"Jaime" wrote in message
...
After we just recieved a £400 bill as we haden't been charged properly for
the preceedign 3 quaters we are looking at changing suppliers. Southern
Electric seem to charge us about £570 for the 8.1 MW hr's we used in the
past year (both company read meter readings).

The online price comparisons seem to suggest Atlantic energy or basic
power
as being sutiably cheap alternatives, does anyone have any experience of
them? We dont have any gas and are not on ecomony 7. Cooking is electric
as
is our shower.

How do monthly direct debits in advance work? Do they guess at a yearly
usage divide up monthly and then adjust somehow?

Many thanks

Jaime


Won't the meter reading be done by the same people, "Acuread" (spits over
left shoulder).

snip
Won't the meter reading be done by the same people, "Acuread" (spits over
left shoulder).


Yeh I guess so, don't some of these copanies offer a self read option or
something, as Southern electric always seem less than helpful when we have
tried to pay the correct amount, only to be struck with a larger bill later.

Thanks

Jaime

In message , Jaime
wrote

Yeh I guess so, don't some of these copanies offer a self read option or
something,

British Gas bill for the exact amount you tell them for your self read
of the gas and electricity meters. They issue replacement bills if you
give them your own reading (on the web) just after they send you a bill.

http://www.house.co.uk/cgi-bin/house...ge2.jsp?BV_Ses
sionID=HHHH1553103658.1062630019HHHH&BV_EngineID=c ccdadcjfifllggcefecfngd
fhidfmf.0&channelId=-8382&sTopLevelChannel=manage+your+bills

or

http://www.house.co.uk/
and follow the 'manage your bills' link.
--
Alan

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 22:12:18 +0100, Jaime wrote:

snip
Won't the meter reading be done by the same people, "Acuread" (spits over
left shoulder).


Yeh I guess so, don't some of these copanies offer a self read option or
something, as Southern electric always seem less than helpful when we have
tried to pay the correct amount, only to be struck with a larger bill later.

They all do! If you get three or four estimated accounts and don't
bother to give them corrected readings you only have yourself to blame
when they send an account based on their actual readings.

I used to be in the industry, it never ceased to amaze me just how many
people used leccy like it was going out of fashion, and happily
continued to take estimated accounts thinking to themselves that the
electricity bill was much less than they thought it was going to be, and
then moaned like hell when reality caught up with them.

You do, of course, check that the readings they quote are realistic.
It's not unknown for a meter reader to get a reading out by 1,000 or
10,000.

On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 07:33:12 +0100, Wanderer wrote:

You do, of course, check that the readings they quote are realistic.

I check them an have a spreadsheet that calculates how much I owe them
or they owe me. If they owe me more than about a tenner I send in
readings (via the web or 0800 number) and get an ammended bill. I just
keep an eye on how much I owe them...

It's not unknown for a meter reader to get a reading out by 1,000 or
10,000.

It's also not unknown for an electronically read meter to be read
incorrectly. Had that happen to me.

Check those meters and bills.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Jaime" wrote in message
...
After we just recieved a £400 bill as we haden't been charged properly for
the preceedign 3 quaters we are looking at changing suppliers. Southern
Electric seem to charge us about £570 for the 8.1 MW hr's we used in the
past year (both company read meter readings).

The online price comparisons seem to suggest Atlantic energy or basic
power
as being sutiably cheap alternatives, does anyone have any experience of
them? We dont have any gas and are not on ecomony 7. Cooking is electric
as
is our shower.

How do monthly direct debits in advance work? Do they guess at a yearly
usage divide up monthly and then adjust somehow?



Many thanks for the replies. Yes we should have updated the readings (didn't
know my mum had had such small bills). However I phoned Southern Electric
who where very helpful and we have switched to a cheaper direct debit plan
with a large part of the recent bill spread over the next few months. Really
quite suprising how helpful they where and open to suggestion as to amounts,
payment dates etc..., like in another more recent thread it does seem that
competition is working in this sector.

Jaime