Insane Energy Bill

SubZombies

Hi Everyone,

I have made the account as I have no clue what to do. I’m 23 and am renting my first place with a couple friends. It is a 2 bed flat and is only electric no gas. Our bills have been around the £150 mark a month. This morning I woke up to a bill of £2,700. They say we have been paying estimated bills which is fair enough however there is no way in 5 months we have use 12,009 Kilowatts of electric as per my bill suggest. 

What can I do as I phoned them and they said it is all payable nothing I can do. There is clearly a mistake somewhere and will not be able to pay this and they threatened me with legal action 

Thanks in advance 

Penguin_

Did you provide opening readings when you moved into the flat?

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Did you read the meter yourself when you took possession and submit the readings to your supplier?  If not, you could be paying for use by a previous occupier and/or during a void period.

Is the latest reading shown on the bill an estimate?  If so, send a reading today.

Also do the Meter Sanity Test.

EssexHebridean

First up - questions as above. 

Secondly, do you have any other readings you have physically taken in the time you have been in the flat, plus can you take a reading today - what is that reading?

Third - what form of heating do you have - can you list some makes and models of your heating?

How is your hot water heated? 

zagfles

Was a reading taken when you moved in? You need to check if the initial reading for your first bill was accurate not an estimate. 

If it is that usage is 3.3Kw average which is mad unless you had electric heaters on 24/7 or used masses of hot water, or had a hot water tap leaking etc. 

Robin9

Can we have those move in and todays reading please >

Gerry1

What type of heaters are you using (make and model)?

What is the name of your electricity tariff and what are the rates?  Note that the rates shown in the bill calculations are ex-VAT so you have to add 5%.

SubZombies

SubZombies said:

Hi Everyone,

I have made the account as I have no clue what to do. I’m 23 and am renting my first place with a couple friends. It is a 2 bed flat and is only electric no gas. Our bills have been around the £150 mark a month. This morning I woke up to a bill of £2,700. They say we have been paying estimated bills which is fair enough however there is no way in 5 months we have use 12,009 Kilowatts of electric as per my bill suggest. 

What can I do as I phoned them and they said it is all payable nothing I can do. There is clearly a mistake somewhere and will not be able to pay this and they threatened me with legal action 

Thanks in advance 

Thanks for all the replies. Our reading when we moved in was 20694 and now is 32044. Gave the initial reading when I moved in on 24th August and have done another reading today as was prompted to do so. 

We have an immersion heater and have barely had the heating on which is a couple of electric wall heaters  By barely I mean maybe 2 hours every other day. 

Our initial move in date we gave a reading and today we did which generated this bill so we have (according to them ) used the energy however we turn all the lights off and make sure not to use energy when not needed. 

Exodi

I'd guess you didn't submit the opening reading when you moved in, so they're effectively billing for your usage, and the usage before you moved in.

If you didn't take a reading when you moved in (which with the benefit of hindsight you should always do), you can also try reaching out to the agents who may have a record of it.

Either that or your neighbors and their neighbors are piggybacking off your supply. /s

tim_p

From those figures and calculated on the back of a fag packet, you’ve used 11350 kWh, which at a rounded cost of 26p / kWh you get a figure of £2950. Add VAT and daily standing charge to that too. How much have you paid them in the period?

SubZombies

tim_p said:

From those figures and calculated on the back of a fag packet, you’ve used 11350 kWh, which at a rounded cost of 26p / kWh you get a figure of £2950. Add VAT and daily standing charge to that too. How much have you paid them in the period?

 We were getting billed around £150-200 a month which has been paid and now they are requesting an extra £2700