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

[floridapalmtree]

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?

@DefaultParent

You can't have an emersion on all the time OP unless you can afford bigger bills. We used to boost ours for baths/showers when needed once or twice a day.

It depends on the insulation. Our old tank wasn’t insulated. So you couldn’t “boost” you’d either have hot water with immersion on. Or cold

@NippyWoowoo

Waiting for the drip feed that you live in a 30 room mansion.

My old rental house was like this. It had single glazing, no central heating, no insulation and economy 7.

How many electric heaters was she running?

Because I hate to say this but if you’ve used 30,000 kWh extra over a year that would be 82 kWh per day or 3.4 kWh per hour. That would be what two 1.75 kWh electric heaters would use so isn’t hugely outside the realms of possibility. If your rate is 34p/kWh though it would be around right I’m sorry to say. I’m on 21p/kWh so would £6.5k.

I know this because we’ve had insurance renovation work and they’ve just laid the floors and stuck two 2.5kWh electric heaters on 24/7 (the radiators are off) and it’s going to cost us £175 a week until the rads are back on

@AuditAngel

I am in a similar position. My recent bill told me I was in credit for electric which I didn’t believe for one minute, when I checked my estimate is that I owe £9,000

Our previous supplier went bust and we were transferred onto British Gas. I know we were previously on a fixed rate deal and the unit charges were a lot lower. I guess I need to find out when the meter was last read.

This is really worrying me. I can’t pay £9k, but I could make a significant payment and I’m hoping they would be willing to work with me. I also hope that as most of it is likely to be pre-British Gas era they will be more flexible,

Yep, it sounds a bit like you were offered an artificially low quote by another energy firm, to tempt you into moving. We got offered £48 a month from one energy firm, (who have now gone under,) when BG were charging £87. (For duel fuel - gas and electric.) I thought 'but we will still be using the same amount of electric and gas, so how can they undercut by a third?' I didn't trust it. So we stayed put.

I know a number of people who went to another firm and were quite smug at how their 'dual fuel' had dropped from around £110 a month to around £55, and OURS was costing £85-90. (Some 2-4 years back.) The energy company(s) folded last year and they are now between £700 and £1500 in debt. Their new quotes are around £250 to £300 a month. Not only do they have 50% added onto their energy bills, but also, the debt needs clawing back.

Our joint cost now(the NEW price,) for gas and electric is £125 a month. £75 electric and £50 gas.

Several years ago, DH's cousin and his wife were super smug when their joint energy was half of ours, and said we were 'fucking stupid' to not switch.

They are £1800 in debt after their energy company folded. And their joint energy bill is £315 a month. He's not so smug now. (We are a bit though. Especially after he roasted us and called us stupid for not switching.)

Martin Lewis gives a lot of good advice, but he was hugely wrong about this. The energy companies, tempting people (with artificially low offers to switch,) and Martins' advice, and virtual INSISTENCE that people switch energy companies, (and shaking his head in dismay at people on his show who said they haven't done it,) has forced a lot of people into debt.

Talk to the company they will set up a payment plan with you.

Get a reading submitted before 31 March when prices go up. They’re expected to go up again in October so there is no point in hanging on hoping they’ll go down. Once you’ve got an accurate bill you can work out next steps. £10,000 seems very excessive even running immersion heaters and fan heaters etc. If that is what appears on the bill contact your supplier to see if they can help work out what’s gone wrong. At the very least they should work out an affordable payment plan. If they are not helpful contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline. Energy is one of their specialities and they should be able to help you:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue-energy/

@LeroyJenkinssss

How many electric heaters was she running?

Because I hate to say this but if you’ve used 30,000 kWh extra over a year that would be 82 kWh per day or 3.4 kWh per hour. That would be what two 1.75 kWh electric heaters would use so isn’t hugely outside the realms of possibility. If your rate is 34p/kWh though it would be around right I’m sorry to say. I’m on 21p/kWh so would £6.5k.

I know this because we’ve had insurance renovation work and they’ve just laid the floors and stuck two 2.5kWh electric heaters on 24/7 (the radiators are off) and it’s going to cost us £175 a week until the rads are back on

When my friends' house was flooded, they had dehumidifiers and heaters going non-stop for weeks. The cost was covered under their insurance..

@RewildingAmbridge

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

And that cannabis grow should offset your £10k expenses.

Thanks for all your replies. I can only read 2 years back on my online account and the reading is always estimated. No one has been here to read the meter. The meter is a modern one. I am not making a mistake reading after the decimal point unfortunately.

The last estimated bill was. 72872
but the actual reading is 97985.

On my calculations at 30p per kw it looks like a bill of £7.5K.

We were on a tariff until 31 December at 20p per kw. But since then it's been 30p per kw.

Will they charge on the old tariff or the current tariff as it's obvious we couldn't have used that much electricity in a couple of months.

For clarity we live in a 4 bed regular house, the main issue has been mil who insisted on being warm continuously, and lied about the electric radiators being on, she was very difficult. Also, the emersion heater which has been on a lot due to having several people living here and showers throughout the day. Other than that nothing extraordinary just the usual family use.

Have you not submitted readings yourself over the last two years?

I would think it would largely be charged at 20p/kWh. But that is still a lot. When did you last have a non-estimated reading?

There are limits as to how far back bills can go and an obligation to obtain readings periodically, When was the last estimated reading?

Have you submitted your own readings to them or do you have a smart meter?

How long was MIL with you.
Does she get the winter fuel payment?

She should offer you that money at least

When did you last submit a reading?

Is your MIL able to contribute or has she passed/in a home?

Why have you not been submitting your own meter readings?

Thanks for the advice on my friend's situation. I'm going to see her later to see if I can read both meters for her, and try to work out what she owes. I'm expecting it to be worse than the OPs. She's never read the meter herself or done a reading and it is at least 10 years since the last one came out (and complained about how difficult accessing the meter was.

My friend doesn't have a smart meter either.

Prices will increase dramatically from 1st April so I would make sure the reading is provided prior to then and agree a payment plan.

How long have you lived there? Did you at least read the meter when you moved in?

Are you sure your 20p and 30p figures are correct, That would have been a high rate to have fixed at pre Dec 20

Are you in the UK?

I think tbh if you've used that amount of electricity since you last took a proper meter reading they'll expect you to pay for it. I don't know if they have a ruled about how it's their responsibility to check it every so often? That might be your best bet

@j89vsd

Apologies for jumping on the OPs thread but I have a family friend in a very similar situation, although in their case they might owe more than £10k. Their electric meter is in an awkward location and they told me recently they've not checked it for years. About 10 years ago someone came out to read the meter (and complained it was difficult to access - friend has a very cluttered home) but no one's been since and she's paid the estimated bill. This came out when discussing energy prices recently and she said hers was just estimated and always has been. Her gas meter is external but they haven't read that for about 8 years for some reason and she's not checked that either. She uses a lot of electricity/ gas because of having a lot of electrical equipment, underfloor heating, central heating on all the time in winter, aircon units in summer so the bills will certainly be out.

She is very head in the sand about things so I don't know what to tell her, but I feel worried on her behalf if that is a thing.

Are they likely to write it off if there's £1000s owing and it goes back years? I know the OPs situation seems more recent than that so that might be different.

The utility companies have to come and read the meter every 2 years. Has she refused entry to meter readers or have they written to her to make an appointment or ask her to take a reading and she has ignored the letter or left cards saying that they came to read the meters?

My electricity meter wasn't read for over 2 years during lockdowns and the actual reading was higher than the estimated reading by the time it was read. The electricity company assumed that my use was the same for each year and only charged me the difference for the preceding year, as per backbilling rules eg if the actually usage was 100kWh more than the estimated reading after 2 years, they only billed me for 50kWh for the most recent year.

However, they had made no attempt in any way to get an accurate meter reading during that time.

@AuditAngel and op, we are the same. Energy company went bust, transferred to British Gas. It was upped to £180 per month. Now they want £700 per month, about £8K for the year. We had a smart meter fitted a few months back and have always submitted readings. We think it must be based on the 3 winter lockdown months last year. What the hell is going on?? Just a normal family in a 4 bed. Not large.

I can't see when we had a last actual reading because the online account only shows the past 2 years and don't have any paper bills anymore.

The last estimated reading was 14 January 2022.

Husband has not read meter just paid the estimated bills.

MIL has been with us for over 3 years but is not with us anymore.