Yesterday we received our first electricity bill from npower, having become a customer in December last year. The bill was estimated at £127, which I thought seemed a little steep considering we’re ultra careful and switch everything off at the socket when it’s not in use. In fact, we’ve become slaves to the sockets and switches since the rip off 12.7% electricity price hike on 4th January 2008.

Having opened the bill and realising it was an estimate, I confidently predicted our actual (non-estimated) bill would be a whole lot cheaper, once I’d supplied the meter readings. “You wait and see”, I told my (slightly uninterested) other half.

Having scuttled off to read the meter, I was proven right. Oh yes, that estimated bill was way out. Way, way, way out - but there was no gloating, because my reading suggested we’d used £1,180 worth of electricity in just 3 months. Cue panic attack, whimpering and frantic totting up on fingers and toes - followed by a long wait on hold and a 38 minute conversation with an Npower customer service representative, who (despite the dreadful reviews was actually really helpful).

After lots of deliberating and cogitating, the lightbulb moment came when the previous tenant’s exit bill was checked, and found to be based on two 4 digit meter readings. Our bill was based on two 5 digit readings instead, meaning we’d used close to 10,000 units of electricity rather a little less than a thousand.

Problem solved - my error when I first read the meter was not picked up by the customer service representative who set up the account. They’re re-billing and I’m relaxing.