Huge bills from E-on??

Clara381

I'm looking for a bit of advice on where to go for some help with this...

We moved into our new house (new build) on 25th Jan 08. Our builder had signed up with E-on for gas and electricity and we decided to run with that for the first month or two then switch. The builder took meter reading, and we double checked those.

We got our first bill on 11 March for £129.54, we thought, wow, we really must have used a lot....so we went round and made sure heaters were off in rooms we weren't using, cut down the tumble dryer..turned the heating and hot water down...all the usual stuff, then on 20 April we got a bill for £229.72!!!!! I checked firstly to make sure the reading they had taken were right, they were.......Obviously I checked our last payment of £129.54 had been credited......I just can't understand whats going on here...

We called E-on and spoke to customer services and said we couldn'ty understand why our bill as so high, and while they were very nice they couldn't offer any actual help.

We are now petrified to use any gas or electric, but we are convinced that there is something actually wrong somewhere but we don't know where to turn for help........at this rate our quarterly bill will be about £500 quid!

Can someone point me in the right direction??

Thank you in advance!

newnhak

Hi

You say the builder took a reading and you checked this but I am presuming you haven't had your meter read since then or provided any further readings to E-on?

Are you sure you are not on an estimated reading - albeit a high one?

Rgds

Karen

Clara381

Hi Karen,

The first bill was an estimate, but we checked the reading and they weren't that far off..the second one was read. I have also checked the builder gave the correct readings to e-on..............

newnhak

Ok well you are right - it does sound a lot of money. Have you tried comparing your usage to the neighbours - if it is a new estate they will probably all be on the same supplier.

If not post your use in units over a month on here and then at least we can see whether the use is actually higher than average or not. At least if you can be sure your use is too high you can get back to E-on and challenge the amount.

K

Clara381

We do need to speak to our neighbours, luckily one moved in the week after us so should be a good comparison.

Have just worked out av use, I will double check it when less tired, but just now it's looking like an av of 16 1/2 elec units per day and 7 gas.

watchingthepennies_2

I know I was surprised by our bill this last quarter, I'm also with Eon and changed from one tariff to another, which is likely to save us £150 pa. (based on their forecasts). The other thing I would recommend doing if you haven't already is turn everything off to make sure your meter actually stops as well. You could then turn on the basics to monitor what you use.

newnhak

I am not sure if that is right. Maybe have a go again tomorrow

http://www.simplyswitch.com/energy/switchingguide/averageenergyuse.aspx

This link gives averages by number of bedrooms. From your figures if I crudely multiply each one by 365 (this obviously doesnt allow for winter/summer diff) then your electric seems high but your gas low. But this like I say is only a crude estimate - more importantly what are using and when? Is there someone in the house all day?

Also have a look and see what tariff you are on - maybe you need to get it switched.

thebawp

I work for a power company, we're told average daily usage is usually around 3upd for gas and 5 upd for elec. I'd argue these figures aren't entirely accurate (I use 8upd elec but only 1.4 upd gas in a one bedroomed flat, for example!), but to me, it seems that 16 1/2 units of electric a day is more than excessive. What electrical appliances are you running on a daily basis?

As someone has already said, keep a daily track of your readings over a week and then report them to E-On. If you have bills from an old property, check to see if you have actual readings on them and compare your usage there to the place you're in now. If possible, try one day to run no electrical appliances and see if there is any advance. I can't speak for E-On, but the company I work for will, on request, book a meter accuracy test. If the meter is found to be running incorrectly, you won't be charged, but if there's no fault to be found, you could be charged for it.

I've recently switched to E-On myself, and on their website they allow you to look at your average daily usage if you're registered online, so check there if you can.

phildamb

That is really a lot.....16.5 units a day on electricity charged at say about 13p a unit (inc vat but before the daily 16p service charge puts you to about £2.14 a day in just electricity that is a lot....do you turn everything off when you arent home and not just put things into standby? Do you know what category of efficiency all your appliances are?

As a rough guess including an average service charge of 16p a day and at 31 days this would mean you would be paying about £71 a month for just electricity?! That is a lot...Also do you know what tariff you are on and how much each unit costs you?

*edit* Could be an idea to check your metre before you go to work and then check it again when you get home and see what has been used. I have a fridge and a freezer only running during the day and everything else is off...I use between 1 and 2 units for the full day, sometimes just 1 unit.

m.colak

Hi am with Eon and i thought i'd help. Sign up to doing your bills online and make sure you switch over to the product energy online saver 6. This will significantly reduce your bills. Plus you enter your bills monthly so you can see if your consumption is going up and down. Also you can set up regular direct debits to spread the cost over the year and also if you have a tesco club card get points too.

phildamb

m.colak wrote: »

Hi am with Eon and i thought i'd help. Sign up to doing your bills online and make sure you switch over to the product energy online saver 6. This will significantly reduce your bills. Plus you enter your bills monthly so you can see if your consumption is going up and down. Also you can set up regular direct debits to spread the cost over the year and also if you have a tesco club card get points too.

I've signed up to this one..just waiting for the switch from scottish power from the properties previous tennant..I like the idea of no estimates...