Huge electricity bill HELP

[Stu905]

Hi there. I have received a huge electricity bill from SSE at just over £4800 which they are looking to collect at £324 per month until cleared.

They stated that this is due to how much energy/electricity I used in the winter months (I joined SSE in November of 2020) I have disputed it with them but they are adamant this is my fault.

I live alone in a 2 bedroom flat, but I am out for most of the day either at college or work. When at home I rarely watch TV. Bearing in mind this bill is for electricity only so the only appliances that would be used is the lighting, shower, TV and on the odd occasion the laptop. Heating and the cooker is gas which is pay as you go.

I had the same issue 2 months ago where I received a £5000 bill but they admitted their fault as the smart meter was faulty but this time it is supposedly because of my energy consumption.

I have told them that it is near impossible for me to have used that much electricity in a 2/3 month period and that there must be a massive issue at their end.

Could someone have fiddled with wires and I am paying for their consumption ?
Is it due to energy companies struggling financially themselves that they are creating false bills ? Both of these are probably unlikely but it has to be something.

Has anyone got advice or been in a similar situation ?

It can’t just be me who thinks this is a huge error on their part. HELP

You mentioned that you live in a flat. Are you sure you're not being billed for the whole building?!

There is definitely something wrong their end. If they had an issue with their smart meter I would hazard a guess as this is still the issue.
I would refuse to pay the amount they are asking but continue to pay your normal amount until the issue is resolved.
If they don't sort it then take it to the ombudsman.
Definitely worth double checking they are reading the right meter.

@Stu905 are you sure someone isn't cultivating a dope farm at your expense OP? That's an absolutely massive amount and seems extremely unlikely. Dispute it and contact the Utilities Ombudsman if you don't get any joy.

FWIW years ago I lived in a flat and my gas consumption was being recorded as really high. Fine and dandy, but I was hardly ever at home (living the high life at the time), so it clearly wasn't accurate (I wasn't one for having the heating on 24/7). I disputed it and although it wasn't entirely resolved to my satisfaction (the meter was clearly faulty), in the end it was settled.

Good luck!

Absolutely crazy! My electricity bill is £50 a month!

Lol I was thinking the dope farm thing myself. My neighbours are smokers of it but I doubt they have a farm.

Yeah, I will definitely be contacting the ombudsman. Glad to know it just isn’t me who thinks the amount is ridiculous as I’m very much like yourself, out living the high life ;) thanks.

It's definitely wrong op. SSE did just that to us. For £7000! Of course we knew it was wrong. It's not possible. They owed US money it turned out. Check the serial number of your meter see if it matches the bills. You cannot possibly owe that much. Ring them. Check your bills with a fine tooth comb. Go the the energy ombudsman.

I have had to cancel the direct debit as they changed it to £324 and would not reduce it :(

Apologies if I offend anyone, but from experience of energy companies, nobody uses their brain. I’ve had similar when I moved to this house. They gave me a bill of over £600 for one months usage. Nobody would understand I was single adult, out the house 50 plus hours a week and had been there about 20 days! I had to go to an official complaint until something was done and even then they said it was my error (no idea how it was a smart meter)

Contact Ofgem because this does not sound right

God, has nobody got a brain any more?! Of course this is an error. I'm shocked the person you spoke to didn't agree that it must be wrong 🙄

Don't stress, OP....if you had to take them to court you would win. Obviously, hopefully it doesn't need to get that far. This is why I refuse to have a 'smart' meter installed. They don't seem that smart!

I live alone in a flat- no gas, everything electric.

My electric is £50 a month because I'm never there...

sse.co.uk/about-us/sse-and-you/making-a-complaint

Above is their complaints process.

Idiots.

@TheHouseILiveIn yeah I was just thinking I hope it doesn’t get to the stage where court becomes the only option. I have a complaints manager contacting me tomorrow “supposedly” so hopefully it’s good news.

Just totally baffled that the advisor on the phone said it was my fault lol

@IceLace100 yeah mines was £37 and all of a sudden it’s £324. Thanks, I’ve sent them an email and have a manager calling me tomorrow. Hopefully it gets sorted

@MrsMoastyToasty wouldn’t surprise me if I was

@BrizzleMaverick sorry just figured out how to @ users to show my reply lol

@NewLifePending madness!! Don’t know where they pull their figures from :/

Do you have any meter readings OP? Could there have been a mistake in calculations somewhere? Was the smart meter fitted when you moved in, or has it been fitted since you've lived there?

I don't think it could use that amount, but I assume that there's no electric immersion heater that's been left on? Discounting this, it should be fairly easy to prove that the amount they're asking for is ludicrous. And they should know this too. They have access to millions of electricity bills so will know what's normal, so something is obviously wrong here, and it will either be a mistake, a faulty meter, or one of your neighbours has hacked your meter to run a weed farm (or Bitcoin mine because that's the latest thing).

I would have thought that, for the situation you describe, where you've already paid for heating and cooking with your gas bill, and you're out a lot, even if you're a good Mumsnet shower enthusiast and have 2 showers a day, your electricity bill shouldn't be more than about £30-40 pm.

Hopefully you get good news today, but if you have meter readings, have a work out what your bill should be so you have this information to hand.

£300 plus a month seems an awful lot for a 2 bed flat, is it possible that this isn’t being registered on your account. Something is definitely wrong somewhere along the line.

My mum had this with pfp energy. She got a bill for 500 for one month, she is widowed and lives alone. I sent emails, she was on the phone to them constantly. One person would agree there was a problem the next would be adamant the bill was correct. Then the debt collection letters started to come. She was terrified. Took four months and a complaint to the ombudsman to sort. I think she had to wait a certain number of weeks before the ombudsman could get involved though. So write down everything, any communication you have with them that is verbal, they will deny, get names and jot down the date of the initial query.

Turn off all the appliances and unplug all electric consumers in your flat. Check your meter and see if it is clocking up consumption.
If you can take a meter reading and leave it while at work or out and than take another a few hours later. You should get no consumption but if you do then someone has tapped your supply.
Also keep a daily log of consumption as this will be good evidence and useful if a technician calls to check the meter.
If you can try and list all consumers and their power rating. Usually a silver sticker on the back or bottom, if you add these up this will give you total kW (1000W) or W consumption or if you have one fitted check the smart meter device. If this is a small figure as you would expect if you have gas heating and cooker etc. then this will prove your meter is wrong and your bill impossible.
Contact your supplier and lodge a meter fault and request a check.
Also contact the ombudsman and list the billing period, consumption. And the above tests you have conducted.
Continue to pay what you can afford to show willing on your part.
Citizens advice might be able to assist aswell, maybe post on Moneysavingexpert website too for other advice.
Hope you get it sorted.

As others have said log all correspondance with them, date, name and time and main conversation points so you can reference these in future calls and dispute resolution.