Why is my gas or electricity bill estimated even when they've read the meter?

It wouldn't be possible to list all the reasons we have come across why actual meter readings are ignored, but the ones we've listed here are by far the most common ones:

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Energy

• Sometimes the data simply gets lost between the meter reader and the supplier - human or machine error or a combination of both.
• The meter operator may have read the meter outside the supplier's billing cycle.
• Suppliers automatically reject meter readings if they seem way out of step with previous readings. This is to prevent mis-read meter readings being used. But unfortunately this can also mean that billing systems may reject real readings if they are 'too different' from the previous - estimated - readings. If this happens, the supplier should ideally arrange a special meter reading to check what is happening, but they may just produce another estimate.
• If you get bills where the readings seem completely different from the estimates on the bill, there might be something wrong in the way your account is set up with the supplier or distributor/transporter. For example, there might be a mix-up over which meter you have.

Advice: Contact your supplier to ask them the reason. Be ready to tell them what your meter reading is when you make your telephone call. If you continue to get bills based on estimates when you know actual readings could have been used, complain to your supplier, and if you still don't get the problem sorted out, complain to energywatch.