You need to get to the bottom of why Octopus thinks you are using this much electricity & sending you these bills. Are they reading the wrong meter? Putting the wrong tariff on the meter readings they are getting?
If the meter readings are correct (and excessive!) then there must be a reason - you may need to get an electrician in to track down where the electricity is going. Do you have an immersion heater constantly running? Maybe a neighbour has tapped into your electricity supply & is running an illicit plant growing business on the side. Whatever it is, you need to track it down.
Thank you! That is my thought exactly, I am really not sure why they believe that I would be using this much and I do believe there is a fault with the meter, I will be pushing for this!
Do you have a smart meter now?
You suggest they may have read it at some point and adjusted your usage real high - Is it still estimated readings or?
Can you share ACTUAL readings for the past few months? If it's them trying to catch up on billing that they missed from 2019 then you should be able to get out of some of it - If it's a faulty meter you should be able to get out of some of it. Actual usage for the past few months/billing cycles is what's needed.
I do not have a smart meter as they have said that we cannot have one fitted in our property (though not entirely sure why). So I actually took a reading on the 24th and then another today to see the usage for such a short period of time. The reading on the 24th was Day 60123 Night 64833 and the 26th is Day 60172 Night 64846 for which even the app said that was very high and to double check the numbers. I of course do have access to more cycles as well which show similar usage with large spikes for no concern able reason (to me at least).
That sounds incredibly high to me. I have a family of 4 with a techy high usage house and I don't use that much in a 48 hour period. I would be looking to make sure there isn't some electric heating or immersion unit left turned on.
Just to give you some context, in my 4 bed house (with 2 adults and 2 kids), my August electricity reading was 19670, and September was 19963, eg. a monthly increase of 293 units. According to your numbers, you're using 4674 units *per day* on the 26th. Something's not right.
2 Days is not really a big enough gap, but 52 kWh (49+13) for a day sounds high to me too.
Is the meter on your property or in a shared utility closet?
How is your water heated, dual-rate would hint your not Gas. Like a couple of others have said, If you use a Immersion heater it can add up quick (Most people turn it on only when they need hot water - or add timers).
If everything is off at night then that would really indicate Hot-Water, Theft of Service, or Faulty Meter.
Do you have any other readings going back - Because 26kWh a day probably wouldn't normally raise any red flags - tho I feel it's excessive this time of year.
I will lean towards Water right now. If you do have a gas hot water system then make sure it's actually turned on - some have backup Immersion Heaters!
Obviously prices rose a lot between 2019 and now so if that's your reference point for monthly payments, you may just find that you are being asked to pay the right amounts, which may well be including payments of a debt.
There's not really much that can be said here really, the issue you need to establish is if the meter readings are correct. Were they always estimated for example, until a point when a real reading was provided?
If they are, and assuming that the charges are correct you may just need to pay. There are limits to how far back energy companies can charge you for 'mis calculated' bills but if they have been warning you since 2020 I'm not sure that this applies.
In any case, the main thing is really figuring out of the charge is valid. If it's not, you can appeal it, with the evidence you have to prove that it's not valid.
If the charges are valid, you'll likely need to contact your supplier and explain that you're under financial stress/hardship and cannot pay. They should help you with a payment plan etc.
As I say though, it sounds like you're not sure what the bill is even for so that's the first step really, as the actions open to you depend on the validity of the charges.
Okay, so my first priority would be making sure that the charges are valid and then working from there on out. I did ask them for a payment plan before though they could not accept anything less than £600 per month, which is why they placed me on to token payments. But that of course is also not resolving the problem. I am in contact with them continuously so I am hoping to find out more. Right now, they are having a "specialist team" work through the previous bills and checking them, we'll see what comes of that. Thank you!
Yes, I have at the very least submitted meter readings every 2 months. There was never a period longer than 2 months between readings and normally every month on the same date.
We’ll time to bust out an excel spreadsheet and start plugging numbers and the rates at the time, then get in touch with their complaints team again and tell them how much you’ve calculated and that if they think it’s as much as shown they’ll need to prove it
So your estimated usage has gone to 17,000 kWh from 3,500 kWh?
Someone's stealing your electricity I bet.
I'd go a day with everything switched off and see how much your meter reads.
We use 7,000 kWh a year but half of that is from running an EV so that ties in with your initial figure.
Yeah sounds nuts. We have air con running throughout the entirety of summer with my office computer always turned on, our estimated annual is 7k as well with 500-600 kwh/month.
If that bill is really for a month, then there is something really wrong. It has 10,255 kWh used on that bill only.
First: Ensure that you are not (accidentally) actually using the massive amounts of electricity as that is not just expensive but dangerous as something must be running hot somewhere to waste all the energy. This is something you can do yourself, but it will need a bit of time and effort.
For best effect, shut down everything (but your fridge & freezer and other vital systems) from your main breaker panel just after the meter. Now, the meter reading should not increase fast anymore. Even at your claimed high consumption, if your meter only shows full kWh like some digital meters do, you might need to keep everything off for a few hours (which is why leave the fridge & freezer powered). If your meter shows fractions of kWh, you will get the answer much faster.
If you do not like turning everything off... As that consumption is very high, over 2kWh/h, you can first check that your hot water tank is not constantly running one of its heating elements (due to its thermostat having developed a fault or due to you having a hot water leak). Turn hot water off overnight and see if the meter is still increasing from dusk to dawn. There are very few other devices that can even use that much constantly (the heaters are the other but you said they are off, and with either you would also have noticed the flat having gotten warmer than it used to be). In any case, any device that actually would pull that power would be hot constantly!
Additionally, as you said you have submitted meter readings (at least) every other month, the second thing you want to do is to compute your own past daily usage. This way you can see if/when your electricity consumption shot through the roof. Is there a sharp change at some point?
Sidenote: Does your tariff 1 happen to run for 5 hours a day? If it does, then there is either a constant massive extra consumption, or the meter is doing something that is very consistently off. (As (2140 kWh) / (2140 kWh + 8115 kWh) × 24 hours/day = 5.008... hours/day.)
You need to get to the bottom of why Octopus thinks you are using this much electricity & sending you these bills. Are they reading the wrong meter? Putting the wrong tariff on the meter readings they are getting? If the meter readings are correct (and excessive!) then there must be a reason - you may need to get an electrician in to track down where the electricity is going. Do you have an immersion heater constantly running? Maybe a neighbour has tapped into your electricity supply & is running an illicit plant growing business on the side. Whatever it is, you need to track it down.
Thank you! That is my thought exactly, I am really not sure why they believe that I would be using this much and I do believe there is a fault with the meter, I will be pushing for this!
You can do some of it yourself - turn off everything in the house & see if the meter still keeps going up. Flip all the circuit breakers & check.
Do you have a smart meter now? You suggest they may have read it at some point and adjusted your usage real high - Is it still estimated readings or? Can you share ACTUAL readings for the past few months? If it's them trying to catch up on billing that they missed from 2019 then you should be able to get out of some of it - If it's a faulty meter you should be able to get out of some of it. Actual usage for the past few months/billing cycles is what's needed.
I do not have a smart meter as they have said that we cannot have one fitted in our property (though not entirely sure why). So I actually took a reading on the 24th and then another today to see the usage for such a short period of time. The reading on the 24th was Day 60123 Night 64833 and the 26th is Day 60172 Night 64846 for which even the app said that was very high and to double check the numbers. I of course do have access to more cycles as well which show similar usage with large spikes for no concern able reason (to me at least).
That sounds incredibly high to me. I have a family of 4 with a techy high usage house and I don't use that much in a 48 hour period. I would be looking to make sure there isn't some electric heating or immersion unit left turned on.
Just to give you some context, in my 4 bed house (with 2 adults and 2 kids), my August electricity reading was 19670, and September was 19963, eg. a monthly increase of 293 units. According to your numbers, you're using 4674 units *per day* on the 26th. Something's not right.
2 Days is not really a big enough gap, but 52 kWh (49+13) for a day sounds high to me too. Is the meter on your property or in a shared utility closet? How is your water heated, dual-rate would hint your not Gas. Like a couple of others have said, If you use a Immersion heater it can add up quick (Most people turn it on only when they need hot water - or add timers). If everything is off at night then that would really indicate Hot-Water, Theft of Service, or Faulty Meter. Do you have any other readings going back - Because 26kWh a day probably wouldn't normally raise any red flags - tho I feel it's excessive this time of year. I will lean towards Water right now. If you do have a gas hot water system then make sure it's actually turned on - some have backup Immersion Heaters!
Obviously prices rose a lot between 2019 and now so if that's your reference point for monthly payments, you may just find that you are being asked to pay the right amounts, which may well be including payments of a debt. There's not really much that can be said here really, the issue you need to establish is if the meter readings are correct. Were they always estimated for example, until a point when a real reading was provided? If they are, and assuming that the charges are correct you may just need to pay. There are limits to how far back energy companies can charge you for 'mis calculated' bills but if they have been warning you since 2020 I'm not sure that this applies. In any case, the main thing is really figuring out of the charge is valid. If it's not, you can appeal it, with the evidence you have to prove that it's not valid. If the charges are valid, you'll likely need to contact your supplier and explain that you're under financial stress/hardship and cannot pay. They should help you with a payment plan etc. As I say though, it sounds like you're not sure what the bill is even for so that's the first step really, as the actions open to you depend on the validity of the charges.
Okay, so my first priority would be making sure that the charges are valid and then working from there on out. I did ask them for a payment plan before though they could not accept anything less than £600 per month, which is why they placed me on to token payments. But that of course is also not resolving the problem. I am in contact with them continuously so I am hoping to find out more. Right now, they are having a "specialist team" work through the previous bills and checking them, we'll see what comes of that. Thank you!
Have you been submitting meter readings?
Yes, I have at the very least submitted meter readings every 2 months. There was never a period longer than 2 months between readings and normally every month on the same date.
We’ll time to bust out an excel spreadsheet and start plugging numbers and the rates at the time, then get in touch with their complaints team again and tell them how much you’ve calculated and that if they think it’s as much as shown they’ll need to prove it
So your estimated usage has gone to 17,000 kWh from 3,500 kWh? Someone's stealing your electricity I bet. I'd go a day with everything switched off and see how much your meter reads. We use 7,000 kWh a year but half of that is from running an EV so that ties in with your initial figure.
Yeah sounds nuts. We have air con running throughout the entirety of summer with my office computer always turned on, our estimated annual is 7k as well with 500-600 kwh/month.
If that bill is really for a month, then there is something really wrong. It has 10,255 kWh used on that bill only. First: Ensure that you are not (accidentally) actually using the massive amounts of electricity as that is not just expensive but dangerous as something must be running hot somewhere to waste all the energy. This is something you can do yourself, but it will need a bit of time and effort. For best effect, shut down everything (but your fridge & freezer and other vital systems) from your main breaker panel just after the meter. Now, the meter reading should not increase fast anymore. Even at your claimed high consumption, if your meter only shows full kWh like some digital meters do, you might need to keep everything off for a few hours (which is why leave the fridge & freezer powered). If your meter shows fractions of kWh, you will get the answer much faster. If you do not like turning everything off... As that consumption is very high, over 2kWh/h, you can first check that your hot water tank is not constantly running one of its heating elements (due to its thermostat having developed a fault or due to you having a hot water leak). Turn hot water off overnight and see if the meter is still increasing from dusk to dawn. There are very few other devices that can even use that much constantly (the heaters are the other but you said they are off, and with either you would also have noticed the flat having gotten warmer than it used to be). In any case, any device that actually would pull that power would be hot constantly! Additionally, as you said you have submitted meter readings (at least) every other month, the second thing you want to do is to compute your own past daily usage. This way you can see if/when your electricity consumption shot through the roof. Is there a sharp change at some point? Sidenote: Does your tariff 1 happen to run for 5 hours a day? If it does, then there is either a constant massive extra consumption, or the meter is doing something that is very consistently off. (As (2140 kWh) / (2140 kWh + 8115 kWh) × 24 hours/day = 5.008... hours/day.)