to think people who don't have Smart Meters and who pay monthly or quarterly are going to be in for a shock at their next bill?

[cakeorwine]

Gas has gone up from 4p a kWH this time last year to 10p a kWH this year.
Obviously people with Smart Meters can see this on their display.

But if you still give readings and wait till the bill arrives, I think there are going to be some real surprises. Gas use is at its highest over the next few months.

I know people will have the £66 off their bill - but it's going to be high.

At least with Smart Meters, you can see daily use. Submitting a reading and then getting a statement and bill is going to be a shock for some people.

Mine too. It’s instant, I don’t have to wait for it to generate a bill. I could enter meter readings daily if I wanted.

But sadly - there are many people who don't understand their energy bill, who don't understand the conversions and who will get bills in January and April that are going to be massive.

You can see on here that people struggle to understand bills - and even got the energy price cap confused.

I have smart meters but they are from old supplier and don't work. I submit my meter readings all the time on my phone and it bills my account instantly, so no OP I don't have a clue what your talking about.

Not everyones supplier is like yours 🙄

I can't have a smart meter as my meter isn't compatible with them. I give monthly readings.

People who get a monthly or quarterly bill

There are people out there who still do that. Who don't pay by DD

I haven't got a smart meter but send in readings each month

I think realistically those most likely to be caught out will be those who are in a panic about the costs so keeping their heads in the sand a bit (understandably so)

We pay a set amount each month into our gas account. The amount stays the same each month even during the warmer seasons when we're not really using it. We are always way over in credit - just let it keep building.

We dont use a smart meter. Would be interesting to see how much it actually goes up by over the next few months.

Even then though the online accounts will update pretty quickly to show what’s owed. Or people can work out from the standing charge and usage if they don’t want to wait for it to update

What is your point? Are you on commission for smart meter sign-ups?

This is what I am talking about.

I know what my gas is costing me - on a daily basis. It's a lot.
I think that when people submit their readings and get a bill this month / quarter, it's going to be a surprise to some.

YABU. We all know it’s bloody expensive we don’t need a smart meter to tell us. I do regular meter readings.

I do have a monthly DD though. No matter what plan your on you can submit everyday and it will calculate your usage instantly and adjust your balance if you like just like others have said.

Some people are oblivious and in for a shock, lots of people are aware it's gone up but struggle to work out what that means for them, lots also know it's gone up and are dealing with that but also lots of people are on fixed rates that won't go up until their fixed terms are up and they won't have a difference for quite a bit. Generalisation doesn't help with the confusion over bills as circumstances vary so much.

We are fixed until October 23 so no difference, except as it's generally been milder here up to this past week or so our autumn /winter bill is less than anticipated as we used less gas in October & November than usual.

My point is that I think there is going to be a shock for some people when they put their readings in.

And possibly people saying they can't afford it - although they have used it.

I worked out, using last years bills, that during December, Jan and Feb if I use the same amount of gas and electricity then my bills will by around £600 pm. We have built a credit of over 1k coming into winter so this should cover us. There are lots of calculators online to work out your bills.

No smart meter here, we’re capable of a monthly meter reading and being mindful of usage and using much less, worked for us, we are £££ in credit and a monthly DD which is manageable. It means I’m not sat here on a freezing day stressing about the display on a smart meter because we’ve left the heating on all day at 18.

I am not sure if that applies to those people who don't understand their bills - of which there are many

How do you know this for a fact?

Then this is not about people like you.

If people pay on receipt of bill, it's going to be a shock for some people.

I full understand my gas and electric, both are prepayment meters. Money runs out no electric or gas, so need to put money on the meter.

I don't have a smart meter but my usage for November came to £9 and I had my heating on loads... Don't know what's going on but I'm not rocking that boat 😂👍

Since most of us sensible people who be reading our meters every month have a very good idea how much fuel we use each month,know how much costs have gone up so have a pretty good idea of the bill.
Most of us already have everything cut back,a smart meter won't change that or reduce the bills.
I've also built up credit.
Last month bill at the increased rate was £78 dual fuel.

www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/news/2016/04/11/consumers-still-dont-understand-energy-bills/

A survey of 2,000 adults has found that customers vote energy suppliers the worst offenders for sending confusing bills, coming behind those including water companies, mortgage lenders, councils, phone companies and credit card lenders.
Consumers haven't noticed an improvement to bills
Despite Ofgem reforms two years ago designed to make energy bills easier to understand, almost half (48%) of consumers have noticed no difference.

Only if they don't keep an eye on their usage and costs. You don't need a smart meter or regular DD to know what you've used.

You can submit readings as often as you like and your account will show you your usage.

But sometimes you do need a smart meter to tell you! That's the whole point of them, they are telling you straight out how much you're using. I glance at mine several times a day and it does keep me in check. I can't be bothered crouching down under the stairs with a torch every day and then finding the piece of paper where I'd written yesterday's usage and then work out the difference and calculate it by the cost per unit.