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Original poster

WTF? £236 a month for gas and leccy?

33 replies

ColumboWearsControlPants · 28/09/2008 14:46

4 bed house, 2 adults 1 baby. General household usage - haven't had the heating on since March. Eon have just put up my DD to 236 squid a month, from £195. My account shows I am £299 in credit with them. Why are they putting my payments up? AARGH.

Does this seem normal or should I ask them to investigate the power consumption (it's not like we have the tumble drier on all the time or anything) maybe there is a fault with the account or the meter?

OP posts:
FAQ · 28/09/2008 14:50
  • I've just had my EON bills through for the last quarter. 1 adult, 1 baby, 2 children, TV and computer on all day, 3 bed room end of terrace - it was £133 for electric, £75 for gas (and I had the heating on on the wet days in the holidays to get my washing dried!!) - these are taken from actual readings........

I'd ask them to look into it.......

expatinscotland · 28/09/2008 14:51

Sounds about right for that size of house.

It's worth chasing up, but I'm not surprised, tbh.

reikimarie · 28/09/2008 14:56

I'm with EON, it was £46 per month for both gas and electric and it just about covered it as I checked readings regularly but now as of 28th october the direct debit is going up to £75 upon my request as I felt it wouldn't be enough in the winter.

I only have a 2 bed house mind with a mere 6 radiators (one switched off), I am relieved I sold my bigger house in London last year and moved to this one, as that one had 13 radiators in it!

Guess I got out in time!

Think I must be paying very little against some people!

platypussy · 28/09/2008 14:58

We're with EON and pay £140 per month gas and electricity combined (3 bed ) usual useage. I wonder why our bills vary so much?

morningpaper · 28/09/2008 14:59

That is a lot

I'm afraid that gas and leccy bills ARE complicated

You will need to check that they are working from ACTUAL readings and NOT estimations

Then get back to the them and complain about beign in credit

Original poster
ColumboWearsControlPants · 28/09/2008 15:05

In fact, one of the BR is really small and in fact is used as a study but not been actively used for months. I think there may well be a problem with the billing as it is a new development.

OP posts:
FAQ · 28/09/2008 15:06

oh should add we're a 3 bedroom end of terrace, old (and draughty) house.

JacobsPrincess · 28/09/2008 15:09

2 adults, 2 children, 3 bed semi + tumble dryer, Gas £36 and Elec £31 a month.
Your bill sounds extraordinary!

reikimarie · 28/09/2008 15:50

I am no gasman but would imagine age of boiler makes a huge difference plus double glazing etc.

My EON is at a capped rate until oct 09 - then God knows what!

ivykaty44 · 28/09/2008 15:54

Becasue your money in their accounts earns them interest, its really easy to put peoples standing orders/direct debits up and take more money from them to store in their own accounts. Most people will not notice or think that it needs to be that high to cover the cost and then the utility companies make lotsa interest.......

Best to give them a telephone call, get the £299 put back into your account so you get the interest on it not eon and then give them a meter reading and get a sensible amount on direct debit etc to cover the next 12 months.

LazyLinePainterJane · 28/09/2008 16:43

They would say that they have put your payments up as prices have just risen and we are coming into the winter months, so your usage will increase. However, I would think that with your credit you shouldn't need them increased that much.

Check that they are working from an actual reading, not an estimate. Then call them and ask them why.

We live in a 3 bed semi, we turned off water and heat in March (this is all that is gas) and have only turned it on when someone really needed a bath. Had the most recent bill and we have used £24 of gas this quarter. Our central heating system is ancient.

What else in your house is gas?

Original poster
ColumboWearsControlPants · 29/09/2008 10:32

So - rang them, turns out there WAS a problem with the meter, we've been paying for our neighbours gas as well as our gas and electric - apparently they resolved this in the summer by giving us a credit of £656 but they didn't write to us or let us know this, and they say its too late to reduce our next DD which comes out on the 1st, but she manually changed it on the phone for our bills to go down to £104 to be reviewed in the spring. So they are taking £236 from me meaning I will be over £500 in credit

She said not to ask for a refund as it will mean we will be in arrears

I'm so as I could actually do with the money this month.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 29/09/2008 10:41

this is why i never direct debit with power companies.

they have to send me a paper bill with the total usage - NOT an estimate - and i don't care if it 'costs more' (which should be illegal, as well as charging people who use prepayment meters more).

sooner or later they all fuck over their customers.

we did DD with Scottish Power and had no end of hassle with them.

nervousal · 29/09/2008 11:19

Of course you should ask for a refund! Why on earth should then have £500 of YOUR money in their bank account?????

FAQ · 29/09/2008 11:23

expat - I don't use DD either - or for my Virgin Media account - infact any of my bills which can be "variable" I pay over the phone with my DD card, or go into the bank/pay at the paypoint.

expatinscotland · 29/09/2008 12:45

that's what i do, too, FAQ.

of course, the service providers are always banging on 'it's much cheaper with DD'.

i always reply, 'not when your billing system screws me over, takes more money and i wind up with bank charges.'

aGalChangedHerName · 29/09/2008 12:49

I got a letter from Scottish Gas and my gas payment is going up to £124.00 from £77 a month.

It's taking into account the recent price changes. We are also in credit atm.

Already pay the bastards £123 a month for electricity so no doubt that'll be going up too.

FAQ · 29/09/2008 12:50

of course they are - but as well as them not taking more than they should it also means that as long as I pay my bills by the date given on them I can pay them to suit me (ie there's no point all my DD's going out on the 1st of the month, as often my money won't be in until the 6th).

aGalChangedHerName · 29/09/2008 12:57

So if i pay by DD can i change that? Would do it but i suspect that they may fob me off if i ask for paper billing.

expatinscotland · 29/09/2008 12:58

i get paper billing no matter what.

if they query it, i launch into long diatribes about how i've been burned by service providers and tax credits.

that always shuts them up .

FAQ · 29/09/2008 13:04

we canceled all the DD's when we were in dire financial straits 3yrs ago - to avoid extra bank charges.

They can't do anything about it, so long as you ring up/go online/go to the bank and pay by the date given on your bill there's sod all they can do about it.

FioFio · 29/09/2008 13:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

cheshirekitty · 29/09/2008 13:30

If you are in credit, you do not have to put you dd up. Phone the power company up and say you do not want to increase your dd. We did this on 2 occassions, and still remained in credit.

aGalChangedHerName · 29/09/2008 13:55

What if i use loads of gas over the winter tho

I don't want to owe hundreds of pounds next year.

I will see about changing to paper billing too.

nervousal · 29/09/2008 14:06

my God I can't believe how much you are all paying for your gas/electric! We pay £43 a month by DD for both together - and are in credit for both? Got a 4 bed detached house?