Gas and electric bills...

[gbb]

You still with British Gas?

At the time i switched, BG were cheapest...i just ended up on the wrong tarrif as prices went down.

Still on BG ? 1 hour after recieving the bill.....switched

 

[meenaghman]

Whats electricity / unit in Belgium then.. I'm using NIE most expensive electricity in the UK - and no competition (too small a market). last bill 15.06p a unit. (apparently going to drop the price by 10% even though oil has gone down 30-40%)
I don't pay direct debit. It does mean quite large bills when they come as we cook using electric.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Although our gas meter (on a pre pay key card) broke and I phoned them to say its broken as couldn't put any money on the key card to the meter. The guy at british gas said "do you still have gas" I said yes, so he said "well phone us when the gas stops and we will send an emergency engineer".

That was May 2007!!

*grass mode* Just phoning British Gas for you

 

[fossyant]

My 'dual fuel' bill has dropped to £96 per month, from about £140, which is nice for me, but it's mainly due to being in credit.

I keep an eye on the bills, and if I'm about the right reading, I am happy.

 

[punkypossum]

Mine tends to hover around £45 for gas and about the same for electric a quarter, that's with EOn...I still think the gas is quite expensive considering all I ever use it for is to run a bath (although, as I don't have a shower, that tends to happen daily) - dread to think what would happen if I switched the heating on!!!!

 

[dav1d]

When we moved to our new house (about five years ago) our first gas bill was over £4000. Turns out a previous occupant many years ago had been with the same company, and the meter reading between now and when he was last with them was added to our bill (despite him transferring to someone else and paying in full in the interim).

The company recommended that we paid the bill, and reclaimed the money back from them at a later date.

We said no.

My Aunt kept receiving bills for both her and the previous tenant of her flat. She had phoned them up numerous times. Eventually, she said it was illegal to keep the previous tentants name on when she had informed them they moved out before her. They said it wasn't illegal, so she said "I'll think you'll find it is. Now either take his name of or I'll take you to court as you're breaking the law." Then she put the phone down. Less than half an hour later, they phoned back and told her they'd taken the previous tenant off.

 

[wullof]

gas eh

well you have my sympathy mate,but just to let you know water can be just as bad,i just had a bill that jumped from £50 for the previous 6mnths to £209 no joke when you live in a fish bowl them there bills just keep commin round & round & round oh gotta go i feel the water works startin again

 

[gbb]

well you have my sympathy mate,but just to let you know water can be just as bad,i just had a bill that jumped from £50 for the previous 6mnths to £209 no joke when you live in a fish bowl them there bills just keep commin round & round & round oh gotta go i feel the water works startin again

Maybe i'm being short sighted, but i'm glad i stayed off the meter. That way i know what i'm paying each quarter, i can fill the grandkids paddling pool when i like, not feel guilty about having a bath...generally use water as i want to. I've seen what being metered can do to some people...my father in law has become almost fanatical about water useage. There's more to life than worrying about even more than we have to

 

[Corvette chic]

gbb thank you for posting this as i've just realised i haven't had a statement for ages off British Gas - £166.51 in credit. thank you i'll have that back but we'll have to put your DD up - well i'm cancelling that and going on quarterly payments. Cheeky b*ggers

i'd opted for emails instead of paper bills - well i hadn't had one all year hence going back to paper (they get recycled anyway)

 

[lukepinkhandbag]

Having worked for a year or so in energy monitoring let me share what I learnt. Never trust your bill, take your own readings and look at your meter closely. They do fail eventually and are supposed to be replaced every ten years. Easy test, switch off everything except for the kettle, these are usually a kilowatt, switch on kettle, time it 'til it boils and see how much energy you used in the time, simple multiplication should confirm wether your meter is accuratelyreading a kilowatt hour you can performthe sametest with anything so long as you know its wattage. Direct debit is, for the careless, a con. I never accept the estimate. I use mainly oil in the winter for all my needs and my electricity bill never reflects the lower useage.I have my meter read twice a year at least and the bill rarely matches the reading taken, IMO meter readers are mainly to catch meter fiddlers not to take readings. Direct Debit is controlled by the biller not by you, if you need to pay directly then use standing order, that way you will never have the hassle of trying to get a refund on your overpaid DD account. They continue taking Debits when they up your consumption estimates even if they know you are in credit. I have been offered all sorts of dealsby other suppliers other than Scottish Power but remain steadfast in the knowledge that if I have a billing problem, line fault etc then I go to the organ grinder. I still work in the Utility industry BTW.

 

[ELL]

I'm with eon and pay £63 a month for both at the moment and just had the last bill through and was £69 in credit but i think that will get used up over the winter. We have meters for the gas electric and water and always do my own reading for the gas and electric. My water bill is the best as I am currently paying £4 a month and was £11 in credit after the last quarter .

 

[very-near]

I had a water meter installed shortly after I moved house last year and subsequently received ridiculously high bills. Countless reporting of leaks failed to solve it. Found out last month that the meter was connected to the wrong house and I'd been receiving the bill for the family of five next door.

I don't mean to sound like I'm being a bit insensitive, but .

This privatisation lark was a good money spinner wasn't it

The shoot heads failed to protect the local treatment plant in 07 (Mythe) which resulted in 1/2 million of us having no clean water through the taps for 2 weeks.

No reduction in bill or compo was forthcoming even thought this resulted in a massive disruption and agro for all living here

 

[Fnaar]

I have gas and lecky through e-on. Pay by direct debit. Summer time I'm ahead, winter time I'm behind. Works out hunky dory. Costs an arm and a leg though, cos we have a big hoose.