Utility Bills

CREATIVE!11 · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:24

I need some help understanding gas/electric bills,

We moved into a new flat recently me and 2 housemates, we paid off the last house of course before we moved out so I assume no debt has been carried over or anything.

We got our first gas bill through from EDF energy saying from 1st of july to 17th we have used 30 pounds of gas?

Is that correct because that seems a bit high? Our shower is electric no central heating ofc, only thing that is gas is our hob which we don't use that often. My friend set it up and agreed (he's a bit of a moron tbh so I don't trust him really to be doing it.) to a direct debit of 45 per month for gas and I was thinking that is Ludacris? that's not even including electricity just gas.

How much are you guys paying for gas is this estimate right?!

Edit: I Also see they are direct debiting 37 pounds a month for the electric.... which also seems tad high.

Theophany · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:27

When did you move in? Are you sure you haven't been billed for time before you moved in, which would be the landlord's responsibility.

BigglesPiP · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:28

Yes that's high.

I use about £30 in a whole month averaged through the year. My hot water, heating, and hobs are gas. Single Bed Flat.

Busa · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:28

£110 per month with EDF for a 4 bedroom house here and that is duel fuel gas and electric....it does go up a bit in the winter though

CREATIVE!11 · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:33

Theophany said:
When did you move in? Are you sure you haven't been billed for time before you moved in, which would be the landlord's responsibility.

1st of july, gave them meter readings and everything.

Phantom Shadow · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:33

Do you know if a reading was given upon moving in to make sure you aren't charged for any usage of the previous tenants? Also worth shopping around for supplier if you haven't, could be on an expensive tariff.

For my flat (2 bedroom, 2 people) electric shower, electric hob, gas for heating and water it got up to around £45 a month in the winter, back in june it was about £20 a month.

One thing to check is what is this first bill based on? If it doesn't have a meter reading for the start and end then it will be an estimated bill where they have just guessed what your usage was, and they have probably done it on the assumption of 3 people with central heating, gas hot water etc.

If it was an estimated bill then when you give them your meter reading you will get another bill showing the refund and your account balance will be adjusted. Also if you feel the direct debit is too high you can always call up and change it.

SDK^ · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:34

To the OP.
Remember - if you're on a fixed payment then you will accrue credit in the summer ready for your high Winter usage.
It helps people budget, otherwise your summer bills would £5 per month and your winter ones £200+ per month

CREATIVE!11 · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:35

Phantom Shadow said:
Do you know if a reading was given upon moving in to make sure you aren't charged for any usage of the previous tenants? Also worth shopping around for supplier if you haven't, could be on an expensive tariff.

For my flat (2 bedroom, 2 people) electric shower, electric hob, gas for heating and water it got up to around £45 a month in the winter, back in june it was about £20 a month.

One thing to check is what is this first bill based on? If it doesn't have a meter reading for the start and end then it will be an estimated bill where they have just guessed what your usage was, and they have probably done it on the assumption of 3 people with central heating, gas hot water etc.

If it was an estimated bill then when you give them your meter reading you will get another bill showing the refund and your account balance will be adjusted. Also if you feel the direct debit is too high you can always call up and change it.

I might try shopping about,

these bills seem horrendously high... and I cannot afford it right now for EDF to line their pockets willy nilly with extra money.

I don't know how to shop around though? where do I start and how do I figure it all out? any advice?

SDK^ said:
To the OP.
Remember - if you're on a fixed payment then you will accrue credit in the summer ready for your high Winter usage.
It helps people budget, otherwise your summer bills would £5 per month and your winter ones £200+ per month

We don't use central heating at all, we didn't last winter we just suffered lol.

Glaucus · 25 Jul 2013 at 22:47

Post the bill, what's the dates on it, what's the reading, actual or estimate? What is the price per unit.
And what was the meter reading you gave them. Itll be some sort of error or as said over paying for winter.

httk · 25 Jul 2013 at 23:28

Yeah, as above.

What is the meter reading on the day you moved in, the meter reading now and the unit cost? It's possible it's an estimate, it should say on the bill if it's estimate based or actual reading.

Also, is it DEFINITELY your meter? Are you in a shared block or is there just one? It should say the meter on the bill but this doesn't mean it's 100% accurate. If it's a shared building then what you could do, is get one of your housemates (maybe not the moron one

) to stand by the hob and then you go stand by the meter, watch it for a minute and then call them and get them to turn on all the hobs, and identify which meter picks up pace.

With regard to shopping around, moneysavingexpert is a good place to start.

Woogie · 26 Jul 2013 at 08:01

Double check your actual bill as it should have your starting and estimated meter readings on it. I checked mine and it was WAY WAY WAY out when it arrived and my gas bill for 1 month was around £75 and my electric was around £70... Called them and corrected it again on the phone and got them both down to around £25.