Here's the story.
My electricity bill is usually around the £130/quarter mark, give or take a tenner, based on the last 2 years worth of quarterly bills that I dug out and checked.

My last bill weighed in at £206, with no noticeable increase in usage, in fact we've just started using low energy bulbs and are making a real effort to switch appliances off when they're not being used.

I know that the price-per-unit has just gone up by around 0.8 pence, but this doesn't account for the 70 odd quid increase.

Does anyone have any theories as to why my bill may be so high all of a sudden? Faulty meter perhaps?
What can I do about it?

was it an estimated reading by the company, or have they previously been estimated readings?

I think your bills probably list the number of units used, does this seem to have increased compared to previous bills?

Other than checking those things, call the company and ask them to recheck the bill as you think it might be incorrect.

Was your last reading estimated, or had it been estimated for a couple of the last bills? Sometimes this skews the figures... we had a bill for over 5 grand at work (based on estimated readings), when we actually had it read and rebilled it was £700! :rolleyes:

OOOPS! not quick enough at typing!

Nope. It wasn't estimated. The previous bill was, but was around the £130 mark as well.

Another thing I meant to mention, was that I got a letter a few days after the reading (but before the bill arrived) informing me that my meter was to be replaced.

I'm the paranoid type, so in my tiny mind I'm making a link here....

Unusually high bill + 'scheduled' meter replacement = faulty meter.


EDIT: 100th post!! Woot!

Thats interesting because i recently had my electricity box replaced with a new digital one and..guess what... my bill went up with a right wallop!
I rang up to try to find out why, they said that they have billed me for a quarter and part of the next quarter due to the meter change during the end of the last quarter... thats why its higher. This remains to be seen. They looked at my old bills on the system and said i have used less units than normal. But they found that i had been put on a different tarrif...a dearer one. So they rectified this..im now waiting to see if its back to normal next bill.

Don't want to seem patronising, but have you checked the usage calculations on the bills? If they say you've used X units at Z pence, then that's a straightforward sum.... although it's usually the service charges that change!

The sums add up. I even took my own reading which matches the last reading then some.

It's all based on a gut feeling I know, but it's a strong one.

My meter is due to be replaced on the 19th. You can be sure that I'll be taking nightly readings up to replacement, and after to see if there is any significant drop/increase.

I just spoke to nPower who tell me that they'll send someone out to look at the meter, but I'll get charged £60 if there's no fault found.

did u get ne major new elctrical things over xmas? maybe they are using up more electric?

Originally posted by x_LoUiSe_x
did u get ne major new elctrical things over xmas? maybe they are using up more electric?

Nope. 8-(
I wish I could put it down to some 4000w electric 15 bar fire that I bought, but that's not the case.

You've not got any dodgy neighbours who are siphoning your electricity off have you?

Mmmmmmm...I'm with npower and have just received a higher than normal electricty bill. I am going to have go and have a look at my usage and ex-bills - thanks for pointing this out...they think they can get away with "owt" these days!!!

Originally posted by Liose
Mmmmmmm...I'm with npower and have just received a higher than normal electricty bill. I am going to have go and have a look at my usage and ex-bills - thanks for pointing this out...they think they can get away with "owt" these days!!!

Yes. Let us know what you come up with.
There is something that might be the cause, but I'd have to work out the dates before I could confirm it.

We recently renewed our Washer/Dryer, junking the old hot+cold fill type in favour of a cold fill only.

If this is a factor then it's down to the fact that we're now having to heat up water from the cold mains supply, rather than using ready heated water.

If this is the case then I'd expect to see my heating bill reduce.

Aaargh.

Originally posted by LesMcQueen
Nope. It wasn't estimated. The previous bill was, but was around the £130 mark as well.

If the reading on the previous bill was estimated too low, that would cause the last bill to be too low and this bill to be too high.

Long story short!

My sister in law few years back questioned her elec bill as it said in small print that you would get a 10% discount paying your bill on time, she always was on time, the answer she got was, it's figured into your bill you just don't see it !, not good enough for her, she went to the big boss, then was told, "if i explained it to you, you wouldn't understand any how""

Well thats all she had to hear, an elec bill can look confusing enough as it is, not taking their word for it she went to the local newspaper to make a complaint, her run around story got printed.

Long/short of it, after a years investigation, 5 big wigs in the elec company got jail time, scimming of the top, had work done on their own properties ect done through the company.

The story was so big for our small town all because someone said to her, "if i told you, you wouldn't understand anyhow"

Story got written upin the readers diegest that year.

u sure that wasnt, long story long?

Originally posted by 21steve
u sure that wasnt, long story long?

Sounds like that dosen't it ? got a bit carried away !

you could try the utilities warehouse, they are cheaper for power.

Originally posted by LesMcQueen
Yes. Let us know what you come up with.
There is something that might be the cause, but I'd have to work out the dates before I could confirm it.

We recently renewed our Washer/Dryer, junking the old hot+cold fill type in favour of a cold fill only.

If this is a factor then it's down to the fact that we're now having to heat up water from the cold mains supply, rather than using ready heated water.

If this is the case then I'd expect to see my heating bill reduce.

Aaargh.

Yep that would do it. Chances are your gas bill won't reduce by as much though.

Originally posted by poppins
Sounds like that dosen't it ? got a bit carried away !

It didn't seem a long story to me poppins, but then I'm a fast reader... just shows how not giving up or giving in can benefit everyone.

I don't suppose she was the only one being cheated by the company either. Good for her:clap:

Originally posted by LesMcQueen
Does anyone have any theories as to why my bill may be so high all of a sudden? Faulty meter perhaps?
What can I do about it?

Have you had a new PC recently? One with a beefy power supply on it? 450w and 550w power supplies are common now. I'm no electrician, but surely that's the same as four or five 100 watt light bulbs burning away.

The more I think about it, the more I see that it's the new washer/dryer that's the cause.

I reckon I'm about £35 a quarter worse off now. I didn't notice immediately as my last bill was an estimate (which wouldn't have included the higher leccy usage).

Now I'm playing catch-up which is the real reason why the cost increase looks so steep.

Bah! It's supposedly an 'A' rated washer/dryer too!

Thanks for all your posts.