Question

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
Energy Bills

Awhile back I switched from Npower to EDF. I wasn't sure what tariff I was on - most likely standard - because I'd simply always had Npower. Npower have a bad rep and I just happened I see an EDF ad around the time I wanted to leave Npower. I thought at worst it'd be just as expensive on the gas side (switching to another company, paying every quarter) and cheaper on the electric side because I'd be getting rid of my pre-payment meter. However, the first EDF bill came today and, for gas alone, the bill comes to £338. The electric bill will most likely be another few £100. In short, I'll have to pay £500-600 to EDF for for 3 months.

So, now I'm in a bit of a mess. My anime/manga knowledge isn't going to work out how to get a better deal or help me understand why the bill is so high. I don't seem to be using the price comparison sites right, mainly because I don't know whst tariff I'm on but also because I seem to be answering the money spent/kWh questions wrong. It's all one big headache and I could really do without out. I can't pay £2000-£2,200 per year just for gas and electric and don't have a clue what to do other than switch to another random company, which will probably just make matters worse.

Anyone know someone/a group who help people deal with this sort of thing? I'm totally clueless and could use some expert help in order to get a better deal/not starve.
 
I'd call the CAB http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ as a first stop - hopefully they can point you in the best direction. You definitely shouldn't be paying that much though! I can't imagine you use more energy than we do (all electric kitchen, and four+ PCs running whenever we're home with two on all day every day, and it comes to about half what you are talking about).

If your energy company isn't evil they should be able to help you understand it all directly though. I was overcharged on home insurance one year and called the company immediately when I saw the bill - they lopped off 33% before I even got into rant mode.

R
 
Rui said:
I'd call the CAB http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ as a first stop - hopefully they can point you in the best direction. You definitely shouldn't be paying that much though! I can't imagine you use more energy than we do (all electric kitchen, and four+ PCs running whenever we're home with two on all day every day, and it comes to about half what you are talking about).

If your energy company isn't evil they should be able to help you understand it all directly though. I was overcharged on home insurance one year and called the company immediately when I saw the bill - they lopped off 33% before I even got into rant mode.

R
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I second the CAB reccomendation. They know everything
 
Rui, if you don't mind me asking, who are you with and you did you get so much for so little? It'd be a good place to start if you really are getting bills closer to half of what came through my door today!

Like I said, I know zero about how to handle energy suppliers in order to not get ripped off. It's supposed to be easy online to use comparison websites but they all need to know what tariff I'm on in order to compare correctly, and all I could get out of EDF was that I'm on dual fuel, which didn't answer the question.

I need to go to CAB about something else anyway (it's great being hopeless, really), so I'll try to kill two birds with one stone. I've never been before but it can't hurt -- they are supposed to be helpful, after all. They don't have any phone numbers, do they? I read something about them only seeing people face to face...it doesn't really matter but I'd like to book an appointment in advance because there'd need to be a lot of talking done.
 
Aion said:
Rui, if you don't mind me asking, who are you with and you did you get so much for so little? It'd be a good place to start if you really are getting bills closer to half of what came through my door today!
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Southern Electric at the moment. We use pretty much no gas at all in our house so I'm not sure how great they are with that (our gas account is sitting at a permanent non-moving balance and has for ages, but we use a LOT of electricity). We just have some basic plan, nothing fancy.

I think some CAB branches will take phone calls though if you go to an office, you'll probably get the best quality service from them. One of my friends is always getting into complicated legal situations (he's a landlord) and has always spoken very highly of his branch. If you're worried about what to say or forgetting things in person, you could write up a summary in advance to help them understand when you meet them without the hassle.

R
 
Reading from a script never works; my voice is dead enough already without me just reading lines off a page . It's best just to sound as I am - a natural idiot. You never know, they might actually pity me and that might make them try to help me more. :D

I'm not too worried about going in the flesh, it's just I'd like to not go and be told they have no time -- to avoid that, I was hoping to call in advance. No biggie. I think I have quite a few branches very close to me.
 
Rui said:
Southern Electric at the moment. We use pretty much no gas at all in our house so I'm not sure how great they are with that (our gas account is sitting at a permanent non-moving balance and has for ages, but we use a LOT of electricity). We just have some basic plan, nothing fancy.
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I'm with them for gas, and I'm with British gas for electricity, as odd as that may sound.
This winter our quarterly gas bill worked out as £100 each- somewhat higher than the landlord's predictions and far higher than our electric bill. (I really wish my housemates could tolerate the cold as much as I can.)
My gripes aside, I'd probably end up receiving high gas bills from any company though.
 
Is this an attempt to put some energy into the forums?
Ok, bad jokes aside, I would recommend you to take a look at

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilit ... lectricity

They always have some interesting advice on how to save money, which is the cheapest companies, how to get the most of the system, etc.

I also find a lot of coupons in that website as well.

One thing. Look into your bill and see if it's an estimated or an actual reading. If it's an estimated, take a reading of your own and compare with their estimate. If the figures are too different, I'm pretty sure you can call them and pay less.
 
Reading this has taught me some very valuable lessons....

1. Get the lads or partner to deal with the bills
2. CAB are there if i need help with anything that comes to mind
3. Rui is somehow getting an excellent deal on electricity....she probably owns a lot of electric heaters and thus doesn't pay any gas....Genius.
oh and number 4......im not leaving home for a few years lol
 
Tachi- said:
3. Rui is somehow getting an excellent deal on electricity....she probably owns a lot of electric heaters and thus doesn't pay any gas....Genius.
Click to expand...

Bahh with all these computers around me why pay extra for heating?

That and we live in a tiny terraced house :)

R
 
Watch for the electric heaters a friend at work and her husband just had an electric bill of over £350 because they are renting a place where the heating is not working properly and have been relying on electric heaters. At 17p a unit and each using 2 units an hour it suddenly added up.

As for me Gas is usually around £150 a quarter and electric around £100 a quarter.
 
I'm with npower for both after a messy drawn-out divorce from British Gas involving overcharging, false meter readings and a changed basement lock which meant I couldn't get access to my meter... Do not use British Gas.

I'm paying £25 a month for gas and £10 a month for electricity, though I'm using £20's worth of electric, so should probably up the Direct Debit lest I get a nasty shock at the end of the year. npower will give me £100 off a year for using them for both utilities and paying by DD though.
 
I just sat and worked out the gas bill:

Total usage: 4489

7p for first 808 units: £56.56 (correct)
3.056p for the next 3681 (supposed to be for the next 8770) units: £258.13

3681 x 3 = 110 (roughly)

Does anyone else see a problem here? I do but I don't know how to remedy it. EDF aren't helping on the phone. I have no choice but to take this to the CAB and hope they can help me.
 
Aion said:
I just sat and worked out the gas bill:

Total usage: 4489

7p for first 808 units: £56.56 (correct)
3.056 for the next 3681 (supposed to be for the next £8770) units: £258.13

3681 x 3 = 110 (roughly)

Does anyone else see a problem here? I do but I don't know how to remedy it. EDF aren't helping on the phone. I have no choice but to take this to the CAB and hope they can help me.
Click to expand...

sorry haven't got a clue....can't you work out a monthly tarif with a company instead of paying per units.....something simple and easy for everyone would be good right now :/
 
The problem is EDF are charging 7p for the entire 4489 units used. When the £14 VAT is added, it comes to £338. They aren't lowering the price per unit after the first 808 are used.

I'm 99% sure I'm correct but the bill is rather confusing. If I scanned and uploaded it, hiding my address details and the like, could someone look over my bill and tell me if I'm right about the 7p thing?
 
You might be right there. Looking at what you have told us it looks like they are overcharging by around £130. However check there is not some kind of clause about when the units are used or something to do with how you pay.

Check the figures they have used. A woman I work with was nearly overcharged by some huge amount as they got two figures around the wrong way.
 
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