Help with gas bill

[Totty 10]

We are currently renting a 2 bed flat and have just received our quartely gas bill from dec to march.

 

We had a few problems with the gas the other day as it kept cutting off and when the engineer came out he said that there has been a problem which did not allow it to shut off even when we had turned it off (if that makes sense) in otherwords the gas has constantly been on.

 

We have an electric oven etc and only ever have the heating on for 2 hours in a morning and 2 hours at night.

 

Anyway, our gas bill has just come through for £200 which (from talking to others with the same size flats) is over double what others are paying.

 

Do we have to pay this as we live there or should this be something that she must deal with??? I dont mind paying some or half of the bill, but the boiler has been broken and this is not a fault of ours.

 

I have spoken to the landlady but she wants us to get an electrician out as appartntly its an electrical fault and she wants to know if its something that we have done.

 

Id be grateful for any advice.

 

Thanks

[Smack Jack 10]

I ended up paying £350 for six months - Sept to March for similiar usage in a one bed flat. If it had been on all the time the meter would have read far higher surely? You have to pay but could describe the problem and see what they can do - if its genuine they could perhaps estimate the bill based on how many radiators and appliances you have rather than the readings. I really dont think your bill for the winter is sky high though

[Totty 10]

Thanks for the reply

[abbie07 10]

Hello!

 

I have heard about a lot of people getting gas bills which are far higher than they expected and my last one at my old house was the same. When I called the gas company they said that at this time of year they tend to have lots of people calling them to find out why their bills are so much more than they expected. They said that it was just due to the cold weather and the fact that people tended not to have their heating on at all in the summer which made such a difference to their previous bill.

 

Saying that, I have since changed my supplier and found that I am paying much less (around £30 per month for a three bed house with a gas cooker).

 

If you have you meter readings you can check online if another supplier would be cheaper and you can also get an estimate of the amount they would be expecting you to be using according to the size and type of your house.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Abbie x

[jenz245 10]

Doesn't sound as if you have been charged for the heating been on constantly however sounds slightly high for the 4hrs usage. Is the bill an estimate or proper reading?

Your landlady saying its an electrical fault is something which I don't understan and sounds like she's trying to pass the blame to you guys.

Did the engineer fix the fault if so give your gas company a reading today and then another next wednesday and this should enable you to work out your consumption just x the amount used this week by 12 and that will give you a rough figure and if correct should be about £200.

[Totty 10]

Thanks alot for your replies, jenz245 I'll definitly do what you said I will call the gas company tonight.

 

Thanks again for eveyones help.

 

x

[jenz245 10]

Hello!

 

I have heard about a lot of people getting gas bills which are far higher than they expected and my last one at my old house was the same. When I called the gas company they said that at this time of year they tend to have lots of people calling them to find out why their bills are so much more than they expected. They said that it was just due to the cold weather and the fact that people tended not to have their heating on at all in the summer which made such a difference to their previous bill.

 

Saying that, I have since changed my supplier and found that I am paying much less (around £30 per month for a three bed house with a gas cooker).

 

If you have you meter readings you can check online if another supplier would be cheaper and you can also get an estimate of the amount they would be expecting you to be using according to the size and type of your house.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Abbie x

 

Hi Just out of curiosity who is your supplier? Is the £30 actual consumption or the figure you was advised by them to pay?

My only reason for asking is that I was told to pay £30 a month by EON then had my first bill and gave the reading and I ended up with a huge debit which I couldn't clear straight away Im now paying £116 a month and cannot change suppliers until my account is cleared. Im annoyed because It was on their advice I paid the £30 and would have paid more if told too right from the start. I have been told companies advise a low amount to get you into debit and then you have to stay with them until your accounts cleared!

[rachett 10]

I lived in a 3bed house and we got our bills through at around £70 - £80 quarterly so i think your paying way too much and we had our heating on few hours in a morning then 4-5 hours in the evening not to mention a bath every night a oven!!

[jenz245 10]

It's amazing how peoples bills differ I live in a two bed house and have the heating on average 7 hrs a day when its cold and my bills are £85 a month actual consumption!

[firsteuro 10]

Hi,

 

Over here in Spain it gets bloomin cold in the winter and the houses are designed to stay cool, not retain heat. All heating here is electric with the exception of gas bottles.

 

There was a Royal decree stating that the electric companies could bill monthly from December onwards. Since then we are estimated one month and read the following. We are getting massive bills one month and smaller then next. This can be a problem if you are on a tight budget, but the real con is that you are charged a certain amount for the first number of Kw used but the rate increases if you use more. Because on one of the bills you have really high consumption, you end up paying a much higher rate than you would have normally.

 

It has been calculated that if you compare the new bills to the old bills you are paying 15% more on the new billing method. Cheeky eh?

 

Don't think that this will not effect you over in Sheffield as the Spanish national power company Iberdrola owns Scottish power amongst others, so beware that this could be tactic employed in the future as a sneaky way of upping income without raising prices.

[bradley1983 10]

Hi,

 

Over here in Spain it gets bloomin cold in the winter and the houses are designed to stay cool, not retain heat. All heating here is electric with the exception of gas bottles.

 

There was a Royal decree stating that the electric companies could bill monthly from December onwards. Since then we are estimated one month and read the following. We are getting massive bills one month and smaller then next. This can be a problem if you are on a tight budget, but the real con is that you are charged a certain amount for the first number of Kw used but the rate increases if you use more. Because on one of the bills you have really high consumption, you end up paying a much higher rate than you would have normally.

 

It has been calculated that if you compare the new bills to the old bills you are paying 15% more on the new billing method. Cheeky eh?

 

Don't think that this will not effect you over in Sheffield as the Spanish national power company Iberdrola owns Scottish power amongst others, so beware that this could be tactic employed in the future as a sneaky way of upping income without raising prices.

 

Just read your own meters every month, and submit the new, correct meter reading.

 

Simple way to avoid being overcharged.

[Totty 10]

But the gas has been on constant due to the fault, therefore the meter reading will be higher then what we have truly used.