Gas-man:

I am having a similar problem with Scottish Power

I sympathise with the way that these companies treat some customers but ..........

Nowhere in your post have you mentiond you meter reading and bill. Are you saying you haven't received two quarterly bills or statements since last October, only an unsolicited letter imposing a DD increase?

Its only worth discussing this type of issue based on an actual meter reading properly billed.

A meter problem is very unlikely, a billing problem less so but you need the scrutinise the bill first before sounding off.

I am having a similar problem with Scottish power, we have only been with them since october after being with Npower, and relatively a happy customer.

We were quoted a saving based upon a realistic consumption and annual spend of £17 per month saving against npower.

Everything was great for the first 3 months at £63 per month, then they announced that the direct debit was almost doubling to £110 per month. We then phoned them to let them know we werent willing to accept this, whilst on the phone, they announced that the figure was actually closer to £330 per month for 3 months when our debt was only £400 for a quarter !!

I asked them "why are you wanting £990 over 3 months when we only owe you £400?"

She couldnt answer the question, and just said this is how we do it, I went ballistic, and told them a few choice words, and since then, things have got really ugly. debt collectors etc, I am now paying £100 per month.

Since all this has been going on, I have been monitoring my gas consumption very closely, I have noticed that my gas usage is so minimal that i thought i should ring scottish power, they then said "well yes it is lower, so i will reduce it to £180 per month.

the company is a joke

Thanks for persevering, BREWERDAVE1.

I'm at work so haven't got the meter figure but it is definitely made up of five black digits.

The figure of 4243 is the number of metric units used as shown on the bill. It is also the difference from when the meter was read prior to us moving in to what the 'actual' reading was on 20/04/09. So I reckon it is displaying metric units. What ever they are. This is then turned into kWh by the previously mentioned formula obtained from the bill.

The cost of this usage is just under £1300 for the 236 days.

So is your meter definitely reading in cu m ?? Just because BG give the calculations for cu metres it doesn't mean that your meter is metric! If it is more than 20 years old I would have thought it will be in 100s cu ft.My house was built in 1986 and has an Imperial (100s of cu ft) meter.

It will say on the face of the dial. Also ignore the last figure(s) in red on the left of the display - these are not noted down as fractions. Only use the black figures.

If it was 424.3 (100s cuft) this would equate to ~ 57 kwh per day which seems more realistic OR

424.3 cu m which equates to 20 kwh per day which seems too low.

Otherwise,the only way I can see you using 201kwh per day is via a faulty meter or a gas leak!

Cheers, BREWERDAVE1.

Aha. Apart from the fact that the cost is blooming killing me financially regardless, according to your suggestion I appear to be using the wrong conversion formula for metric units.

On my bill BG advise: metric units used x calorific value x volume correction / 3.6

This equates to 4243 x 39.3578 x 1.0226400 / 3.6 = 47437.75

Therefore 47437.75/236 = 201 per day.

I must say I don't get how to use the formulae/factors you suggest using the metric unit figure I have.

At first sight seems astronomical - I live in a 5 bed detached house with gas c/h,hot water and gas hob but we only use ~ 63kWH per day averaged over the last year including the very cold Winter! Are you sure they are using the correct meter readings (no estimates), that the meter identification number agrees with the one quoted on the bill and also (most important) that they are using the correct units for your gas meter -100's of cu ft OR cu m.

100s of cu ft convert approximately to KWH by multiplying by 31.5 - For cu m to KWH the factor is ~ 11.1

If all this checks out as correct another possibility is a gas leak downstream of your meter- a plumber should be able to check by turning off all appliances and the main gas supply and then checking at the meter outlet for a pressure drop.

Hi Folks,

British Gas have advised me that I must pay them to have the gas meter checked, even though they say our consumption seems rather excessive.

Surely, any reasonable supplier/business would check first and recharge later?

Ha! Who am I kidding?

Anyway, we rent a 4 bed end of terrace with gas usage for old but maintained boiler, gas fire used a couple of times only and a five burner hob.

From moving in to last actual reading (= 236 days) we have 'used' 47,437.75 kWh at an average of 201 per day.

Does this seem correct? I have agreed a payment plan to cover the cost as I don't want debt over me but now I am in the mood to look in to this and would appreciate any help/advice.

All the best.