Firstly let me apologise, the title might seem goady but honestly I am at a loss.
I am on a pay as you go meter for both gas and electric. I put £40 on both (so £80 total) at the start of the month and it lasts almost exactly til the next monthly top, usually with a few pounds left to spare.
2 bedroom house, quite old but in good condition, although single glazing and very large Victorian sash windows. Myself and 2 children at home.
Heating is on 4 hours a day total, sometimes 3 hours. That’s 2 large 5ft wide radiators and a smaller 3ft one. 3 baths a week and a shower every night. The house rarely gets cold because of the bursts of heating.
Electricity wise we are average I would say. Always a couple of lamps on, a tv, tumble dryer and washing machine both on once per day. Charging things sporadically as most do, like phones and what not.
3 days a week I am at work and both kids in nursery / school, so between 9-5 three days a week no one home, but the rest of the week we are pretty much always here.
I am at a total loss. I have friends and family who are crippled by the rising costs, everyone I know is saying it’s become a living nightmare. I have called our supplier (SSE) twice now (just off the phone to them there now, which prompted this post) to check there is not something seriously wrong with the meters! Both times they have said no, nothing that they can see on their system.
Now on top of this anomaly, SSE text me once a month with a top up code for £33 of free electric. I have no idea why, I have questioned this and just told if I receive the texts then I am entitled to use it. So not only am I not feeling the pinch, my bill is £33 lower than it ever has been. I’m somehow better off since this crisis than I was before, it makes absolutely no sense.
I am at a total loss and panicking because I’m convinced something is amiss and I will be hit with a huge debt.
Is there any way I can look into this properly? Frankly it seems massively unfair and I am baffled by it all. Some people close to me are saying they can’t put their heating on and they sit in a cold living room, I’ve put £20 on their meter for them a few times now as a top up but it goes in days!
is anyone else in this bizarre situation? It can’t be right surely.