I need help with my energy bill

[Gasmyarse]

So I'm seeing things on social media about stopping direct debits for gas and electric abd only actually paying for what we have used rather than paying in advanced for what we may use? I (think) I have that right?

So according to my bill my estimated cost for electricity is 1282.03 a year
And gas is 1748.03

My concern is the amount it is. With gas I'm 99% sure I would not use that much. We only have showers so that takes less gas than a bath in the winter i don't have heating on at all. And that's definitely not at all. We just have extra layer or a blanket ect.

So I have heard that people are paying what they have used not what they might use. My bill says 185.15dr? So is that what I pay?

I have put a picture of my bill and the readings. So people can see it. So it might be more clear.

If anyone has any advice or can explain it to me could people try and explain in simple terms as I have learning difficulties. They don't often show up but do in cases like this.

Just ring them. I gave them a meter reading and asked to 'clear' my account.

Once I was clear, I then started sending monthly meter readings. Same day, every month.

I'm now paying quarterly exactly what I owe. It's so much easier to understand. You know that the start of the quarter your meters were at 22, 290 and now they're at 23,200 for example. You know you're not being overcharged.

I do put roughly the right amount aside every month though so when the quarterly bill comes in I have enough.

I definitely think what they wanted to charge me via direct debit is more than I'm using now.

You need to give them an accurate meter reading of its only estimated as I always find they are overestimated at the moment.

Have you had the smart meters removed? The bill seems to have moved from a smart meter to estimating bills.

Love your username!

You dont have a monthly direct debit so it looks like you just pay your bill when it's due anyway. The social media posts are about cancelling a set monthly direct debit and paying for usage on receipt of the bill.

Do you submit readings or do you have a smart meter for both. Are the estimates on the bill accurate?

What changed on the 9th June as it says 'Opening reading' for both gas and electricity on that date

P.s. its often cheaper to have a monthly direct debit and I think that's what they are offering at the right hand side of the bill where it talks about a flexdirectdebit variable tariff

No I have not removed smart meters.

I'm a bit confused as to why on my bill on the 2nd page it says estimated then smart meter reading. One part it says open reading . I do t know what Any of that means.

I have smart readers for both.

How would I know if they are accurate?

You should be able to see a reading on your smart meter by pressing certain buttons (it will be specific to your meter). Were you on a fixed rate that ended maybe?

I don't know. I have always been on prepaid meters. Until I moved to this place on 25 April. Its a new build so before I moved in it was just used by work men . It says 25th April customer reading. Which was not me . As I don't know how to do it. I think tjat was probably the council. Then it says smart mete reading for 2nd and 6th May. Then 19th it says estimated . I don't understand why its estimated if its a smart meter? I thought they could just do it via computer? I have no idea about the open reading.

I have just been messing about with portable reading thing and found this

For some reason my smart meter suddenly stopped sending electricity readings, although it still sends gas. The company put in estimated ones that were too high, so once a month I go on their website and enter the real electricity readings. You can find these on the meter itself, or by pressing buttons on the portable gadget. If you google "smart meter reading" + the name of your energy company you might be able to find out which buttons to press!

Would that be why it has a minus ➖️ sign ?

Also are my last 2 pictures readings?

Is there a way for you to submit those readings online? Is there an app for your supplier?

I will look. Are they readings thar I just put up?

Yes, they are.
My energy company needs the readings to be in kWh; the electricity one is already in that unit, but the gas one needs to be converted from m3. There might be a button you could push to do that, or your energy company might be OK with readings in m3.

Thank you.

How do I know when I should send meter readings? Ie what day of the month ?

And how do I know if I actually owe 185? Will I just need to pay that then start with a new slate?

OPs bill shows it in m³ and the reading on the meter tallies up with the readings on the bill too.

@Gasmyarse I give readings on around the 1st of the month.

Oh, I hadn't looked at the bill! You're entirely right, readings are all in m3. (Please imagine a superscript there, I don't know how to do that!)

OP, I would submit the current readings using the website and see whether your company will generate a new bill for you.

It's confusing because it says estimated. But then it says there have been smart meter readings so why would they say estimated.

My Smart Meter stopped sending readings for electricity, I have no idea why. What I would do in your position is use the website to enter the readings you have taken. Then wait until next month and see whether your next account balance has been updated with "smart" or "estimated" readings. Good luck!

@Gasmyarse

Whether you pay by direct debit or pay as you go, you only pay for what you actually use.

The difference between the two is that direct debit is usually cheaper overall because the daily standing charges and price per unit of energy is lower.

However, on direct debit they estimate how much energy you will use over the entire year and then evenly spread the total annual cost over each of the 12 months of the year. So pay as you go may seem cheaper if you only compare 1 month to 1 month. But trust me, when you compare 1 year to 1 year, direct debit is always cheapest.

With smart meters you do not need to submit meter readings at all. Smart readers send the meter reading to the energy company at set intervals. If you want accurate bills, you only need to call the energy company and authorise them to have your smart meter to send daily readings to them.

Every quarter, you will get a bill that shows how much you have paid in direct debit vs. the cost of what you actually used. This then results in a credit or debit which is rolled over to the next quarter. The energy company adjusts your direct debit up or down with an aim to get as accurate as possible. The longer you are in your home, and if you authorise daily smart meter readings to be sent, the more accurate their estimate will be in terms of how much energy you are likely to use.