Gas & Electricity Bill Shock...

IL Cattivo

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Morning all,

Last night I had my online bill through from EDF Energy. been in our house now since 21st Oct 2010 and since then been paying a dual fuel rate with a combined Direct Debit payment of £65 per month. £31 Elec / £34 Gas.

Been steadily getting a credit balance on the Electricity side of things having reached £370+ cr. Often have had people round every 2/3 months to read the meter's too, so not too many estimated readings on that side of things.

The Gas though is a whole different story and seems to be where things have gone wrong somewhere, surely...

My latest dual fuel statement shows that I have gone from a £370 cr balance from the previous statement to a whopping £899.90 debit because somehow between Nov 11 to Aug 12 we (2 Adults in a 3 bed terrace) have used nearly 950 units of gas equating to a charge of £1,185.00 just for Gas alone....

So my question is this... How has this happened all of a sudden given that we didn't get this kind of shock this time last year so is it right? Or is this bad account management from the suppliers part, i.e they've been charging us far too lower DD rate from the off which has now got us into this situation?

Our Monthly DD has now been increased from £65 a month to £231.00 a month £75 a month of which is being used to clear this £800 odd debit..!! For your average family like us that is simply unsustainable!

Anyone else found themselves in a similar situation and how did you address it?

Many Thanks

:)
 
IL Cattivo said:
Morning all,

Last night I had my online bill through from EDF Energy. been in our house now since 21st Oct 2010 and since then been paying a dual fuel rate with a combined Direct Debit payment of £65 per month. £31 Elec / £34 Gas.

Been steadily getting a credit balance on the Electricity side of things having reached £370+ cr. Often have had people round every 2/3 months to read the meter's too, so not too many estimated readings on that side of things.

The Gas though is a whole different story and seems to be where things have gone wrong somewhere, surely...

My latest dual fuel statement shows that I have gone from a £370 cr balance from the previous statement to a whopping £899.90 debit because somehow between Nov 11 to Aug 12 we (2 Adults in a 3 bed terrace) have used nearly 950 units of gas equating to a charge of £1,185.00 just for Gas alone....

So my question is this... How has this happened all of a sudden given that we didn't get this kind of shock this time last year so is it right? Or is this bad account management from the suppliers part, i.e they've been charging us far too lower DD rate from the off which has now got us into this situation?

Our Monthly DD has now been increased from £65 a month to £231.00 a month £75 a month of which is being used to clear this £800 odd debit..!! For your average family like us that is simply unsustainable!

Anyone else found themselves in a similar situation and how did you address it?

Many Thanks

:)

Jesus what are you doing with the stuff ?
 
During your time at the property have you ever had / submitted a reading?
 
Yes i had a similar shock with our Electricity bill. We had a new heated floor in the kitchen and conservatory which the other winter (the really cold one) we had on pretty high. The bill was in my wife's name and she assured me that she had sent readings through, as i kept asking her to because i wanted to ensure that the additional usage of the floor was being taken into account.

Despite the floor etc we were still in credit of about £400 so they offered to send us a cheque which they did. I though it was strange but she told me she had phoned the readings trough regularly over winter - she works from home sometimes so does it during the day.

Anyway forward six months and we switch tariff so they came and read the meters and then boom £1,500 electricity arrears :eek: I was *** i thought you were sending the readings through regularly, to which it then transpired that she was only doing the gas reading as she thought that was the only reading she had to do :facepalm:

After having a few pints of Stella and giving her a battering :D We addressed it by swallowing up the increased DD amount, put the account into my name so i am now in control of it, and got an electricity usage meter in the main room so i can keep my eye on it over the winter months when the floor is on.

We also have had friends do exactly the same recently with their heated floor despite me asking them to ensure they were keeping on top of it they were getting bills on estimates and then had a reading and theirs was even more than ours :eek:
 
I pay around £110 a month for my house elec and gas, previously it was £60 for gas and £57 for elec. I have received credit payments back on my account but I would rather that than underpaying in fear of a bill like you've received.

On the bill you're mentioning for gas you're paying £1.24 per unit of gas unless you have standing charges on there? My standing charges are around 30p per day (if memory serves correctly) which is £110 a year taking your unit charge down to £1.13 which seems a bit steep to me but it'd be worth checking with your supplier.

Do you get any DD discounts?
 
During your time at the property have you ever had / submitted a reading?

I have submitted a few reading myself and then there are the guys that come round with their hand helds and take the readings as well on behalf of EDF (every 2-3 Months). The annoying thing is though that the previous 3 readings to the one I submitted over the phone (Customer) on the 2nd Aug are all Estimated :confused: So what have these people with the hand helds been doing then, not submitting them or something?

I pay around £110 a month for my house elec and gas, previously it was £60 for gas and £57 for elec. I have received credit payments back on my account but I would rather that than underpaying in fear of a bill like you've received.

On the bill you're mentioning for gas you're paying £1.24 per unit of gas unless you have standing charges on there? My standing charges are around 30p per day (if memory serves correctly) which is £110 a year taking your unit charge down to £1.13 which seems a bit steep to me but it'd be worth checking with your supplier.

Do you get any DD discounts?

That £899 debit balance is inclusive of Standing Charges and Discounts for paying by DD...??
 
I just had our yearly account summary with EDF and gas including standing charges, VAT and DD discount was £474 for the year. That's for a family of 5 in a detached bungalow.
 
65 quid a month? Do you live in 1980? :)

We pay 100 Gas & 50 Electric every month. We usually have a couple of hundred quid credit which we claim back around Christmas.
 
65 quid a month? Do you live in 1980? :)

We pay 100 Gas & 50 Electric every month. We usually have a couple of hundred quid credit which we claim back around Christmas.

I used to yeah... ;)

So it sounds like this £65 a month from the outset was far too low for our needs then and now we're paying the price so to speak.... :(
 
I just had our yearly account summary with EDF and gas including standing charges, VAT and DD discount was £474 for the year. That's for a family of 5 in a detached bungalow.

Mmmmm... and mine is £1,185 over the last 10 months... Nov - Aug. Family of 2 & 1/2 in a 3 bed mid terrace with a high EPC rating.

Something not right there surely.....
 
Morning all,

Last night I had my online bill through from EDF Energy. been in our house now since 21st Oct 2010 and since then been paying a dual fuel rate with a combined Direct Debit payment of £65 per month. £31 Elec / £34 Gas.

Been steadily getting a credit balance on the Electricity side of things having reached £370+ cr. Often have had people round every 2/3 months to read the meter's too, so not too many estimated readings on that side of things.

The Gas though is a whole different story and seems to be where things have gone wrong somewhere, surely...

My latest dual fuel statement shows that I have gone from a £370 cr balance from the previous statement to a whopping £899.90 debit because somehow between Nov 11 to Aug 12 we (2 Adults in a 3 bed terrace) have used nearly 950 units of gas equating to a charge of £1,185.00 just for Gas alone....

So my question is this... How has this happened all of a sudden given that we didn't get this kind of shock this time last year so is it right? Or is this bad account management from the suppliers part, i.e they've been charging us far too lower DD rate from the off which has now got us into this situation?

Our Monthly DD has now been increased from £65 a month to £231.00 a month £75 a month of which is being used to clear this £800 odd debit..!! For your average family like us that is simply unsustainable!

Anyone else found themselves in a similar situation and how did you address it?

Many Thanks

:)

Yes we had a similar situation last yr,i bought a programmable roomstat,which helped us control the heating more precisely..
The house was an old detached bungalow heatloss was horrendous..but the bill was also an estimated reading,so we switch from DD to paying the bill when it arrived rather have the cash in my pocket rather than sat in the energy suppliers coffers....
We also gave regular readings to give actual usuage rather than the overestimated calculation of the supplier...
 
You can't rely on meter readers. You should get in the habit of regularly submiting your readings. I do it on the 1st of every month, Npower only want 2 a year ! I won't rely on a stranger on getting it right .
 
You can't rely on meter readers. You should get in the habit of regularly submiting your readings. I do it on the 1st of every month, Npower only want 2 a year ! I won't rely on a stranger on getting it right .

Wise words, a lesson learned here I guess.
 
Have they switched you to a higher tariff without you knowing?

Happened to me before, they switched me after apparently sending a letter (which I never got) and when questioned if they had switched me to their cheapest one, I was told it was one of their most expensive one, when I asked they that was, they came up with some rubbish saying they can't put people on the cheapest one due to some terms and conditions that need to be accepted, or some rubbish like that!

Might be worth checking...
 
Have they switched you to a higher tariff without you knowing?

Happened to me before, they switched me after apparently sending a letter (which I never got) and when questioned if they had switched me to their cheapest one, I was told it was one of their most expensive one, when I asked they that was, they came up with some rubbish saying they can't put people on the cheapest one due to some terms and conditions that need to be accepted, or some rubbish like that!

Might be worth checking...


Cheers Lee... I did actually recieve a letter from EDF in Feb of this year and they did in fact put us on a slightly lower :eek: tariff for Gas. The energy companies these days are in big price wars to attract customers which is why I guess they made this move.
 
EDF Energy
Says it all as far as im concerned they have a nasty habit of reeling people in on "cheaper" direct debit schemes then all of a sudden smacking you with a huge bill. Total con artists in my view and I really dont say that lightly.
 
Says it all as far as im concerned they have a nasty habit of reeling people in on "cheaper" direct debit schemes then all of a sudden smacking you with a huge bill. Total con artists in my view and I really dont say that lightly.

Bad experience then hutch?
 
heatloss was horrendous

Cavity wall insulation is a waste of time. Our bill has increased since getting it done.

Actually considering sucking it all back out :thumbsdow
 
I live by myself in an ok sized house (living room 25 foot long) and have just switched from scottish power (paaid bill when it arrived) and my average electric bill was 110 quid a quarter...went on uswitch and now using npower - paying 14 (yep, that's right) quid a month...

will go mad if I get any nasty surprises..!
 
We live in a three bed semi with gas central heating, my last three EDF gas bills were
Aug, Sept, Oct £36
Nov,Dec,Jan £147
Feb, March, Apr £179
May, Jun, Jul £55

My last years electricity bills (eon) were
Jun, Jul, Aug £111
Sep, Oct, Nov £175
Dec, Jan, Feb £138
Mar, Apr, May £153

So all in a total of £994. Having read so many people issues with DD payments to energy companies, we decided from the start to stick with quarterly bills. They very rarely come out to read the meters so I send them readings myself every couple of months.
 
Are you sending them any up to date readings though? £14 a month is very low? :)

its just started - first payment starts the end of this month...but that's based off the last quarterly bills that I paid with scottish power...so, with my paying via DD - I'm hoping to actually pay a bit less overall...!!

I'm a low user really... :)
 
comparison sites are all well and good, but I don't really trust them.
Would rather do a little leg work myself using my consumption, rounded up a little, and then hunt out the actual unit rate I will be paying.
 
Crikey! Clearly I'm in a minority here!

I live in a two bedroom terraced house with just my wife (no kids) and we pay by direct debit every month. £35 each on electricity and gas. While the gas sometimes needs bumping up around winter, there is no way on this earth my bills are that high! At one point we had a £50 credit! Electricity gets used pretty heavily due to the number of appliances we have and the heating gets turned off as soon as possible, I think we turned it off around May this year with the odd requirement for the colder days. It probably wont be back on till around October/November either if it stays like this.
 
Never get sucked into paying a low monthly DD as you will nearly always find you run into problems within a few months they will try and jack up your payments or if it does not come to light for a year or so you will end up with a huge shortfall to pay off.

I always tell them what I want to pay based on my last years actual usage and then calculate what their unit charges are.I have switched suppliers 3 times in the last 4 yrs and have never had a bill bigger than covered by my stipulated monthly direct debits.

I am currently with EDF and my deal finishes with them 30th Sept and I have already worked out that I won't owe them more than +/- £20 on my original estimates for the 13 month contract.

I have a 1930's 4 bed semi and we pay £140 a month DD, I work from home so our consumption is a bit higher than most. To be honest anyone paying less than £100 per month on a DD with prices as they are for gas/electric is going to find themselves in arrears over a 12 month period as you are probably not paying enough.

I know a few of my friends and family who have run into problems with virtually all the major suppliers as their billing systems are utter crap.The only way to generally avoid problems is to monitor your consumption on a monthly basis and if things do not compute correctly jump on them quick as most folks don't do this and usually 1-2 years latter wham!!!! we have just got this huge bill.You then have a devil of a job going back over many months trying to sort it all out.
 

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