Electric bill problem, I think I owe £15k :o

[electricbills]

This is not a begging thread before anyone piles on. But I am in a flap over discovering the above.

I've had some health issues, plus building works at home which combined together meant I've not been able to read my meter for a few years as it's in an awkward spot. I can't remember the last time either I gave a reading or anyone came out.

I can now access the meter and with all the stuff about electric prices rising I thought I should start with a clean slate. I couldn't access any of the previous readings online but submitted my figure of 31460.

I've since had a bill (obviously generated before my reading) and according to this my last estimate was 52440. I can't access any bills or readings online further back than 12 months and I don't get paper bills haven't for years.

So by my rough calculations based on kwh of I think 21p, I owe about 15k. My usual bills are about £300-400 per quarter. I feel sick.

I can just about pay it if I completely empty my savings and sell some stuff. But it's such a huge amount of money. I couldn't pay it in one go.

What do I do now?

I’m sure there was an identical thread to this last week.

@electricbills

I did try to open the meter cupboard with my nails and pliers but no luck. I don't really talk much to my neighbours, we're on nodding and waving hello terms but thats about it so asking for a key they might not have feels a bit uncomfortable. Now I know they are available cheaply online etc I'll just buy one.

How have you done a meter reading if you can not open the cupboard?

What happened when the company came to do their yearly readings?

I have never had meter readers coming to do readings on an annual basis. Meter readers carry a key

OP says her gas meter is in a cabinet not her electricity meter

Sorry if someone else has mentioned this but have you ever looked at what tariff you are paying or did you always just pay the standard variable price? Now the standard variable price is ok but it hasn't been in the past.

For the love of god, don’t ring them and say you think the meter has gone round again! Far more likely they owe you :)

Sorry if someone else has mentioned this but have you ever looked at what tariff you are paying or did you always just pay the standard variable price? Now the standard variable price is ok but it hasn't been in the past.

Also OP, is your meter cupboard carpeted or tiled?

Op I have loads of the yellow keys. Happy to post one to you if you pm me.

I wonder if any of the zillions of Mumsnetters who never open the door to anyone are reading this thread.

OP, I think ofgem require energy companies to read your meter at least every two,years. I don't know if COVID has changed this though.

We recently discovered we owe money, just over £4k.
The company will take a larger DD each month and just whittle it down. You can’t transfer supplier while In debt to your current one.

Call them and speak to a human and they will be able to help.

Call them and speak to a human and they will be able to help.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH

I'm trying to work out whether there
would have been a cunning plan where you drip feed the meter reading correction in slowly over the next couple of years in order to get the benefit of having overpaid at lower prices, but I think that the numbers involved are so high that it would take ages and in the meantime you'd live in fear that an actual meter reader would turn up.

So it's just as well that you've done the straightforward thing and just given the correct meter reading straight away.

Hope your health is on the mend.

@FingonTheValiant

You really need to call. I submit a reading that was well under estimate and their computer decided it had gone all the way round and I owed the 8k. A person easily understood that that was not the case. FGS do not assume that submitting the reading will fix this. You will get a bill for 15k. *@electricbills*

My original provider (the former electricity board) put a new meter (economy 7 style so a day and night reading) and they got the first two meter readings reversed.

Then every time they got a reading from the meter reading, the office reversed the record so that they matched what is there.

Eventually I tagged on and realised I owed a lot of money. I arranged a more favourable tariff and to pay it off over 5 years. Only their computer couldn't manage more than one year, so I year later they demanded the lot. Managed to negotiate a discount for paying it all off so I could go to another provider.

Then I found out that I needn't have paid it at all because it was their mistake. They kept quiet about that .

Always worth talking it over with the CAB or something if you are in debt because of them.

We have a smart meter which had been reading the electricity but not the gas (which we didn’t know about) when we gave our reading on 31st March we found out that we owed £590 they still haven’t sorted the bloody thing though! Twats.

@electricbills I've been in my house 15 years
It was a new build that started at 0 and neither gas or electric meter has gone all the way round

If you’re that concerned read the meter again. That way you’ll see how much you’ve used since you last read it.

Its pretty clear they owe you quite a lot of money.

and we are a family of 4 and since new meter installed in 2016 have used 29,000 kwh

I suggest you look at the Ofgem website. I think they state on there that you can't be billed for more than year retrospectively but you need to check that out in case I misunderstood it. Of course, your supplier will know this but doesn't mean they won't try to get away with it if you don't quote them. I had a similar problem last year where my meter hadn't been read for years because no one could access it but the mention of Ofgem worked wonders!

When you ring ask them to send you a key for the cupboard and they'll just post you one out. Eon did that for me when I mentioned I couldnt find my key and was going to buy one.

@WhyCantPeopleBeNice

We had an issue where I hadn't read the meter readings, and the electric provider hadn't either. I forget the timings but there is a limit on how far back they can charge you, so if it really has gone all the way around, some blame lies with them. Do not panic We ended up having a £5k bill reduced to £2k, which I've been paying off at £30 a month interest free.

Can you point me in the direction of where you found this info re time limit please?

It would probably take around 25 years of average electricity usage for the meter to go all the way round. So you'd have to have no actual readings for about 15-20 years for this to go unnoticed.

I assume that the company has procedures in place to deal with this. Either fit a new meter, or just add the 99xxx to 99999 and 00000 to 00xxx bits together and carry on.

I have inattentive ADHD and I am unfort terrible with bills. I had also not given my reading in ages - I was petrified I would owe thousands but it turned out they owed me money. I know its scary but just call them and sort it out.

www.ofgem.gov.uk/check-energy-back-billing-rules

This is the link for the Ofgem back billing rules as I mentioned above.

My meter was fitted in Dec 2017 and since then I've used just over 9,000kw. So it's vanishingly unlikely you've "gone round the meter". And no, the energy company won't think that at all.

Just submit the reading, do them weekly for a while and see what happens.

I put my meter readings in last week and according to the app it was 988 days since my last one. Tuned out I'd under paid gas by about £25 and over paid else by £19 so the estimate system clearly had worked well. It's virtually impossible that you owe 15k when youve been paying regularly however just over £100 pm is cheap for a 4 bed - I pay more and live in a tiny 2 bed flat so I'd also be surprised if they owed you over £4K. Are you sure you have your meters the right way around? My gas is indoors and electric is out and this has been the case everywhere I've lived

My gas meter is outside and my electricity is indoors.