Firstly I live in a tiny 1.5 bedroom, upper floor flat in a semi detached converted 1930's house with my wife. We have a gas combi boiler, gas central heating and gas stove. Then all the normals TV, Fridge/freezer, kettle, PC and electric shower.

We received a bill from Southern electric for electricity £ 1001.52

18 Nov 2008 to 19 Feb 2009

22819 (E) to 27895 - 5076 units = £ 735.82

20 Feb 2009 to 29 Mar 2009

1072 units

30 mar 2009 to 21 May 2009

1493 units

I have phoned and was told that last year I was using 5 units a day but that went up to 30 units a day. Nothing changed at all in our circumstances. Southern electric have had another meter added - no change to the old meter - keeps the same readings.

We have kept a morning and evening record of our readings for the past 11 days which varied between 18 units to 5 units. Once again with no change or anything different. I have taken readings for the past 26 days and they are start 31483 and end 31842 - which is more normal then the 30/day for the last bill.

Can some one give me advice on where to go from here, If this carries on the way its going I believe I will end up paying something £ 2000 a year for electricty alone for a tiny flat with two occupants.

Please help......

DAZ88:

Ignore the 5 units/day advice. In all probability it's based largely on the 22819 (E) being extremely low.

Did you ask for the check meter or did Southern just turn up and fit it?

You are doing the right thing by monitoring your consumption. It's difficult to see how to get 18 to 30/day in a gas heated house. Only the shower is a big user, about 7 minutes for 1 unit. Is it possible you have overlooked an electric heater somewhere?

Hi

I would contact consumer direct to dicuss what you can do next. See http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/EnergySupplyandPost/energysupply/managingbills/

There was a recent press article that some energy companies were doubling payments by charging for 2 winters and 1 summer when billing.

5076 units between 18 Nov 2008 to 19 Feb 2009, appears too much. What was the last actual reading before 18/11/08 as that date was estimated. Was there an undercharge before 18/11/08?

From the various posts on this site I have read about energy billing problems, alot of these appear to be from those living in flats or apartments. This would seem to raise the possibility that mistakes are being made by meter readers reporting back wrong information. Have they mixed up your flat with another larger flat, where they use more energy?

Good luck

Huckster

I have just had my gas and electric bills from Southern Electric. I pay by monthly direct debit and am on better plan which SE said was as good as any but not in those words. I find that from August I will be paying the same per month for gas and electric as a result of gas staying still and electric going up over 50%. As the power companies take the time and trouble not to make their units comparable even if the actuality is different in make up and the Government couldn't be bothered to legislate properly I can only compare on "£" and that shows SE about £200 more expensive than the cheapest.

SE's excellent customer service line has now been ringing for 18 minutes and I can confirm that the ringing tone is clear.

Have I missed something? Are they in fact very competitive? Thanks.

Access

I am with you on this one. I find some of the information about tarrifs very confusing, making it very difficult to compare. I have just done a comparison on this site for my own dual fuel, where the fixed tarrif is due to expire in the next few months. Southern power do appear to be one of the most expensive, in fact about £140 more than the most competitive.

Re 18 minutes and no reply, why don't you phone Head of Customer service on 0800 975 7772 and make them aware they have a problem with their call centre.

I have had dealings with Southern on behalf of a relative. Found their service very good, quick and without any hassle.

huckster

Thank you huckster

All true including SSE giving me two different kwh figures and of course nothing on the screen for second call so 2nd operator had to start from scratch. HAVING said that SSE and my possible switch E-ON very helpful, polite and nothing too much trouble.

BUT outstanding award to ME for STUPIDITY above and beyond the call of duty. The word ARREARS when applied to power companies simply doesn't register with me as it's not a sin. I'm playing £190 catch up on electricity. I apologised profusely for wasting their time and did say it would be helpful if the monthly payment and catch up were shown separately but collected as one.

access:

I can only compare on "£" and that shows SE about £200 more expensive than the cheapest.

Why can you only compare on "£"? Comparing with annual consumption gives the most accurate comparison. If you don't know your annual consumption ask your supplier.

Can't comment on competitiveness because prices vary by region but if you plug your annual consumption(s) into an accredited price comparison website you will get an accurate comparison. Note that the comparison factors in all the benefits (discounts and reductions) including discounts and reductions not paid for a year or never paid if you leave early. Culprits include Atlantic, NPower and EON.

If you switch with a knowledge of your annual consumption the monthly payment(s) should be set accurately, possibly a reason in itself to switch. AFAIK Southern has separate billing for gas and electric but other suppliers eg EON, Scottish Power have single billing for dual fuel which IMHO makes bill management much easier.

If the account has a debit balance solely as a result of inadequate Direct Debits that should not be called "arrears" and is not grounds for the supplier to object to a transfer.

A no-brainer this as soon as your fixed term is up.

hi there, i have similar bills to you, i have went through a massive £4000 in the last 2 and a half years, yesterday ive finally had enough, i spent 2 days keeing records of what i have used and how much each thing costs , just now my bill weekly is £25 a week , but i only use tv and pc all day , kettle, hoover, overnight heating hot water, now ive itemised everything in my flat all for an hour each, to find i should only be using £2 a day, someone is stealing my electric , i had noticed it was when we left the flat , the meter would be down when i returned , but this is the result of a stalker in my case, in the winter i go through £50 to £80 a week im on income support, if i were you i would , check the changeworks website that have indivdual prices on how much each thing cost, but do your own costs, it only took me a day .

michelle

Michelle

Did you go to the Police about the stalker or theft of your electricity?

Huckster

yep me and my son have been to report them, many a time, my son is now 13 and getting very angry ( trying not to swear ) , i am going uo tomorow cause i have a long list to speak to them about, im lucky now, there was a murder and some of the police were having a joke , but accidently realised what was going on so fingersxx we r getting our injunctions out, i only realised myself about the elec yesterday . glad ive noticed will save me a fortune lol

i had a bill off them for over £3000 plus what i had already paid

my advice is dont listen to any of their excuses the best one i had was that i would have used this amount by not turning my computer off at the wall

i kept on asking to speak to their supervisor i think i went through three or four levels untill i reached someone with a little common sense

it did take time but eventually i had a revised bill of £536

it makes you wonder how many smaller mistakes are just being paid because it is so hard to convince customer services that they just might be wrong that its not worth the effort