Energy company say I need to pay £450 a month for electricity!

[Skade]

Is going to be a long one, sorry! I live in a small 3 bedroom bungalow with four adults, 3 of whom are out almost all day - I work from home 4 days out of 5.

I moved to Bulb in May this year and was initially paying £94 a month (which was cheaper than usual, I usually pay around £120). I don't have a smart meter and admittedly forgot to submit a meter reading on the first day of each month in June and July but did submit them in May, August and September.

I have always been in credit in the summer so I was surprised when I got a message in August saying that I was in debit and in order to bring my account up to date and prepare for winter my monthly payment was going up to £370 for the following 7 months, which seems a massive amount! They are now suggesting that I pay £450 a month as I am still in debit - and apparently I am using £10 a day of electricity...

I have tried to sort it out but am getting nowhere. I ordered a smart meter so that I could try to see where it was going but when the installer came he said that the board my 1979 electric meter was attached to was rotted and it would have to be replaced. I asked him about the monthly payments and he agreed that that was significantly high. He arranged for a meter accuracy test to be done at the same time as the board replacement, which has now been booked for 15th October.

In the meantime Bulb have emailed me again suggesting I pay a one off top up payment of £620 to bring my account back into balance (currently £64 in debit)!! I honestly don't know what's going on and I am now wonder if my meter is somehow wrong.

My previous suppliers EDF have offered me a two year fixed rate deal which I was going to take as Bulb have been a complete nightmare, but they haven't said what the monthly rate would be and I'm worried that they will use my current monthly payment of £370 as a basis. Is anyone here able to give me any advice on best way forward please? I know that from the beginning of October the prices are rising significantly and I am worried that if I don't take the fixed deal before the meter is assessed I will miss out. Or should I wait for the meter to be checked? Am so confused!

I’ve been with Octopus now for a few years and have been really happy with them. They have a simple website for inputting meter readings, they update your statement immediately when you give a meter reading which I love as it means I know they're not messing me around with crazy out of the blue changes to my DD. They've not hounded me to install a smart meter and prices have been decent too. Far happier with them than anyone else I’ve been with. This referral link gives us both £50 if you use it to signup
Https://share.octopus.energy/jade-fox-566_

@JasonMomoasgirlfriend

You will probably be better off on a standard variable rate with a big name supplier, as these are capped and currently the cheapest option by far

This is just outright lies

No it is not, fixed rates are the worst option at the moment, as an example the price capped SVR electricity is 20.9p per kWH and won't rise again until March 2022, new fixes vary between 26.9 and 39.9p per kWH.

I have an all electric old house. I pay £3 a day at the new rate (E7, so I run the dishwasher at night and the immersion comes on at 5am) if I have no heating on and the oven isn’t on for long. In December last year, I had the heating on for WFH during the days and the immersion heater on during the day and it cost £10 a day THEN - so I assume £15 a day with my budget for Nov, Dec and Jan. I am going to be a lot more conscious of my energy use however especially over Christmas. Thick jumpers and fleecy pyjamas will feature heavily in present lists.

@WoodburnersRUs

I have an all electric old house. I pay £3 a day at the new rate (E7, so I run the dishwasher at night and the immersion comes on at 5am) if I have no heating on and the oven isn’t on for long. In December last year, I had the heating on for WFH during the days and the immersion heater on during the day and it cost £10 a day THEN - so I assume £15 a day with my budget for Nov, Dec and Jan. I am going to be a lot more conscious of my energy use however especially over Christmas. Thick jumpers and fleecy pyjamas will feature heavily in present lists.

Do you rent or own? If you own I would imagine that at £10-15 a day of electricity with the heating on you would recover the cost of extra insulation very quickly.

In the news today:
www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/02/energy-firm-bulb-under-fire-for-monthly-bill-rises-of-up-to-80

Wow. that's high. I have a small 3 bed semi. .All electric and pay bulb 60 a month.

@BigWoollyJumpers

To be fair to Bulb, their payment model has always been pay upfront. They are very clear on this. What is annoying is that their estimates are often wildly out, so you need to provide monthly readings especially, if like us, your household has changed over the last couple of years, with lots of coming and goings, and working from home. Our usage went up massively last year, completely reversed this year, but they are still estimating on last year's usage.

Bulb's guestimates are wildly out even if your household hasn't changed. I provide them with monthly readings and on the odd occasion I haven't (due to being away), their guesstimate has been about double my actual. I've been with them fir 2 years, so I think their algorithm is deliberately set to do this and get as much credit from customers as possible.

If I get an email from them doubling my DD then I'll just cancel it and pay monthly for what I use.

I own - but while there is insulation in the loft, and all double glazed etc there’s not much else I can do. No cavity walls or anything. It’s not too terrible but I can do better on energy saving in the winter for sure.

[quote Snappyteabread]I’ve been with Octopus now for a few years and have been really happy with them. They have a simple website for inputting meter readings, they update your statement immediately when you give a meter reading which I love as it means I know they're not messing me around with crazy out of the blue changes to my DD. They've not hounded me to install a smart meter and prices have been decent too. Far happier with them than anyone else I’ve been with. This referral link gives us both £50 if you use it to signup
[[//Https://share.octopus.energy/jade-fox-56]]6_[/quote]
I switched to Octopus a year ago and had Smart meters installed earlier this year.

Three or four months ago I noticed that they hadn't charged me for any electricity since I switched, so I rang them. They were fantastic - the phone was answered really promptly, the person I spoke to worked out what had happened straight away, rectified it straight away, told me what my new balance was and said that I was still in credit.

That alone is worth staying them for, I've never before got through to an energy company so quickly.

When I checked when my fixed tariff deal came to an end (13 November) we had a bit of a discussion about anticipated price rises and they offered to put me on a fixed tariff at prices applying that day, but not to start it until my existing deal came to an end, as it would be higher.

So I now have a deal fixed until 2023, at the prices that were current in June or July. I was very pleased with that, and with the fact that I could speak to a competent human without having to listen to on-hold music for half an hour or more.

Their customer service is excellent imo.