Huge electricity bill... Could insurance cover it?
Discussion
Hi folks
I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
eltax91 said:
Hi folks
I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
Is that £1250 for a whole year? If so it doesn't seem too bad....it's only 100 a month...I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
As esselte suggests, if this is the bill for the whole year then it doesn't seem unusual - you say you've used 13000 units since last April, so that'd be just under 10p/unit.
On the other hand, since even the water companies like to be paid at least twice a year, I'd be surprised if your leccy co were giving you a whole year inbetween payments, then I'm guessing it actually isn't an annual bill. In that case, check the current bill to see how many units they're claiming you've used and whether that corresponds to the size of the bill. If it does, check your present meter reading and see if it's even remotely in the right ball park compared to the closing reading shown in your new bill - it will be higher as a result of the bill being based on an actual/estimated reading several days/weeks ago, but it shouldn't be too far out. If things at that end of the bill seem to match up with reality, you should then dig out your previous bill and see what the closing reading was on that - this should be identical to the opening reading on your new bill.
On the other hand, since even the water companies like to be paid at least twice a year, I'd be surprised if your leccy co were giving you a whole year inbetween payments, then I'm guessing it actually isn't an annual bill. In that case, check the current bill to see how many units they're claiming you've used and whether that corresponds to the size of the bill. If it does, check your present meter reading and see if it's even remotely in the right ball park compared to the closing reading shown in your new bill - it will be higher as a result of the bill being based on an actual/estimated reading several days/weeks ago, but it shouldn't be too far out. If things at that end of the bill seem to match up with reality, you should then dig out your previous bill and see what the closing reading was on that - this should be identical to the opening reading on your new bill.
Hi all
Thanks for the replies thus far. The bill is for 1 quarter, i've paid 3 estimated periods for the last year!!
Not sure about electrical stuff so much, when the nice lady told me it could be an appliance, i just thought i'd test them all. The disc speeds up when i turn the fire on at the control switch, even though the fire is not on. I've no idea where it's going!
I've checked all the cables outside and in the loft incase it's being "borrowed", bt my neighbours just arn't that type...
Thanks for the replies thus far. The bill is for 1 quarter, i've paid 3 estimated periods for the last year!!
Not sure about electrical stuff so much, when the nice lady told me it could be an appliance, i just thought i'd test them all. The disc speeds up when i turn the fire on at the control switch, even though the fire is not on. I've no idea where it's going!
I've checked all the cables outside and in the loft incase it's being "borrowed", bt my neighbours just arn't that type...
Simpo Two said:
dxg said:
Simpo Two said:
If the fire isn't on, where is all that electricity going?
Exactly, surely something should be getting hot - even if it's not the fire!I've heard of them, little buggers they are...
If it is a real bill and not a bad estimate then I'd suggest you find whatever is causing that sort of power consumption quickly. Are you sure the old owners didn't leave a hudroponics setup going in the loft!!
Insurance wise, forget it. You are responsible for your energy consumption.
Insurance wise, forget it. You are responsible for your energy consumption.
We had a dodgy washing machine a couple of years ago (was old had been repaired under warranty several times) - We swapped it our for a massive american one last year. The old one was using sooo much electricity before that we were continuing paying the previous estimated bill rates - when we had a proper reading after about a year with the new machine, we were £1000 in credit and got a check back, which was nice.
eltax91 said:
We own the house. It's an old dial-type meter, like this:-
I'm surprised - I thought they had all been replaced with solid state LCD ones ages ago. I think electricity companies are supposed to replace them at certain intervals - at least, I'm on my second LCD one - Siemens just turned up and said 'it's time to change your meter'. Just possibly, if your electricity company is supposed to change it and didn't, they might be in breach of something?After that I fear my box of straws is empty.
esselte said:
eltax91 said:
Hi folks
I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
Is that £1250 for a whole year? If so it doesn't seem too bad....it's only 100 a month...I had a large shock yesterday, an electricity bill for my two-up, two-down that is £1250! We have gas central heating and only use lights, oven and tv related stuff. I've got an engineer coming out to put a meter alongside the existing one and prove if it is faulty.
The Grittish Bass people said it could also be an appliance drawing down lots of current. We've used some 13000 KWh between two accurate (self read) meter reading from April last year until yesterday. I've been playing around with what is plugged in and watching the disc go around, and it seems to go rapidly fast whenever i switch on the electric fire at the wall socket, even though the fire is not running!!
If it does turn out to be a faulty appliance, would my insurance cover me for extra electricity used? Or will they tell me where to go? If an appliance exploded and burnt the house down i'd be covered? I'm with the big red telephone company if that helps....
As has been mentioned, if you are in a rented house, get the landlord to have someone out to check the fire - that is not safe!
If it is your house, do the same!!!!
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