SSE bill gone up

[weloveheyduggee]

Help! Just had an email from SSE saying our electric bill is going from £52 a month to £170 a month, over a £1,300 in the next year. What the hell? I'm waiting to call them at 8 but has anyone else had this? The last meter reading was taken by someone coming to the house. We haven't used any more electric than usual, we're really careful about not leaving lights on and only put the heating on a couple of weeks ago. There's no way we can afford it and I feel sick to my stomach, we're living on a knifes edge as it is and I think this will be the thing that pushes us over. Any idea? Is it a mistake or has the tariff gone up? I want to be prepared when I phone and not just cry or scream at them.

£52 sounds low. How big is your house, how many bedrooms? Do you give regular readings? I have an app and give readings regularly so my direct debit will adjust accordingly and I can see exactly whether I am paying the correct amount. Mine is around £120 per month (gas and electric) for a 4 bed detached in Scotland

It's a new 2 bed terrace house, south England. Only 2 adults and a toddler, surely that's too much?

I'm in 3 bed and electricity is just over £50 per month too. Maybe your deal ran out and now you're on standard rates which are higher? They should have warned you about that though. Good luck when you speak to them!

Is that gas too or just electric? If it’s just electric, that sounds really high! You need to tell them you just can’t afford it and it will push you into fuel poverty.

@dementedpixie wow you need to change provider. I stay in Scotland, large 3 bed house and I'm only £50 a month. £120?? That's crazy

For reference, we pay just over £100 for gas and electric, similar house but a fair old usage.

I guess I'll have to look to hang supplier in that case. I still can't afford the £170 on November 1st, what happens if I refuse to pay?

Just eclectic but we don't have gas

Change tariffs if it’s not a mistake. SSE are very expensive. I’ve just switched from them to people’s energy. I recommend using Flipper. They change your tariff automatically as soon as they can save you more than a limit you set per year. Costa £25 but they only take it once they have saved you that much

Electric is much more expensive than gas. Do you have storage heaters?

Just electric? Yes just tell them you can't afford it, you can give the amount that is currently set up but that's it. Ask to speak to a manager too

@Sisgal for our usage our provider is very reasonable. We would never only use £50 of gas/ Electric per month. I do shop around

Have they provided a bill to say how much you have used/ whether your payment is covering what you use?

Have you looked online and checked the meter reading is right?

Have you gone up to a higher tariff?

Check those 2 things online now.

I pay £70 a month for Gas & Electric.
I give a reading online on the 1st of every month.

Im with Bulb. Go on Uswitch to check who is the best provider at the mo. It takes 2 mins.

Aah well if your happy paying above the odds good luck to you!

£52 is super low if you have no gas. Ours is £94 electric and £50 gas. 3 bed semi, 4 of us. I think you need to talk to them and see if you can work out a payment plan if some of that is back payment as well as bill.

Thanks for the help everyone, really appreciate it. Going to look at other options now and tell SSE we can only pay £52 then we'll be switching. Do I cancel the direct debit to make sure they don't take more?

I think that's their projection for the next year

When does your contract end?

My lecky has gone up £40 but we gave been slack recently with using too much. So now I'm constantly turning stuff off. I recently changed to Bulb who are cheap...so it must be us.

But £52 may not cover your full usage. You may not be able to switch until you pay off what you owe if its a large amount

Do you have an air source heat pump by any chance? We used to have one in our 2 bed new build (2 adults, 1 toddler) and so only had an electric bill. Tbh our energy supplier just didn't understand it and it took ages to get onto the property tarrif. In the end we paid on average £80/month - less in summer.

I'm also wondering if the £50/month was too low and so now they've added an underpayment to your new amount. Call and find out what's going on and write down everything. Explain that you can't afford to pay more.

We put £100/month aside for our bill and pay quarterly based on actual readings so have £300/quarter. Any money left over is put aside into a pot for the winter bill. It works for us and means that we don't have to worry about underpayments or estimates having been wrong when actual readings are taken.

• proper tarrif (not property)

Just don't get into arrears with them. If you owe them money they won't let you switch. Such a jump suggests your account is in debit and you have been under paying for a considerable amount of time.

Have everything ready when you call them. Write it down, so you can read it to them;

Make sure you have looked online and checked the meter reading is right.

Check if you have gone up to a higher tariff.

Check when your contract ends.

Do NOT let them put you into a new contract whilst you are on the phone.

You must go on Uswitch & check who is not just cheapest but who has no exit fees/good customer care/rewards to join etc.