Yes I think they must have been underestimating our usage. I'm away from home at the moment but I will post the meter readings when I return. I've spoken with Ovo and arranged a payment plan too. Thanks again.

Thanks for your help with this. I'll pay Ovo some money tomorrow and set up a payment plan.

Oops, my mistake, on both statements (gas and elec) it's actually £0.2740 Thanks.

Also, I've just spoken with my housemate who tells me that the thermostat doesn't turn the heating on until it's at 23 degrees or higher. This is definitely a contributing factor, I will take this up with the landlord too!

Standing Charge for Gas: £0.2740 Elec: £0.1148 Thanks

Oh dear. Well yes I can understand them wanting payment of course. I have a gas safety certificate, yes. Thanks again for your help.

Thank you - your help is much appreciated! It's an old house, 2 bed semi detached. I've always lived in older properties so I'm aware that they cost more to heat than a newer property would. The boiler was checked (I believe) just before we moved in at the end of August. It's a newish combi-boiler. I will contact the landlord and ask for an engineer to come and check it.

Hi. The gas boiler has been on since Nov, however the heating is timed to come on before I get up in the morning (5.30 am) then goes off about 10. Then comes on again in the evenings. We have the heating on for longer periods when we are in the house, like weekends. The boiler is the responsibility of the landlord. I really don't know what could have changed for the usage to go up so much, I am honestly baffled. If I owe the money, I will pay it of course, I just feel this is an extortionate amount over a very short period. The statements have all been estimated, I gave them a reading on Aug 30 and then they have taken one from me on Saturday morning (21 Jan). This is the calculation shown on the first gas statement, 30 Aug - 14 Oct: Meter Units 37 Volume Conversion Factor 1.00 Metric Units 37 Volume Correction x 1.02264 Calorific Value x 39.5 Convert to kWh / 3.6 kWh Used 415 Gas price per kWh £0.0291 Elec price per kWh £0.1148 Thanks so much for your help.

Ok, here are the units that my statements are showing I've used: Statement Date: 31 Aug - 14 Oct GAS 37 Units ELEC 126 kWhs 14 Oct - 14 Nov GAS 26 Units ELEC 89 kWhs 14 Nov - 14 Dec GAS 26 Units ELEC 85 kWhs 14 Dec - 14 Jan GAS 741 Units ELEC 949 kWhs As you can see the usage for Dec - Jan has skyrocketed, I mentioned before that in the stats on my online account it says the consumption has gone up over 2000% which I do not understand! Even if they adjusted my tariff this can't be right, surely? Meter readings First reading, Aug 31: ELEC 18254 GAS 06065 Latest reading, Jan 21: ELEC 19503 GAS 06895 Tariff: Better Energy Thanks in advance

Hi again Thanks for your responses. This might sound stupid but how do I work out how many units I've used? I've got all my meter readings and it shows how many kWhs I've used but I can't seem to see anything about units. EDIT - I've found the info, will post back with it shortly. Cheers.

Hi all, Hoping someone could give me some advice. I'm with OVO Energy, have been since August 2016. My tariff was £45 a month dual fuel, 2 bed semi detached house. I live with 1 other person. I cancelled my direct debit in October and made a manual payment. I couldn't set my direct debit back up on the website so I left it and made a couple of small payments here and there, intending to set it back up again. I had two statements from them, one in Nov for £32.24 and one in Dec for £31.43. A man came to read the meters a week or so ago. On my online account it says that I gave them a reading on the 9th Jan and then they estimated a reading on the 14th?? It also says that my gas usage is up over 2000% (how??). I got home yesterday to a threatening letter threatening a warrant of entry and saying I owe them £296.25!!! I rang them this morning and they told me that they didn't use the meter reading that was taken on the 9th Jan because it was 'too different', and made me read the meters over the phone, which I did. She put me on hold and came back saying that I owe over £400! Apparently they have emailed and written to me, which they have, but the last two statements were for the reasonable amounts above, no requests to contact them - this is totally out of the blue and I'm pretty sure they have just pulled that figure out of thin air. How should I handle this? They've also told me that they have to take half of the amount at once before setting up a payment plan (seems to be a standard tactic they use). I'm pretty clued up with debt collectors and their ways and I'm not threatened by their letter - however I want to keep this from escalating as I don't want another default. I'd like to stop them in their tracks if poss. Thanks in advance!

I am not planning to refuse them, that wasn't the intended point of my posting on here, I just wanted to see how I should handle the situation and what my rights are. Thanks.

So do I not really have any rights then, unless I have been employed for over a year?

Hi all, Thanks for your responses. I did not think for one second of witholding my medical report from my employer, I just feel that they are putting a large amount of pressure on me to just "get better", which isn't possible, or fair. By "raising a claim to the ET" - what do you mean by that? Sorry I don't know the abbreviations. Many thanks, Bekah

Hi everybody, I have been at my job since July 2011. It was initially a 6 month contract which then got extended to May of this year, with the possibility of being made permanent after this time. I have suffered with depression on and off since my mid teens (I am now 22). I had a long period of feeling ok, and then during January I started to feel very ill again. I had had a long period of feeling "bullied" by my manager, and raised a grievance which was dealt with in the correct fashion by my employer. After this, I have been very unwell with depression and anxiety and have been signed off work. I am in the 5th week now and have been on a weekly review with my doctor, sending in weekly sickness certificates to my employer, and keeping them updated with my condition. On Tuesday my doctor told me that she is going to refer me for psychiatric treatment, and has signed me off until April 12th. I contacted my employer and let them know this, and sent my doctor's certificate off to them as usual. I have this morning received a letter requesting my consent to obtain a medical report from my GP or specialist, and saying that they will be making decision on whether or not to terminate my employment based on the findings of the report (ie if the report doesn't give a date in the "reasonably near future" of my returning to work). I have only been off for 5 weeks and been certified from the start. I feel like they are trying to get rid of me, don't believe me and I am not being treated fairly. If someone had a broken leg, they would be off for longer than this and not know exactly when they will be back, and there's no way that they would be treated like this. Can you help? I'd just like to know my rights, and if they terminate my employment does it count as unfair dismissal? I am so stressed and unwell at the moment and this is like the final nail in the coffin - losing my job will make me even more ill. Thanks so much, Bekah