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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:
Hutchy16 · 12/03/2022 18:18

Found this article:

www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/energy/energy-back-billing/

Might give some reassurances, for example that they can’t go back more than 12m.

Hopefully it helps you get an idea of what to do as it points to some citizens advice links etc too

Bromse · 12/03/2022 18:24

Interesting. I don't have a tank or an immersion heater but when I did, it was more efficient to keep the immersion heater on all the time. I needed a good supply of hot water, not just for baths and showers but the washing machine and the dishwasher.

I can remember, when I was growing up, my mum being watchful of it, only having it on for a certain time and then it was switched off. It was a pain!

Electric showers are good, the water comes out instantly hot and you don't need to have a tank of hot water for them.

None of that is very helpful to the op at the moment. I'm sure her bill will not be as huge as she anticipates but she must get someone round to read the meter again.

Snugglepumpkin · 12/03/2022 18:33

I wouldn't expect them to be understanding about any money you owe.

I stupidly contacted British Gas because a year before they had sent me a combined gas & electricity bill & I wanted the 2 as separate bills (used to pay quarterly at the time).
They had accidentally put something on their system that told them I had no electricity instead of just going back to separate bills, so I only got a Gas bill after that.
I'd ring them up, ask when I was going to get an electricity bill, they'd tell me they would look into it & do nothing because the computer said I wasn't an electricity customer.

Just before I would have qualified for the 12 months without a bill (not knowing about that at the time) I phoned up & demanded they get to the bottom of it & they finally realised why I hadn't had a bill.

If I'd waited a day or two, they couldn't have charged me a penny & if I hadn't been honest it could have been years before they figured it out.

A week later I got a bill for my electricity for the whole previous year along with a really nasty letter telling me they had entered my non payment on my credit record & that if I didn't pay it within 7 days they'd be taking me to court.
They'd issued my bill & sent it straight to their collections department.

They backed down on the court thing & let me pay it in 2 instalments - half straight away & half the next month.

I was absolutely not in the wrong & didn't even get an apology or a thank you for telling them.

Mirw · 12/03/2022 18:51

You used it. You have to pay for it. If you haven't had your meter read, you should have contacted your provider. You need to be adult about it and take responsibility. Otherwise it is theft and your provider has every right to send the bailiffs round.

Warszawa · 12/03/2022 18:52

Yeah sounds like you have been underpaying based on the estimated readings.

They won't charge it all on the latest bill - it will need to be apportioned out on lower rates as you haven't just used it in the last 6 months - prob still taking 6.5 k.

They will let you pay it back monthly plus your usage - prob looking at 4/500 per month to cover both over 2 years.

BenchBench · 12/03/2022 18:57

Send MIL a bill.
Whenever we’re sent an estimated bill they always ask is once a month to send an actual metre reading/to check it ourselves to stay accurate

j89vsd · 12/03/2022 19:01

@Mirw

You used it. You have to pay for it. If you haven't had your meter read, you should have contacted your provider. You need to be adult about it and take responsibility. Otherwise it is theft and your provider has every right to send the bailiffs round.
Thats hardly a helpful comment.

I don't think bailiffs will be sent round if an offer to pay is made, either for my friend or the OP.

And £500 extra a month isn't going to be affordable, who has that much spare case lying around?

I do wonder in my friends case if there isn't some problem with her meter, as even having the heating on a lot and underfloor heating in her bathroom her bills are still more than 3 times mine based on what she pays now, adding in the extra she 'should' have been paying it's more like 4 times that.

Hellocatshome · 12/03/2022 19:05

I do wonder in my friends case if there isn't some problem with her meter

This is easy to figure out.
Firstly turn everything off and I mean everything, every switch turned off, even the fridge/freezer. Preferably turn the electric off at the fuse box. Are the numbers still going up on the metre? If not then its fine.

Roselilly36 · 12/03/2022 19:06

@Bromse

Interesting. I don't have a tank or an immersion heater but when I did, it was more efficient to keep the immersion heater on all the time. I needed a good supply of hot water, not just for baths and showers but the washing machine and the dishwasher.

I can remember, when I was growing up, my mum being watchful of it, only having it on for a certain time and then it was switched off. It was a pain!

Electric showers are good, the water comes out instantly hot and you don't need to have a tank of hot water for them.

None of that is very helpful to the op at the moment. I'm sure her bill will not be as huge as she anticipates but she must get someone round to read the meter again.

No it wouldn’t, an emersion heater is like a giant kettle, why would you run that 24/7 totally unnecessary.
Roselilly36 · 12/03/2022 19:07

Washing machines & dishwashers are cold fill.

Triotriotrio · 12/03/2022 19:08

My friend has electric underfloor heating, she doesn't use it often as it can cost up to £8 a day on cold days, and that is just in one room!!

2022IamHavingYa · 12/03/2022 19:35

I’ve just checked my bills out of panic! Phew, smart meter readings are sent monthly so my bill is accurate. I was starting to worry a bit there as can’t remember giving a reading since I lived in 2 years ago…

j89vsd · 12/03/2022 19:36

Friend's underfloor heating is just in one room. Well actually 2 but she only uses it in one. Her house isn't that warm really, but if she doesn't have the heating on its freezing, you can see your breath in winter, that kind of thing. I do feel for her.

We've sent the email now, I didn't fully work out what she owes as I wasn't sure of the rate but on the rate I pay it was definitely over £10k. Which must mean her bill would be something like £900 or more a quarter if she'd been paying at the right amount all along.

whynotwhatknot · 12/03/2022 19:38

I do mine online havent had a meter reader round in a bout 2-3 years

theres no excuse to just pay the estimated then get shocked when the true bill comes in

whynotwhatknot · 12/03/2022 19:40

Can they legally turn off your supply or do they just take you to court

j89vsd · 12/03/2022 19:41

I do love all these holier than thou posters who've clearly never made a mistake in their lives!

It does make me think how antiquated the whole meter system is though, relying on people to give readings. If my friend hasn't mentioned this to me today she could have gone on for another 10 years or more presumably?

Hellocatshome · 12/03/2022 19:43

Can they legally turn off your supply or do they just take you to court

They go to court for a warrant to enter your home to fit a prepayment meter and recover the debt and so much per top up. If it gets to this stage its best to have one fitted voluntarily so you dont have to pay all the court fees as well.

j89vsd · 12/03/2022 19:46

@Hellocatshome

Can they legally turn off your supply or do they just take you to court

They go to court for a warrant to enter your home to fit a prepayment meter and recover the debt and so much per top up. If it gets to this stage its best to have one fitted voluntarily so you dont have to pay all the court fees as well.

Sorry what is this based on? Why would they fit a prepayment meter if its a debt they didn't even know about til the customer admitted it, and had made an offer for payment?

Seems completely disproportionate to get a warrant to enter. I can't tell my friend that is s risk, she'll be distraught.

haggisaggis · 12/03/2022 19:47

We had not had a meter reading for a while and when I finally took one and submitted it, it came up as a huge bill BUT what had actually happened was the estimated readings had over estimated the electricity used and so they had gone round the clock past 100000 and restarted at 0 - so my actual reading was still below 100000 so looked like we’d used loads of electricity but actually electricity company owed us.

ChickenStripper · 12/03/2022 19:47

@j89vsd

I do love all these holier than thou posters who've clearly never made a mistake in their lives!

It does make me think how antiquated the whole meter system is though, relying on people to give readings. If my friend hasn't mentioned this to me today she could have gone on for another 10 years or more presumably?

That is why there are smart meters.
j89vsd · 12/03/2022 19:48

You don't have to have a smart meter though? I don't have one either.

Hellocatshome · 12/03/2022 19:49

*Hellocatshome

Can they legally turn off your supply or do they just take you to court

They go to court for a warrant to enter your home to fit a prepayment meter and recover the debt and so much per top up. If it gets to this stage its best to have one fitted voluntarily so you dont have to pay all the court fees as well.

Sorry what is this based on? Why would they fit a prepayment meter if its a debt they didn't even know about til the customer admitted it, and had made an offer for payment?

Seems completely disproportionate to get a warrant to enter. I can't tell my friend that is s risk, she'll be distraught.*

Funnily enough it was based on the question a poster asked that I quoted in my reply it wasn't about your friends situation Hmm

kittensinthekitchen · 12/03/2022 19:53

@j89vsd

I do love all these holier than thou posters who've clearly never made a mistake in their lives!

It does make me think how antiquated the whole meter system is though, relying on people to give readings. If my friend hasn't mentioned this to me today she could have gone on for another 10 years or more presumably?

It's not holier than thou to pay for what you use. Surely financial literacy is one of the important things we teach our children about.
kittensinthekitchen · 12/03/2022 19:56

@haggisaggis

We had not had a meter reading for a while and when I finally took one and submitted it, it came up as a huge bill BUT what had actually happened was the estimated readings had over estimated the electricity used and so they had gone round the clock past 100000 and restarted at 0 - so my actual reading was still below 100000 so looked like we’d used loads of electricity but actually electricity company owed us.
If the actual reading was higher number than the estimate but because it had cycled round again, that means you'd used over 100k units? That's more than just not reading the meter "for a while". That is years at an average household consumption.
HollowTalk · 12/03/2022 19:59

So when you were contacted asking you to enter mater readings did you just ignore it?

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