Electric underestimated - Do I really have to pay all that?? :-O

[FruitynNutty]

DP, DS and I moved into our 1st property a year and a half ago. This is the first time we've had to pay any bills as we were living with my mum before.

As far as I was concerned, the amount we pay on our utilities was correct. I trusted the direct debits and estimations and assumed it was down to the company to come and check the readings regularly.

However, I had the biggest of my life when I discovered we were over £600 over our overdraft! I nearly passed out, I was shaking like a leaf. I called DP at work who checked our statements and said British Gas had taken out £724! Obviously a mistake - I assumed. So, I phoned them up. Well, to cut a long story short, it wasn't a mistake , they have been underestimating our reading since we moved in Luckily I managed to get an overdraft extension and an indemnity claim to get the money back from the bank[phew]. Now, I have organised a 12 month installments plan with British Gas to pay the money back. I have now discovered we were underestimated by £45 a month! How can they underestimate it by so much? Surely they would have realised something wasn't right? Why dont they send people round more often to check the meter?
I assumed what I was paying was correct, yeas it seemed low but we have gas too so thought that combined the figure was correct.

Surely this is their mistake?

I must admit the reason I wasn't expecting the huge bill is because I got into the habit of just knowing what the amount was going to be as it hadn't changed much since we moved in so I didn't bother to open the bills. I just put them in a folder. I always check my bank statements online so I know what's going out.

Do I really have to pay all this money back? Is it worth phoning the CAB? What about the bank charges I'll get for being overdrawn by so much?

I'm so worried because we're struggling as it is. I dont think we can rustle up the £120 per month (for 12 months) it's going to cost us

Thanks LIZS. I seem to remember the utilities being round more often than once a year to read the meter when I lived at my mums. I since heard this used to be the case but they only come round once a year since privatisation (sp?)

I'm sorting it out now, but having to cancel loads of other direct debits and trying to get evening babysitting work to pay for the monthly bill for the next 12 months

It's just such a shame that no one tells you when you 1st get a place of your own. You're just supposed to hope your doing everything right. I've since discovered the same thing has happened to a few friends who are also 1st time buyers/renters. It's shocking

this has just happened to us and we now pay double per month for gas than we were paying. Totally our fault though as we knew readings were estimates and were too lazy to ring them with correct reading! we now pay £86 a month gas and £43 a month electric!

"It's just such a shame that no one tells you........You're just supposed to hope your doing everything right.... It's shocking"

FruitynNutty, it's not shocking....sorry! It is basic home economics...OPEN your bills/mail! Easy! I owned my own place at 18 & just KNEW that I should open my post, who ever it is from & however much I knew I was paying for amenaties. You cannot blame anyone else for this.

One of those bills, [if not more] would have stated that what you were currently paying is incorrect for your usage & maybe suggested calling them to arrange an increase in your monthly payments to cover the shortfall.

We also used to get reading slips in our bills, we would fill in what the current reading was, date it & send it back. How do you know that they didn't send one, if you didn't ien your bills?

Also, having been winter/colder you would expect to pay more as more usage on heating etc. In the summer you will notice [if you open your bills] that you may be in credit as your comsumption will decrease [usually does anyway] this excess will then go towards any increase in the winter months.

I think I would go & open anymore bills/unopened mail that has been filed away, so you don't get any further shocks!

It's only recently I haven't been opening them. As it was the same every month. We haven't got any slips in our bills. I've since opened the last 3 or 4 months which weren't opened. No slips!
Only the one bill saying we owed all this money. The rest were the same as all the other bills which I HAD opened. Sorry but it IS shocking. I'm not the only one this has happened too.

I'll admit I shouldn't have assumed the bills would all be the same but after 15 months of electric bills being around the same (give or take a couple of pounds) it's easy to assume it won't change much.

I also KNEW I should open my post. I always have. It was only the British gas ones I didn't (and only the last 3 or 4 months) as it was virtually the same amount every single month. I check my statements every day on online banking so I know exactly what's coming out. This is how I discovered the huge amount of money which had been taken.

Most human beings I know make mistakes. So I didn't open 3 or 4 months of electric bills, I was STILL PAYING it. It's not like I was ignoring them to avoid paying. I have a direct debit!

I still can't believe these companies don't come and read the meter more often. When I moved in I thought they did. They certainly used to. They're getting enough money from us!

The bills you opened will have shown the meter reading on which they were based. That meter reading presumably was marked as an estimate.

That means the bill is not accurate and should not be relied upon.

Checking your bank statements is not an accurate way to check that you are paying the correct amount. All that verifies is that you are paying something.

"It's just such a shame that no one tells you when you 1st get a place of your own. You're just supposed to hope your doing everything right."

Hmmmm, did your parents not impart any words of wisdom when they sent you off into the wide world of adulthood?

FruitynNutty are you sure your metres were read would you first moved into your property.If they weren't there may have been an outstanding amount from before you moved in.
But don't forget everything has gone up in the last year.So it may well be that the amount you were paying was right at first.