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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think £356 for a quarterly gas bill has to be a mistake??

43 replies

vampirebankholidayweekend · 27/03/2009 15:52

I have just opened it this morning...felt quite sick!
We live in a 3 bed semi, we don't have the heating on all day/ night, we have a gas oven & hob and a fire in the living room.
Our last quarterly bill was £99, i thought that was quite steep, but with prices rising, i accepted it as reasonable, then got this!
I have rung them (EDF energy) they have asked me to give them another meter reading, as the last one was estimated.
Surely anyone can see that this amount of money is outrageous for a 3 bed house!!!
Can I be nosey and ask what other's bills are like compared to this?

OP posts:
MrsHappy · 27/03/2009 15:55

3 bedroom, victorian end of terrace. Not terribly massive or well insulated. The heating is on in the day but our boiler is not turned up high. £600-ish. Makes me want to scream. In our last house it was more like £200. I blame Eon and am looking to move asap.

MuppetsMuggle · 27/03/2009 15:56

WOW - that has to be wrong surely. I think I would of felt sick opening that too!

Our last one was £129, but at one point had the heating on alot as DD was ill.

herbietea · 27/03/2009 15:56

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differentID · 27/03/2009 15:57

given that is £400 for 6 months no, that's about right.

RumourOfAHurricane · 27/03/2009 15:57

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RumourOfAHurricane · 27/03/2009 15:59

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Bonneville · 27/03/2009 15:59

vampire - this seems to be about average for the last quarter.

mankyscotslass · 27/03/2009 16:01

No that seems about right. we sre in a 3 bed semi and ours was £356 for the last quarter.

Original poster
vampirebankholidayweekend · 27/03/2009 16:02

Good grief.....How do they expect people to find this sort of money????
It was actually over £400, before thye took our DD out of £75

I really do hope it's a mistake...

OP posts:
PuppyMonkey · 27/03/2009 16:02

My last British Gas bill was £470 - for four bed detached house, admittedly, but even so

Don't be surprised if your actual reading ends up being a bigger bill, either.

mankyscotslass · 27/03/2009 16:03

Fingers x for you, but I don't think it will be.

We knew it was coming though, we had been tracking our readings and updating them every couple of weeks.

Bonneville · 27/03/2009 16:03

Its disgusting isn't it? I think they're trying to kill us all off!

DaisyMooSteiner · 27/03/2009 16:13

I would guess that your £99 bill was an underestimate and this bill includes some catch-up. It's possible that it's been underestimated for some time too, or you might need to turn the heating down, have it on less and look at re-insulating your house.

WhoTookMyMemoryStick · 27/03/2009 16:22

For the last few months I have been transferring the difference in out mortgage payment to a savings account. Every single bit has gone on the gas bill. Thank god for a variable rate mortgage!

Thrifty · 27/03/2009 16:29

we have the lowest tarrif going aparently with Scottish Power and tbh that sounds about right.
its so damn expensive that we have turned off our heating and hot water and only put it on the 1hr setting when we get really cold or if the water needs heating.
Have actually discovered by doing this that we only need to put the water on for 1hr every 2-3 days (baths permitting) as it stays hot in the tank!
I also worked out that our heating costs £1 an hour to run.
Roll on the summer, as our monthly DD to scottish power rocketed from £60 pm (G&E) to £144!

Thrifty · 27/03/2009 16:31

oh, btw, we are also in a 3bed semi. not a detached mansion in siberia!

sarah293 · 27/03/2009 16:33

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MaryMotherOfCheeses · 27/03/2009 16:33

Ours was £300 for 3 months over winter. 3 bed semi.

Apparently our usage was up 25% on the same period last year. And the house was still cold, we didn't have the heating on on weekday mornings.

I phoned British Gas and they just talked about 40% price increases.

It is scary isn't it.

expatinscotland · 27/03/2009 16:34

Unfortunately, that sounds about right.

Lulumama · 27/03/2009 16:34

i wish mine was that low. £1500 per year here...gas prices have gone up massively

traceybath · 27/03/2009 16:35

4 bed detatched and poor insulation/sash windows etc (rented). We pay £96 per month for calor gas and i am very frugal with heating.

eandh · 27/03/2009 16:35

ours for Oct-Feb was £300ish (we pay £60per month so intheory we owe them £120 but thankfully electric bill was £100 in credit so swapped that over to gas bill) we are in 3 bed end of semi heating on few hours in the morning and evening and very occaionally (ie snow etc) all day

DaisyMooSteiner · 27/03/2009 16:38

We have oil central heating. Averaged out over the year it costs about £25 a month.

WhoTookMyMemoryStick · 27/03/2009 16:40

I used to have oil too and it cost me more than that 7 years ago.

Khara · 27/03/2009 16:44

We've just got ours today - £291 for a 3 bed semi. We cook with gas & have gas central heating (although new boiler about 2 yrs ago which is much more energy efficient.) I'm at home all day so obviously have heating on quite a bit - especially this winter!
My mum & dad have just had theirs as well. Again 3-bed semi was £335. They don't even cook with gas, but do have an old boiler.