Electricity Bill

[Bazile]

I had my electricity meter read on 09/03/09 – an actual reading
Next actual reading was 12/03/10
In between from 09/03/09 , there were estimated readings for 3 periods , where an amount was paid for each period totalling £367.42
The actual reading for the 4th period to 12/03/10 showed the previous readings were over estimated – so they recalculated back to 09/03/09 , estimating what they think the readings over each of the 3 separate periods should have been – plus the actual 4th period reading - giving a total of £ 195.09 , and gave me a credit of £ 172.33 .
---------------------------------
Since and starting with the 12/03/10 reading , there were 4 periods where the readings were estimated and an actual 5th period reading was done on 18/04/11 which showed an under estimation for the estimated periods .
So they recalculated back to 12/03/10,estimating what they think the readings for each of the periods should have been - plus the actual 5th period reading - which totalled £ 942.34 – from this they deducted the total credit of £ 172.33 leaving me with a balance of £770.01 to pay

( If the meter is working properly – i think they must have misread the meter on 12/03/10 )
Anyway this is my question – is the methodology they have used correct and do you agree with the maths which gives now the final figure of £ 770.01 , to pay ?

Thanks

[TonyV]

without knowing initial and final reading - no one can do calcs

[mike11111]

This used to happen to me. The only advice I can give to avoid this in the future is that when you get an estimated reading you take an actual reading and phone it through. They will recalculate your bill based on this.

[Bazile]

I'm not concerned about the actual 1+1 = 2 , of the maths .

What i'm trying to ascertain , is if the way / the method / the process , they have used in the recalculation is correct / fair .

Any thoughts ?

[jackthehat]

It's certainly legal and correct.............I'm not sure that it's 'fair', however, to expect immediate payment of such a large amount.

[buildersmate]

I really don't see why it matters what the interim readings were between the first and the last readings.
What matters is whether you have paid the right price (x per Unit or kWh) for the y Units that you have used between the first and last readings.
The only time it might conceivably make a hap'peth of difference to you is if the price of electricity changed in the middle of all of this.

[whiskeryron]

When I go to the checkout in a supermarket the cashier totals up my bill & I pay what I owe,do you think they should say '' based on what you have spent here before we estimate you owe us £XXX'' ? I have NEVER payed an estimated bill for anything, as Mike has said every time you get an estimated bill 'phone the correct reading in & pay only for what you have used.Ron.

[Old_Geezer]

I tend not to trust these companies. I recall a time when the (over)estimates were building up to the extent that I had already paid the last bill in the previous bill's payment.. So I send in my own reading expecting a zero bill. They recalculated, and despite having had my money in advance all the time, managed to make out that due to price changes and me ought to have been charged at a higher rate for some of this, I still had a bill, much the same size, to pay. Talk about twisters.

Ultimately they seem to be a law unto themselves.


To be honest I'm unsure I'd want to try to comment on your original question without a bunch of figures to go with it. I don't know what they under or over estimated and what the real reading were. But to be honest, IF you think the bill is in the right ballpark then there's a lot less stress in just paying it and forgetting it.

[Old_Geezer]

"What i'm trying to ascertain , is if the way / the method / the process , they have used in the recalculation is correct / fair ."

I suspect they think they can justify it. I'd always have doubts but believe little can be done.

[Bazile]

There were two price changes over the overall periods in question - one went down and another went up .
They have estimated that i used more units before the price went down and less units before the price went up . ( suprise , suprise )

Also on the tarriff i'm on , they charge the first x amount of units used in each period at a higher price and the remainder at a lower price for each period - needless to say , more units is allocated and charged at the higher price .

buildersmate - Is the foregoing , what you are reffering to when you state - it making a difference ?

[Bazile]

I paid nothing since the credit of £ 172.33 .
The estimated bills amount of the 4 estimated periods were taken off the credit of £ 172.33 , and i was still in credit untill the actual reading of 18/04/11

( If the meter is working properly – i think they must have misread the meter on 12/03/10 and recorded a lower reading than it was actually showing )

[Bazile]

How would you adjust daily averages units used to take into account seasonal variations and then apply it to the various bill periods through the year .

Also what if the way they charge for units was different going back over the two or three years i ask for readings for . i.e first x amount @ x price per unit - then next x amount
@ y price per unit - the way they charge now .

Also in your experience , would they provide this info , especially since they are chasing me for payment . Would I have to pay up , then ' challenge ' later ?

[jomifl]

you should tell them that you will only pay at the lower rate as they have no way proving that you used any electricity at the higher rate. They presumably could have taken interim readings had they wished to but did not because they did not want to pay anybody to do it. The fair way would be to assume that your electricity consumption is steady and calculate proportionately for those period of different electricity prices. If however you were 'on holiday' when the prices were higher then you could only have used electricity at the cheaper rate. This is of course only a bargaining point but they should see your point and come to an agreement with you.

[factor-fiction]

If your latest reading was correct then I don't really see what the issue is. The bill must be correct. Yes, the reading used for 2010 does on the face of it seem very low-even before the price hikes I would have expected a much bigger bill for that year. Or maybe the 2009 reading was wrong. Since then I don't know whether your monthly/quarterly payments went up or down so it's not easy to unpick this. But I don't see the point in trying to unpick it now if the latest reading is correct.
The key thing is to check that the current reading is correct and to check all future estimates and submit your own readings.