Hi Folks, Npower said my final bill was roughly £127. I checked the readings against what the estimated bill said then I paid roughly £80, which tied in exactly with the readings. They are now chasing me for £47 saying I'm due them, but all the communication is generic crap and they haven't responded to anything I send them. I've put in a formal complaint and asked for a copy of their complaints procedure. Are they likely to listen, or see sense? Anything else I should be doing/be aware of? I switched supplier around the 5th on august... cheers folks

After being with Scottish Power for over 3 years without any problems, I received a statement in September to inform me that, despite having paid the same amount (£69-70) a month for quite some time, my account was in debit by over £650 and that my direct debit would be £158 a month. This was very clearly wrong so I inspected the statement closely. It was then that I found the meter readings they had estimated for that bill had been swapped, leaving my night and day usage very different to those I was seeing on my meter. I tried to call them but was unable to get through I sent a detailed email, demonstrating the mistake and using their bill reading from the last statement to show how much it should have been with the unit prices given. I waited for several days to hear back but couldn't risk their new direct debit being set in motion before the matter was resolved so called again. The person I spoke to got rather upset by my tenacious attitude to my calculations being correct, even going so far as to tell me that I couldn't use the readings given in the bills Scottish Power had based all of their bills and charges on because they were only estimates. I calmly pointed out that, given the bill at an estimate and working out the extra amount up to the ACTUAL current readings would still be correct (being a maths teacher comes in handy sometimes you know!) I was told he would look into it and call me back the next day between 4 and 5pm. At 5:15pm I called them up again and spoke to someone who finally acknowledged that the readings had been changed, although he said it was quite some time back. To establish which reading was which I had to go through some procedures to get several spaced readings. I dutifully did this, calling back with my readings. He told me that, as the evening one showed movement of both readings, it wasn't good enough as it had to be only one. I pointed out that the other readings had only one moving but he wouldn't accept it and I had to go through the same procedure again with him phoning me. Once this had clarified the meters were the way I had said, an amended bill was sent through, illustrating the credit I expected to be in. I did not receive any new letter regarding my monthly payment I called them up and got verbal confirmation that my monthly DD would return to £69, which it did in October. This, I thought, was the matter resolved, although I was so disappointed with the way I had been treated and made to feel like I was at fault all the way through, not to mention the complete lack of apology from them for the distress and anxiety they had caused, that I looked into alternative suppliers. Imagine my surprise then to find they had changed my DD again this month, with no notice, and put it up to £93 (not a number quoted to me in any correspondence from them). As we have been living quite close to the edge this last few months, this could have taken quite a large impact on my financial situation, causing bank charges and return of payments. Would someone please give me some advice on what the best way to handle this is? I have cancelled my direct debit with the bank but don't trust their customer service to even listen before making judgement on whether I'm trouble. Is there someone higher up who would take this matter more seriously? If I hadn't been more than a little competent in understanding the maths behind how bills are put together I would have been forced to concede the advisors were correct and paid up £650+ that I didn't owe. I certainly wouldn't want this happening to anyone else if I can help it. Thanks

To cut a long story very short, we agreed to have a prepay meter installed as we were struggling to meet the DD payments. We owed around £1500 and saw this as a way of ensuring we don't get into any further debt, and we could slowly begin to pay the debt off. For one reason or another SP haven't taken a reading for ages and so much of the debt was based on an estimate. We have sent them customer readings but not for a while. When they came to change the meter I had assumed they would record the final reading on the old meter and work out a final bill from that. Today I get a visit from a meter reading asking to see the gas meter. Why? I asked, I'm on a prepay, I explained. The guy explained he had been sent to see if he could get the final reading off the old meter! He was hoping that when they installed the new one they would have written the reading from the old meter onto the new one - which they hadn't. it would appear SP have lost the final reading from that old meter. The reader explained that they may be able to trace the meter itself if it hasn't already been scrapped, in order to get that that reading. My position now as I see it is this: If SP don't know the final reading from the gas meter, and all of this has been based on estimates for at least 12 months, then how can they say with any confidence what I actually owe them? and why should I take their word for it anyway? Even if they find the meter, how do I know it hasn't been tampered with and that the reading is a true one? I am of the mind that they have messed up big time here and I can dispute any figure they throw at me? I mean, if they don't know, and I don't know, then how do we agree on what the final figure should be? Am I correct in thinking this and where can I get some help and advice? Would anyone know the legal viewpoint on this? Firstly I am going to write to them asking for the final reading and a true, easy to understand statement detailing what they think I owe them. Thanks in advance JY

Hi, I am requesting assistance on behalf of my pensioner parents' who have today received a bill for their Gas and Electricity of over £600 for usage since 2nd Oct. They have had no estimated readings since March and have had no new appliances, for this period of time they were actually away for 3 weeks, Their cooker and fire are Gas, however their Gas usage is fair. The problem arises with their Electricity, they are on an Economy 7 meter and have night storage heaters. I have called EON on their behalf this evening who inform me that since 2nd Oct they have used £500 worth of day units and £6 worth of night units. Considering that their only daytime usage is lights, microwave, television, shower, kettle etc. while their night usage incorporates all washing and night storage heating this seems to me to be disproportionate. The gentleman whom I spoke to at EON also agreed that it did not appear to make sense and he would investigate further. He has since contacted my father and told him that he needs to pay the bill and his payments will be doubled! My parents are in no financial position to pay this and more to the point the bill cannot be right. Their average usage over the last year was 5.7kwh & according to EON it is now 64.5, as I say nothing has changed. Their bill for the same quarter last year (1 extra month included and not having taken a holiday) was only £200. This is causing them so much upset and stress, can anyone please advise me. Thanks hopefully Jam

Hi im looking for advice, came home last week to a meter readers card on doorstep from british gas. Its the first anyone has ever been to read it in four years. They send me emails with an estimated amount for gas/electric and i have been paying what they ask. Unfortunately, its been grossly underestimated and i now owe them £1008 for electricity which they want back at £120 a month. I was so relieved they were willing to spread it out that i accepted that payment plan at once. However, iv now had time to think about it, im off work ill on ssp and will really struggle to pay that every month, as well as my current usage, and then gas on top. Is it possible from others experience, they will accept a lower amount?, i appreciate i used it but surely they should have read the meter in four years?. My other query is, if some of this electricity was used over a long period, is it fair iv been charged for it all at current prices? im worried sick over this, so thank you for any advice.

Hello everyone! We are four students living in a house in Newcastle. SSE is our gas provider and the have send us an estimate for our gas bill which is 129.89 GBP for September 2012 till November 2012. According to our meter reading we have used substentially more. Instead of the estimated 238 units we have actually (according to the meter reading) used 511 units in the period. As we have not heated a lot in that period and became suspicious, we have been writing our meter readings down, finding that we use at least 70 units per week (according to the meter reading) if we heat our place 6 hours per day. This would be about 173 GBP for gas per month, without the standing charge. Calculating the next gas bill which is awaiting us, we will have to pay 518.75 GBP in total (from the 16th of November until now). Comparing this on compare the market we think that this amount is totally unrealistic, especially as we do not heat the house more that 5 hours a day, as we are afraid of additional costs (it is SO freezing!). We told SSE the problem and they admitted that it seems a lot of gas use, but they insist that it must be correctly. They suggested us to make an OFMAT test which would cost us 80 GBP. It would be great to hear which experiences you made and if you could give us an advice on what to do, as we have really tried all we could think of to find a solution (the technican said the boiler-use is okay, but maybe this was a subjective statement?). Thank you very much! Leelalee

I know the topic of meter access has been covered but my situation is a little unique and I'm at a complete loss. When I first moved in to this apartment I had noticed that just as I was signing the lease and itinerary that meter keys would not be included... I asked then in my confusion, but was blown off as something normal by my (now former) letting agent and everything progressed as such. My first snag happened as I was setting up my power, I was provided with an estimate to which I would pay until I got my initial meter readings and the current ones at the time I was setting up the new account, I phoned the letting agent to request the initial readings and was told back I should have received them when signing over the lease. They told me they would send another copy of these... they never arrived. Since then it's been a mater of constant estimated bills and no response from that letting agent. The management company will only take notice of faults to the communal facilities, stating that all matters relating to individual flats need to be directed to the landlords or letting agents... ...though there was one instance according to my bills that Scottish Power (my supplier) managed to get hold of my meter readings and increased the charge... it wasn't much so I wasn't that phased by it, but there it was. I still wonder how to this day. Anyway, back to the main problem... As of recently the said letting agent quite silently (with massive amounts of suspicious fraudulence) went bankrupt and liquidated, a few months passed, the agent was switched, and the new agent doesn't know anything at all in regards to the property management or it's meter access, I finally got to talk to my landlord for the first time in 2 years of living here, only to find she's rather stressed out from loss of rent, loss of deposits for pretty much all tenets and she also didn't know about property management OR it's meter readings... ...And just in time when all this is happening I get contacted once again by Scottish Power, asking for them and wanting to send someone to take them themselves. Long story short, I now have a letter from Scottish Power almost demanding meter readings since they couldn't get access, and all persons involved with the property at a loss of what to do (and my landlord is a few hours away by car in another city, so it's not really that easy to involve her directly), and the only people that do are out of the question. I honestly don't currently mind the estimates, they don't break the bank, and would be willing to leave it as is... So what are my options? M.

I moved into my first flat a month ago. When i moved in the supplier was E.on, so i called and registered with them and verified final readings given by the previous tenant by their instructions of how to read the meter In an attempt to save money I run a comparrison on uSwitch and picked out a new plan with EDF. Since moving in i have been taking weekly meter readins to see my average usage and approx spend. I took a reading after work today at 17.30 and noticed the number 2 reading was flashing, indicating that was the rate being used and similarly I checked again just before midnight tonight and rate 1 was flashing. The meter rotates between each figure and the rate used flashes. I looked on my online E.on account and noticed something quite worrying, they state that rate 1 is for daytime and 2 is night time. I called after I took the 17.30 reading and the guy I spoke to confirmed that rate 1 was day time and 2 was night time. I explained that the number 2 rate was flashing indicating that it was currently in use, which would mean that either the meter was reading in reverse or they had made an error. He assured me that he was correct, but he would arrange for someone to come out and look at the meter. Heres a screen shot from my online account On the front of the meter is an edf sticker, as this was the supplier prior to E.on, on their website they state the opposite to e.on This quote is from EDf's website I assumed that the meter rates would be standard between all suppliers. Has anyone had this problem before and been successful in getting a refund? I've paid quite alot more than the bill should be by my calculations with the rates reversed.

Hi, I really hope someone can help me with this. I attempted to input my Eon readings last night and to my horror, I noticed that all previous readings have been in-putted the wrong around. The Normal rate appears in the Night rate box & visa versa. Eon have sent their meter readers round several times over the course of the last 5 years and not once has this error been noticed or rectified. I rang Eon to report this (about an hour ago) and was told that I have to ring them back later this afternoon as they are currently experiencing a data issue on their servers and they can't access the information they need to in order to deal with my issue. The man I spoke to did say that the readings have been wrong since 2007 which was when the meter was installed and the bills will be amended and back-dated to 2007. Obviously, I'm worried that I've been underpaying for the last 5 years and will now face a huge bill that I cannot afford. I have read up on the billing code and I think I should be covered under this, which means they'll likely ask for back payments for the last 12 months but my argument is as follows: If I have been underpaying, and it's because they have incorrectly set the meter up/failed to notice any errors until I reported them, why should I have to pay them anything? Eon's method of inputting meter readings in online is hugely flawed. Once the readings are in-putted incorrectly, there's absolutely no way of rectifying it. It automatically sets this as the preferred order which means all subsequent readings in-putted thereafter are incorrect. I would really appreciate some advice on how to take this forward. I am dreading ringing them back in a couple of hours time. I have enough on my hands at the moment without entering into a lengthy battle with Eon. Thank you for reading this and thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

Hi All, had a letter today from a company called siemens from nottingham saying and i quote "for safety reasons we are required by law to carry out regular inspections of your gas meter" Am i right in thinking that as i own my own house and am responsible arranging my own checks? I have a feeling that there may be a charge involved.... Any thoughts.

I was asked to start a new thread so re-posting. We really need advice about our meter readings and bill and would be really grateful if anyone can tell us what we steps we can take, if any?! We moved from one rented flat last October, to a house. Our old flat had an electricity pre-payment meter so we always knew our consumption. When we moved to a house with garden, we no longer needed our tumble dryer nor an electric heater we had in our babies bedroom. We've been using less appliances and you would think less electricity since moving. We changed supplier after two months in the new house, at the start of December, and had a bit of a shock to have a final bill for two months of £300, but we paid it and thought that it must have been one of those things. A shocking amount but we were in a new house. We had been used to using £40 per week in the winter on a high tariff (this was for 14 hours a day of an electric heater, and a tumble dryer as well as everything we currently use). And typically £15-£20 in the summer months when we still used a tumble dryer, having no garden. Forward to now, and we just had a bill from EDF for the six months to June. £1,075 for 184 days' use, 8568 units. We are floored by this. We have had an Eaga meter since January which tells us what we use and it's not that! By our meters calculation we use 12 - 17 kWh a day. The bill tells us we use 46.5 kWh a day. What do we have running? Well we use one TV which is admittedly turned on for most of every evening, two floor lights in the evening, a few energy saving lights that go on and off, one oven for about 45 mins a day, the rare use of the hob, a microwave for 5 mins a day, 8-12 3kW kettles boils, 4 loads of washing per week, one small filter pump and a fluoro bulb in a fishtank, one small fridge, one small under counter freezer, a laptop and a computer for a few hours in the evening. Two adults, one toddler. Sitting here this evening I've had the washing machine and the oven both on at the same time alongside lights, TV and computer and we were using between 1.2 - 2.1 kWh according to our Eaga meter. Our meter/bill would have us believe in that case, that we are using our washing machine (energy saving Hotpoint!), oven, TV, computers, and several lights all at once for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company EDF have asked us to write down our readings every day for the next five days but we are unsure what that will achieve if our meter is faulty... Right now I am sick with worry as EDF have changed our monthly direct debit to £387 a month to reflect our new energy usage. Huge thanks for any help and advice

Hello, I was the responsible for the utility bills at my old place, where I shared with a few more people. I left the place a few months ago, and called southern electric and asked them for bills. So they sent me the bills, the bills said that they were actual (although I didn't tell them any readings), everything was paid, I appointed another guy as the responsible and I left. Two weeks after I left, the guys at the old place receive a bill of about £200, which was completely ridiculous (It was for about 2 weeks, and the guys definitely didn't consume that much in that period). The appointed guy started complaining at them, and now, 3 months after I've moved out, I receive a bill of £400 for usage in the 7 months that I was responsible, and that I have to pay that ASAP. I talked to them and they told me that they took readings immediately after I left (that's a lie) and they wouldn't admit directly that they were charging me based on very late readings, which I don't know when they're taken and if they're valid anyway. I don't know when they actually took readings, they wouldn't give me that information. And it might again be a lie. Can I just not pay them? What rights do they have to charge me after I've officially left the flat? I think I had registered with them a long long time ago and had set up a direct-debit payment back then, so I'm afraid they'd charge that. Thanks, B

Recently, having received a British Gas statement of account for gas showing a large account credit - we are on a monthly payment plan - I enquired about getting a refund, for which a meter reading was requested. I was then contacted by a BG 'energy expert' who queried the lack of similarity between the meter reading I submitted and previous quarterly readings. It turned out after investigation and an exchange of emails with the BG 'energy expert' that owing to a "...system error..." admitted to by the 'expert', all my previous readings had been truncated on the last digit so that, e.g., 02307 units was recorded in the system as 230, and the same may also be true of a BG estimate that followed a change of meter last August, as that turned out to be particularly low. The result of the accumulated errors in our gas consumption record, and the subsequent correction in the account using the correct value of my last meter reading, is that the account is now in arrears to a sum greater than the previously reported credit, and BG are now requesting a monthly payment more than double the current one - which we can ill afford to pay. BG have apologised but is that as good as it is going to get? Is there any other means of redress given that it is their system errors that have landed us in this situation? trapp1st