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Original poster

What to do Electricity bill could be £10,000?

288 replies

floridapalmtree · 12/03/2022 10:33

I have read the meter and think we are over 30,000 kw's over. I have been asked for a meter reading and think it's going to come to around £10,000. What do I do give them an accurate reading now? Or wait a year or so to give the correct reading hoping prices will come down?

The reason it is so much over is my mil was living here and had electric radiators on all day in her room and didn't care about the cost as long as she was warm. Plus there is a problem with the boiler and we have had the emersion heater on often continuously to heat water.

I just don't know what to do, any advice?

OP posts:
Moretodo · 12/03/2022 10:35

That sounds like an awful lot. If true, they would let you pay by installment.
And you can start reducing by turning the immersion off and putting it on overnight?
The electric company will advise you and talk to you about how to save energy too.

Jedsnewstar · 12/03/2022 10:36

£10,000 if you were using this much electricity is a small house you would have been reported and had the police checking you were not running a drug den!

carefullycourageous · 12/03/2022 10:38

Do you think there is any chance someone is tapping into your supply? Because £10k is really not normal.

ScreamIntoTheWind · 12/03/2022 10:38

If you have that much debt the question is why the company has been getting it so wrong for such a long time and not sending people to read the meter.

They’d have to write some of it off. But I bet your calculations are not right.

LemonMuffins · 12/03/2022 10:40

We have electric heating (crappy old air source heat pump) and with our heating and hot water on 24/7 and using the dryer quite a few times a week we'll use 1000kw a month. Are you sure your numbers are right? Our electric is around £200 a month under the above circumstances.

CastleCrasher · 12/03/2022 10:41

How long a period are you talking about, it must be years? I believe there's a limit as to how far back they can charge you (which is part of the train they're supposed to organise regular readings)

popcorndiva · 12/03/2022 10:42

When did you last give a meter reading. Are you sure you are not growing 'herbal' plants. Or was your MILS room an actual sauna?

MrsMingech · 12/03/2022 10:42

How much have you been paying each month?

RewildingAmbridge · 12/03/2022 10:42

Surely you're better off submitting now before the price cap goes up?

RewildingAmbridge · 12/03/2022 10:43

I also think there's a limit on how far back they can go, and I'd be astounded if you'd accrued £10k in a year without a substantial cannabis grow

ScreamIntoTheWind · 12/03/2022 10:44

@CastleCrasher

How long a period are you talking about, it must be years? I believe there's a limit as to how far back they can charge you (which is part of the train they're supposed to organise regular readings)
I don’t think it’s a year of uncollected debt (unless they’ve actually corrected the mistake and billed you and you’ve ignored that). They’re not allowed to let customers accidentally accrue huge debts like this.

If the numbers are right, it’s likely that your meter isn’t working. Or something else untoward is going on.

Franklin12 · 12/03/2022 10:45

I suspect this could be someone who hasn’t been giving meter readings and dodging the numbers. Then coming in and saying they cannot afford it... what did you do when MIL kept the heating on all the time. When was the last proper meter reading given?

Roselilly36 · 12/03/2022 10:46

Emersion heater will eat the electric, OP. We had one as a back up, in case of boiler breakdown. If we needed to use it, we would just put it on for an hour for a full tank of hot water. If I were you, I would submit the reading now, as the prices will increase again from 1st April. Then speak to the supplier and ask to pay over time. My advice would be to put in monthly meter readings to avoid, building up a debt. This happened to me in the past, I don’t want put myself through the that stress again.

Sirzy · 12/03/2022 10:46

When was the last time a reading was given?

Whatever is happening don’t bury your head in the sand as that really won’t help. Do the reading, get in touch with the company and come up with a plan

yoyo1234 · 12/03/2022 10:46

I would submit pre price going up. Any chance you could have misread?

SergeiL · 12/03/2022 10:52

I once lived in a flat which had two switches in the airing cupboard. One was for the immersion and one was economy 7. I inadvertently had the immersion on 24/7. When I read the meter, I realised my mistake. I tried to submit it online and they said there must be an error so they tried to contact me. In the end, I changed the meter reading so that I paid about half of what I owed and then caught up the next time. It was hundreds in a small flat with immersion only and this was years ago. So I can imagine it may run into thousands with the electric heater too. I think you need to call them with the meter reading and take it from there. And turn the immersion off!

nancy75 · 12/03/2022 10:56

I think you might have miscalculated. I run a tennis club that has 24 floodlights, heated indoor courts plus various other lit & heated spaces, our bill is not that much over a year & we use A LOT of electricity

Bonbon21 · 12/03/2022 10:57

Not being cheeky here but are you sure you have read the meter correctly?
There is a button on mine which shows several different numbers when you press it. Easy to read the wrong ones.. I have had a panic on more than one occasion!!

tulippa · 12/03/2022 10:59

Double and triple check that that metre reading is correct. Get an accurate reading in as soon as possible - I don't think electricity prices will be coming down any time soon if at all.

borntobequiet · 12/03/2022 11:04

I have electric storage heaters on E7 but use oil, fan and convector heaters to top up in the evenings from September to May. Your MIL using an electric heater is one room will cost you, but it won’t inflate your bill to £10000 per year.
The immersion heater is your biggest problem.

SamphiretheStickerist · 12/03/2022 11:06

Read it again. That sounds as though you are including the numbers after the decimal point, or in the red zone.

Hellocatshome · 12/03/2022 11:06

Something off here you would have to be using A LOT of electricity to owe that much!. Did you remember not to read the numbers after the decimal point.

Redcrayons · 12/03/2022 11:07

Our electricity at work isn’t that much.

Best to submit now, so they can work out what’s going wrong.

kittensinthekitchen · 12/03/2022 11:11

Something would have had to be going wrong for a very long time to achieve an unexpected £10k bill.

What are the meter readings, and when did you last have an actual reading as opposed to an estimate?

Ohsugarhoneyicetea · 12/03/2022 11:17

Flag it with them now that you think your meter is faulty. They are supposed to do a physical check at least every two years, so figure out when this last was as they have obligations too. And they cannot back bill you for more than a year, so if the under charging has been going on years and they havent checked the meter they are to blame too and wont get all that money back. Also there could be a fault. Get the problem sorted now. The cost is going up hugely soon and you want whatever usage you have based on old prices not new ones.

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