ᐅ Gas consumption four times higher than advance payment

Hello everyone,

I am supporting a Syrian family who has integrated very well and has managed to establish themselves, including owning a small home.

The father recently asked me for advice. He received the gas bill and was shocked. He had prepaid €3,500 and now has to pay an additional €8,000.

I was able to verify the numbers. The gas consumption has increased by a factor of 3.7 compared to previous years, which explains the high additional payment. I asked if there was an issue with the heating system. Yes, it was broken and someone repaired it without providing an invoice. The strange thing is that the gas meter was replaced by the utility company two weeks ago. I have the report including the final readings.

I don’t know why the meter was changed.

Do you think it is possible to negotiate some kind of reduction here? Considering that the meter readings were consistently stable for the last four years and now within a 12-month period the consumption has almost quadrupled, this seems rather unusual.

Hello,

Gas meters are replaced every 6 years (or was it every 8 years?) because their calibration expires. That is normal. If I understand you correctly, you calculated yourself that the consumption really was that high. At most, you might be able to appeal emotionally to the local utility company... But honestly, why should the general public cover the gas bill (which actually seems to be correct)?

What I find much more interesting:

€3500 advance payment? That’s almost 40,000 kWh (43,000 kWh)! As an advance payment!!! Is that a medium-sized castle, or are there no window panes installed?

With an €8000 additional charge, that totals €11,500, which is almost 130,000 kWh (140,000 kWh). That would be continuous consumption of nearly 15 kW, 24/7 for 365 days. PERMANENT. Sorry, but you would definitely notice if the heating was running almost at full power all the time. The radiators would have to be glowing hot, even in summer!

One possible explanation (I had this once in a rental flat) is that the heating or gas valve was leaking and the gas was vented unburned through the flue. If someone has tampered with the heating without proper invoicing, it’s quite possible that this is still happening. In that case, they should be very glad to still be alive...

Please try turning off the heating completely and watch the gas meter. If it still moves, get out of the house immediately and call professionals!

Best regards,

Andreas

You can get used to the heat quite well.
If the heating system was broken, since when has that been the case? Did it run constantly throughout the summer, and the occupants simply kept the windows wide open?

Although it was too late in this case, reading the meter monthly would have identified such a problem early. I have always read the meters monthly and documented all the readings.

I also cancel the providers every year because so far, each one has significantly increased their prices after one year.

The final bill was based on an actual reading. Two weeks ago, the meter was also read for the replacement. And now it can be read as well. Even though it is currently cold and the heating is likely running more often because of this, at least a trend can be observed to determine whether the problem still persists.

Hello, here is the solution. For the past three years, the basic supplier estimated the consumption. Well, that’s just bad luck. Additionally, the price from the provider was almost twice as high as the new customer rate.

Is it at least possible to request a price adjustment in this case? Or is it just bad luck?