A screenshot of a new energy bill which predicted a yearly spend of almost £21,500 has gone viral after the recipient asked if he was paying for "the whole of f***ing Bolton".
The bill, posted by Twitter account @FplAndSte, showed a first monthly payment of £1,954 that would be taken by energy supplier British Gas on April 1, with ten regular monthly payments of the same amount due to be taken on the first of each month. That equates to £21,494 paid across 11 months.
Several other people had jumped into the comments with equally ridiculous bills, including user @Rob_ladnet who shared a screenshot of a bill he had in January, which put his monthly payments to British Gas at £7,024.28, and @amyy0506 who joked she was paying for South Yorkshire after receiving a direct debit bill from Eon for £5,361.57 a month.
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As others shared their ludicrous bills in the thread, some began to panic that their costs would start to skyrocket soon too. One Twitter user shared the news that their bill had more than doubled due to the energy crisis at the moment, which saw several energy providers go bust after wholesale prices rose.
However, fortunately for us all, it's unlikely that our energy bills will rise quite this quickly, as suppliers say these are likely to be wrongly calculated bills. Although British Gas were unable to comment on the huge bill without more details from the customer, they did acknowledge there were several reasons a bill could be this high - even something as simple as the customer making an error inputting the meter readings.
Customers transferring from failed suppliers, such as @FplAndSte, may also have incorrect bills due to issues getting their correct usage data from the old supplier, with these bills disappearing and being replaced by new and correct figures when that information is found. A spokesperson from the firm said: "British Gas has contacted the customer to ask for the customer’s details so it can help resolve this issue but has had no reply."
Energy bills are set to rise in April after the energy price cap rises by 54 per cent - adding an extra £693 onto the average annual bill. The rising costs are a global problem caused by the surge in cost of wholesale gas in recent months - with gas prices around four times higher than they were last year.
During last year's long winter, countries in Europe and Asia burned through a lot of their gas reserves to heat homes, while demand is also higher than usual as the world comes out of successive lockdowns and businesses try to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, gas production is also lower, and the weather was less windy over the summer – causing more gas to be burned for electricity.
Electricity bills are also set to rise as around 40 per cent of the UK's electrical needs are being met by burning gas at power stations. Those worried about the rising energy prices can contact Citizen's Advice on 808 223 1133 or use their online webchat for support or advice.
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