be honest - not sure all CS operatives are the best at explaining things.

And somethings might go strangely / out of what you might think of as sync - and not resolve until a future bill in my experience.  I have for instance seen the equivalent of your £450 credit - one months DD made in close proximity to the reading corrections - disappear off of a re-issued bill - then come back on the next issue.

Robin9

In the situation where BG (or any supplier) gets a reading after a long series of Estimates does the supplier then have to reapportion the consumption and recalculate the bills every time there has been a change of tariff -  which we are getting every 3 months ?

cannugec5

I’m with the OP on this one. 

Regardless of the number of estimates, if the latest estimate and subsequent actual reading only have a discrepancy of 300 odd units the difference in the bill should not be more than approximately £100. 

So the outstanding £500 should become approximately £600. 

I think this needs to be put in writing as clearly the customer service agents are not understanding it. 

BarelySentientAI

Robin9 said:

In the situation where BG (or any supplier) gets a reading after a long series of Estimates does the supplier then have to reapportion the consumption and recalculate the bills every time there has been a change of tariff -  which we are getting every 3 months ?

Yes.  But it only needs to be a reasonable apportionment and you might not agree with the split, hence the oft repeated advice to send a manual meter reading at every tariff change.

cannugec5 said:

I’m with the OP on this one. 

Regardless of the number of estimates, if the latest estimate and subsequent actual reading only have a discrepancy of 300 odd units the difference in the bill should not be more than approximately £100. 

So the outstanding £500 should become approximately £600. 

 

I agree.  Whatever the previous estimates, the original £950 was up to and including the most recent estimated reading and so any extra to catch up with the actual reading can only be on top of this.  It might shift the balance between previous estimated readings (like across a tariff change as Robin9 mentioned) but shouldn't charge for them again.

Unless there's something happening with a credit & re-bill arrangement that hasn't finished sorting itself out yet, the new £940 seems wrong to me.