Airtricity - Bill of 1400!

hada

So received a bill of €1400 for Oct and November from Airtricity. I live in a 2 bed apartment, with usual winter bills circa 300 at the very very utmost (300 was the highest we've had).

I rang airtricity who informed me that the previous 10 months had been estimations, meanwhile this bill was based on an actual reading of an ESB technician - so they have been underestimating my usage for the previous 10 months. I'm absolutely heartbroken for the following reasons:

1) As mentioned, I generally have low / average bills - the only reason I can see it being high now because (after some rummaging around) the immersion seems to have been on the vast majority of the day (this is not normal - generally have it timed for 2 hours). Have no idea how long this has been - perhaps 3 - 4 weeks. Could this even account for 1400 worth of a bill?!

2) I have no way of checking the meter to ensure the estimations were correct, bar when the ESB technician checks it (his last reading before September was October 2012....hence the 10 months).

3) I paid the bills for the last year on time and in full, and now have been offered an "olive branch" by Airtricity letting me pay 118 per month plus my monthly electricity bill for 12 months. I simply cannot afford that. My electricity bill alone for 2014 will basically be two years' worth of electricity - close to 3000euro if I'm starting with 1400 debt.

Has any one been in the same position? I think it's absolutely outrageous that Airtricity haven't even acknowledged the fact that I have no access to the meter so cannot submit readings - nor did we ever receive a note from the technician that he could not access it either (we assumed he was carrying out the quarterly readings as he is supposed to do). Now Airtricity didn't even apologise and simply expect me to pay two years' electricity in a year.

Christmas is starting out better than ever already

Staplor

I had a similar issue, found it to be terrible, had no such offer to rectify from them, I complained, I paid and I switched to one of the bigger providers and have had no issues since.

NapoleonInRags

Why haven't you got access to the meter?

V.W.L 11

switch to pinergy or prepay power,then just pay off your current provider €x per week/month etc,i done it,wouldnt look back for a second

foggy_lad

hada wrote: »

So received a bill of €1400 for Oct and November from Airtricity. I live in a 2 bed apartment, with usual winter bills circa 300 at the very very utmost (300 was the highest we've had).

I rang airtricity who informed me that the previous 10 months had been estimations, meanwhile this bill was based on an actual reading of an ESB technician - so they have been underestimating my usage for the previous 10 months. I'm absolutely heartbroken for the following reasons:

1) As mentioned, I generally have low / average bills - the only reason I can see it being high now because (after some rummaging around) the immersion seems to have been on the vast majority of the day (this is not normal - generally have it timed for 2 hours). Have no idea how long this has been - perhaps 3 - 4 weeks. Could this even account for 1400 worth of a bill?!

2) I have no way of checking the meter to ensure the estimations were correct, bar when the ESB technician checks it (his last reading before September was October 2012....hence the 10 months).

3) I paid the bills for the last year on time and in full, and now have been offered an "olive branch" by Airtricity letting me pay 118 per month plus my monthly electricity bill for 12 months. I simply cannot afford that. My electricity bill alone for 2014 will basically be two years' worth of electricity - close to 3000euro if I'm starting with 1400 debt.

Has any one been in the same position? I think it's absolutely outrageous that Airtricity haven't even acknowledged the fact that I have no access to the meter so cannot submit readings - nor did we ever receive a note from the technician that he could not access it either (we assumed he was carrying out the quarterly readings as he is supposed to do). Now Airtricity didn't even apologise and simply expect me to pay two years' electricity in a year.

Christmas is starting out better than ever already

You got your bills and what? paid them without reading them? did you not wonder what the E beside the meter reading was on the bill? You used the electricity so will have to pay for it.

As for you having no access to the meter that is something you should take up with your management company as you should be able to access the meter to take readings and check your usage.

emeldc

First of all I would look for access to the meter so that you can check that the current reading is correct. ESB networks can make mistakes too.
When you get access and if the reading is correct, you need to switch everything off in the apartment and see does the meter stop to make sure that no one else has tapped into your supply.
If all that is ok, you need to switch off the immersion a bit more.

foggy_lad

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

switch to pinergy or prepay power,then just pay off your current provider €x per week/month etc,i done it,wouldnt look back for a second

Your answer to a large bill that is hard enough to pay is to add €13 per month on to the bill?

V.W.L 11

foggy_lad wrote: »

Your answer to a large bill that is hard enough to pay is to add €13 per month on to the bill?

i owe them €800 due to a similar issue to your own,they are getting €5 a week and i've heard no more,its all about the money money money,prepay power costs me between €15/20 a week so its all good since i switched,get onto mabs and they can shut them up if you prefer to stay with them.

Cabaal

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

switch to pinergy or prepay power,then just pay off your current provider €x per week/month etc,i done it,wouldnt look back for a second

and in the mean time pay more for power each week with those companys then you would with a non pre-pay setup,

do people even look at the costs of these prepaid providers?

Nino Brown

Despite what seems to be ingrained into Irish people, leaving the immersion on will not result in massive electricity bills. They're on thermostats, so the switch being turned on doesn't necessarily mean the immersion is using electricity. I leave mine on for days at a time, and never had a bill over 230.

Why can't you access your meter?

V.W.L 11

Cabaal wrote: »

and in the mean time pay more for power each week with those companys then you would with a non pre-pay setup,

do people even look at the costs of these prepaid providers?

its working out grand and cheap for me and others i know who have it unless i switch on the dryer,immersion,kettle and cooker all day and night then it might be more expensive

foggy_lad

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

its working out grand and cheap for me and others i know who have it unless i switch on the dryer,immersion,kettle and cooker all day and night then it might be more expensive

If the meter breaks or needs servicing there are call out charges of up to €150 plus charges for replacement meter or display.

Cabaal

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

its working out grand and cheap for me and others i know who have it unless i switch on the dryer,immersion,kettle and cooker all day and night then it might be more expensive

It might seem that way, but the base recurring charges are still higher then non-prepaid power. So its a false economy,

You'd be better off spending 50e on a electricity monitor and just watch your usage,

ted1

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

its working out grand and cheap for me and others i know who have it unless i switch on the dryer,immersion,kettle and cooker all day and night then it might be more expensive

you really don't understand electricity.

you pay per kWh, anything that uses electricity costs money.

with prepay you pay an additional 37.5c for the facility
they also only match Electric Ireland's Standard rate, which no one pays. as people get between 10 and 23% discounts.

so outright your paying an additional €136 a year, then your paying on additional 20% on what you use + you could be paying an additional 20c per top up on bank charges

brightspark

Without seeing your bill, it looks like you are actually only about €1100, euro in arrears (1400-300).

This equates to about 20 extra units a day (again I don't know your exact rate), high but possible an uninsulated immersion, could easily be the culprit if on all the time.

Also check you room heating settings.


Is the normal €300 a monthly or bi monthly bill?

ted1

hada wrote: »

So received a bill of €1400 for Oct and November from Airtricity. I live in a 2 bed apartment, with usual winter bills circa 300 at the very very utmost (300 was the highest we've had).

I rang airtricity who informed me that the previous 10 months had been estimations, meanwhile this bill was based on an actual reading of an ESB technician - so they have been underestimating my usage for the previous 10 months. I'm absolutely heartbroken for the following reasons:

1) As mentioned, I generally have low / average bills - the only reason I can see it being high now because (after some rummaging around) the immersion seems to have been on the vast majority of the day (this is not normal - generally have it timed for 2 hours). Have no idea how long this has been - perhaps 3 - 4 weeks. Could this even account for 1400 worth of a bill?!

the reason its high is answered in bold, you simply were not paying enough for the past 10 months.


from their site, the ESB say they will take 4 readings a year.
https://www.esb.ie/esbnetworks/en/domestic-customers/metering/submit_meter_reading.jsp

contact the ESB 1850 372 757 and see if they have taken readings in the past few months, if they have go back to Airtricity tell them they had meter readings and they should have provided you with a correct bill.

at the end of the day the onus is on you to ensure you provide a meter reading.

ted1

Nino Brown wrote: »

Despite what seems to be ingrained into Irish people, leaving the immersion on will not result in massive electricity bills. They're on thermostats, so the switch being turned on doesn't necessarily mean the immersion is using electricity. I leave mine on for days at a time, and never had a bill over 230.

Why can't you access your meter?

thats rubbish. 230 is a large bill. I've a 3 bed semi d, 2 adults and 2 kids. our bill is 130 every 2 months.

it might have a thermostat, but why are you heating water 24 hours a day. do you need hot water 24 7?
you could be wasting 1,200 euro a year.

brightspark

Nino Brown wrote: »

Despite what seems to be ingrained into Irish people, leaving the immersion on will not result in massive electricity bills. They're on thermostats, so the switch being turned on doesn't necessarily mean the immersion is using electricity. I leave mine on for days at a time, and never had a bill over 230.

Why can't you access your meter?

It will use a lot more if not insulated, or water is being used continuously. Properly insulated and no water used would of course mean there wouldn't be much heat loss reducing the consumption.

Nino Brown

ted1 wrote: »

thats rubbish. 230 is a large bill. I've a 3 bed semi d, 2 adults and 2 kids. our bill is 130 every 2 months.

it might have a thermostat, but why are you heating water 24 hours a day. do you need hot water 24 7?
you could be wasting 1,200 euro a year.

230 is the largest (electric heaters in winter), average is 120-150. I don't see any reason not to have hot water 24/7. Heating a cold tank uses a lot more energy than maintaining temperature in a hot tank, so the there isn't that much extra cost, and I never have to wait for hot water to have a shower.

Nino Brown

brightspark wrote: »

It will use a lot more if not insulated, or water is being used continuously. Properly insulated and no water used would of course mean there wouldn't be much heat loss reducing the consumption.

True that, my tank is very well insulated.

Tazz T

The prepay might sound like a good idea, but once they have a good proportion of the population on board, watch the tariffs soar.

emeldc

Nino Brown wrote: »

230 is the largest (electric heaters in winter), average is 120-150. I don't see any reason not to have hot water 24/7. Heating a cold tank uses a lot more energy than maintaining temperature in a hot tank, so the there isn't that much extra cost, and I never have to wait for hot water to have a shower.

But would you need to have a shower at 4 o'clock in the morning. It's cheaper to turn it off.

Nino Brown

emeldc wrote: »

But would you need to have a shower at 4 o'clock in the morning. It's cheaper to turn it off.

Maybe not. But I might want one at 10/11pm before bed, or 5.30 in the morning before work. So it's not worth turning it off for a few hours, because the difference in energy between keeping a hot tank hot, and heating a cold tank in the morning is so minimal that I'd rather have it on just in case I do decide I want a shower at 4 in the morning.

BeerFear

OP I definitely would not pay it. IMO it's their fault for miscalculating the bill. Tell them you simply won't be paying and will be switching providers immediately if not rectified. Don't give in to them.

At best you will be able to bargain them down to half or will add 20 extra to your bill if you do want to pay it. Remember this wont affect your credit rating.

emeldc

BeerFear wrote: »

OP I definitely would not pay it. IMO it's their fault for miscalculating the bill. Tell them you simply won't be paying and will be switching providers immediately if not rectified. Don't give in to them.

At best you will be able to bargain them down to half or will add 20 extra to your bill if you do want to pay it. Remember this wont affect your credit rating.

So if the readings are correct, how have they miscalculated.

V.W.L 11

ted1 wrote: »

you really don't understand electricity.

you pay per kWh, anything that uses electricity costs money.

with prepay you pay an additional 37.5c for the facility
they also only match Electric Ireland's Standard rate, which no one pays. as people get between 10 and 23% discounts.

so outright your paying an additional €136 a year, then your paying on additional 20% on what you use + you could be paying an additional 20c per top up on bank charges

dont top up via laser/visa debit etc,the bank dont come into it,all i can say is i'm saving cash compared to when i was an esb customer,if i can get a better deal again i'd gladly switch provider,i've a top up meter for the gas as well,all about controlling costs at the end of the day

melekalikimaka

BeerFear wrote: »

OP I definitely would not pay it. IMO it's their fault for miscalculating the bill. Tell them you simply won't be paying and will be switching providers immediately if not rectified. Don't give in to them.

At best you will be able to bargain them down to half or will add 20 extra to your bill if you do want to pay it. Remember this wont affect your credit rating.

the responsibility is on YOU to ensure your meters are being read, no one else, you have the option to submit your own readings, being lazy and ignoring 10 months of estimation is madness. You received a service and now refuse to pay for it... you wont get very far, offering a 12 month payment option is more than they are obliged to do, you can move to another provider, like prepay, and carry the debt over you and be tied into them until its paid... so a fiver of every 20... could be with prepay a few years there, on the most expensive tariff in the country...


a fool and his money...

brightspark

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

switch to pinergy or prepay power,then just pay off your current provider €x per week/month etc,i done it,wouldnt look back for a second

Airtricity can also give you a prepay power meter. (Only if in arrears)

http://www.airtricity.com/ie/home/help-centre-ie/pay-as-you-go-prepayment-meters/electricity/how-do-i-get-a-pay-as-you-go-electricity-meter/

Can't find details on their site, but as far as I know they don't charge any extra unlike pinenergy etc. ring them up and ask.

If getting access to your meter is always going to be an issue using prepay or at least an owl meter will let you keep track of your usage.

emeldc

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

dont top up via laser/visa debit etc,the bank dont come into it,all i can say is i'm saving cash compared to when i was an esb customer,if i can get a better deal again i'd gladly switch provider,i've a top up meter for the gas as well,all about controlling costs at the end of the day

Stop kidding yourself. You are not saving money. You are just monitoring your usage better.
Why can't you do it with a cheaper supplier.

melekalikimaka

brightspark wrote: »

Airtricity can also give you a prepay power meter. (Only if in arrears)

http://www.airtricity.com/ie/home/help-centre-ie/pay-as-you-go-prepayment-meters/electricity/how-do-i-get-a-pay-as-you-go-electricity-meter/

Can't find details on their site, but as far as I know they don't charge any extra unlike pinenergy etc. ring them up and ask.

If getting access to your meter is always going to be an issue using prepay or at least an owl meter will let you keep track of your usage.

its a higher tariff than their standard, but they do install it for free, you need landlords permission, and likely management company if its an apt. so could be tricky

V.W.L 11

emeldc wrote: »

Stop kidding yourself. You are not saving money. You are just monitoring your usage better.
Why can't you do it with a cheaper supplier.

i stated in a previous post i would!!!

naughtysmurf

I'd investigate this further tbh, my annual electricity AND gas bills combined, would come to €1400 euro & that's for a four bed house, family of four.

Cabaal

BeerFear wrote: »

OP I definitely would not pay it. IMO it's their fault for miscalculating the bill. Tell them you simply won't be paying and will be switching providers immediately if not rectified. Don't give in to them.

At best you will be able to bargain them down to half or will add 20 extra to your bill if you do want to pay it. Remember this wont affect your credit rating.

It wasn't miscalculated,
The bills were estimated and the charges are valid.

If the OP can't get access to the metres then ESB Networks surely could not, regardless its the job of the op to get access to submit meter readings.

They failed to do this for over 10 months which means they were underpaying their bills.

foggy_lad

foggy_lad wrote: »

You got your bills and what? paid them without reading them? did you not wonder what the E beside the meter reading was on the bill? You used the electricity so will have to pay for it.

Given the circumstances Airtricity should not have let this go on 10 months especially given the circumstances.

Regards to the "E" Would it kill to put in "stimated" after it.

OP you are not the only one this has happened to. It happened to me for €600 i am still sure they got it wrong or gave me the wrong description. THis was after being in the house for 2 months and already paying 400 of a bill.

Another friend of mine got a bill very similar and they said the exact same thing. She then switched off all the power in her house for 24 hours and continued to take readings herself.

It turned out the meter was still going. Engineer was called out and the meter was fixed. They then tried to half the bill , but she was not having that as they probably owed her. This is still on going.

Airtricity is not that bad to be honest, i find ESB alot worse.

melekalikimaka

Deleted User wrote: »

Given the circumstances Airtricity should not have let this go on 10 months especially given the circumstances.

Regards to the "E" Would it kill to put in "stimated" after it.

OP you are not the only one this has happened to. It happened to me for €600 i am still sure they got it wrong or gave me the wrong description. THis was after being in the house for 2 months and already paying 400 of a bill.

Another friend of mine got a bill very similar and they said the exact same thing. She then switched off all the power in her house for 24 hours and continued to take readings herself.

It turned out the meter was still going. Engineer was called out and the meter was fixed. They then tried to half the bill , but she was not having that as they probably owed her. This is still on going.

Airtricity is not that bad to be honest, i find ESB alot worse.

if there is a meter fault, ESB determine the refund, not airtricity.

MurdyWurdy

Even paying €300 a month for power seems high (or is it bi - monthly?). I'm in a good sized two bed apartment and my last bill which was an actual reading was €200 for two months and I thought that was high. It is higher than it has been in the past because we had a baby and I'm home all day plus all the extra washing and heater on in the baby's room at night.

If you've been paying €300 and it wasn't enough it sounds a bit off to me. Definitely check it further

mjv2ydratu679c

Why don't you have access to your meter?

Cabaal

Deleted User wrote: »

Given the circumstances Airtricity should not have let this go on 10 months especially given the circumstances.

The OP shouldn't have allowed it to go on this long either,

Regards to the "E" Would it kill to put in "stimated" after it.

Would it kill customer's to actually take 30sec to read their bills and realise that submitting readings are in their interest,

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Something is not right. 1,400 for 10 months (plus current 2 months) and you've already paid bills for the previous 10 months.

Sure at 1,400 for 12 months, that's about 120 /month without adding in what you've already paid for the previous 10 months. Your bills must be averaging 175-200/ month for electricity. That seems extraordinarily high for 2 bed apartment. Are you running storage heaters?

Did you check the meter reading was correct when you moved in? Have the last tenants pulled a fast one perhaps?

zl1whqvjs75cdy

It does seem high. I pay roughly 850 a year for electricity and gas. Meter readings are essential.

miezekatze

Just thought I'd point out that for a lot of apartments the meters are outside of the apartment and tenants don't get access to them. I didn't have access to the meter in any of the apartments I've lived in. When we needed a final reading when moving out, some maintenance guy had to provide us with the reading.

This sounds like a crazy amount of money anyway and I'd certainly query that.

mjv2ydratu679c

miezekatze wrote: »

Just thought I'd point out that for a lot of apartments the meters are outside of the apartment and tenants don't get access to them. I didn't have access to the meter in any of the apartments I've lived in. When we needed a final reading when moving out, some maintenance guy had to provide us with the reading.

This sounds like a crazy amount of money anyway and I'd certainly query that.

Don't doubt that but would still be interested why opening poster doesn't have access to their meter.

melekalikimaka

Charlie Rhythmic Caribou wrote: »

Don't doubt that but would still be interested why opening poster doesn't have access to their meter.

alot of apts have meters in basement locked away by management company

mjv2ydratu679c

melekalikimaka wrote: »

alot of apts have meters in basement locked away by management company

Don't doubt that but would still be interested why opening poster doesn't have access to their meter.

melekalikimaka

Charlie Rhythmic Caribou wrote: »

Don't doubt that but would still be interested why opening poster doesn't have access to their meter.

I know one place that charges a 'fee' to access to meters

mjv2ydratu679c

melekalikimaka wrote: »

I know one place that charges a 'fee' to access to meters

Don't doubt that either - can you just let the opening poster answer the question?

anncoates

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Even paying €300 a month for power seems high (or is it bi - monthly?). I'm in a good sized two bed apartment and my last bill which was an actual reading was €200 for two months and I thought that was high. It is higher than it has been in the past because we had a baby and I'm home all day plus all the extra washing and heater on in the baby's room at night.

If you've been paying €300 and it wasn't enough it sounds a bit off to me. Definitely check it further

I thought this.

Our highest cost a two month period was about 450. That's for gas and electricity in a 1200 square foot house.

That's for actual readings. They text me three days before the bill and I submit readings online.

dudara

Posters - Let's bring the debate back to how the OP can manage this high bill. Has anyone any experience of negotiating a payment plan with Airtricity?

I think the OP has learned a lesson about meter readings etc, so no need to continue on about that.

Rubberchikken

Immersion on a lot of the time will do the trick.
very costly to run.
also long electric showers.
1400 is a lot, but doubt they made any error.

SEPT 23 1989

Do you have storage heating OP?

that can be a nightmare to run

naughtysmurf

OP, if you generally had low/average bills prior to 10 months ago and you were paying what you thought were normal enough sized bills for the last 10 months & you didn't think something was too much out of the ordinary with those, I would be amazed that you racked up an extra €1400 unless your washing machine, dryer, electric shower, light & heating are on permanently which I assume they are not

First off I would ask Airtricity for the last 12months bills if you don't have them & I would get an electrician around to check your wiring from your meter to your distribution box, wouldn't be surprised if maybe somebody has tapped into your supply

I'd be doing that before I paid any of the €1400

Airtricity may have just made an error

The immersion if operating correctly will switch on & off so not critical once the water has been heated the first time from cold,