Does anybody know how they work this out?

[BoredBloke]

Like many we pay our gar and electric on a direct debit. Our supplier estimated the bill for years - it turns out that they underestimated it massively for years. We gave them a reading and now they have upped the direct debit from about £80 to £238 per month to recoup the under billed amount and pay for the increased prices.

My question is - how do they price the amount which they under estimated? Do they use an average price for the period between the last manual reading to the current one or do they simply use the price as of now (which has gone up massively since the last reading)

I'd say it would be fairer to use an average of the price per unit since the last reading, but I suspect that they use the price now because it's risen so much over the past couple of months.

[TheBigYinJames]

My question is - how do they price the amount which they under estimated?

In my experience they use a Random Number Generator.

[Moscow Mule]

Like many we pay our gar and electric on a direct debit. Our supplier estimated the bill for years - it turns out that they underestimated it massively for years. We gave them a reading and now they have upped the direct debit from about £80 to £238 per month to recoup the under billed amount and pay for the increased prices.

My question is - how do they price the amount which they under estimated? Do they use an average price for the period between the last manual reading to the current one or do they simply use the price as of now (which has gone up massively since the last reading)

I'd say it would be fairer to use an average of the price per unit since the last reading, but I suspect that they use the price now because it's risen so much over the past couple of months.

Phone them up and ask them - then complain if it's not beneficial to you. It's their fault (really) for not insisting on doing a meter reading.

[HeliCraig]

When I was involved in a metering project for a water company there was a legal obligation to get an actual meter read every 2 years - and I remember it being commented on that Gas / Electricity may have been even more frequent.

Might be worth speaking to OFGEM to find out - if the GasCo has been remiss in this legal obligation you have good grounds for telling them to go forth and multiply!

C.