As Australians continue to deal with the rising cost of living, they are reminded to check the charges on their energy bills are actually accurate.
A Melbourne resident, who lives in a new-build town house with her partner, said she was “astounded” to get a $430 gas bill recently, despite her two previous bills being under $100.
She said it made “no sense” and that her heating was electric, meaning “hardly anything is on gas”.
“Once I inspected the bill I realized it was actually an estimate,” she told news.com.au.
“Lucky for me AGL allows you to run a meter read to receive an actual bill so that’s what I did.”
The simple act wiped hundreds off her bill, bringing it down to the markedly different cost of $65.
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According to the Australian Energy Market Commission, a small customer is entitled to request that their energy retailer adjust their bill by providing their own reading of the meter if they believe the electricity or gas bill given was based on an inaccurate estimate.
If your meter is a “basic meter” rather than a “smart meter” it means someone must physically attend the property to read it, which is when estimates are sometimes used.
Whether or not your bill is based on an estimate is indicated by an A (actual) or E (estimate) on the bill.
AGL said it there were “a range of factors” that resulted in customers getting an estimated read.
“When we’re unable to get an actual read of a meter, we send an estimated bill based on a number of factors including past energy usage and the average usage of similar customers,” a spokesperson said.
The company said customers were able to submit their own read directly via the AGL App or over the phone and their bill would be adjusted accordingly.
“As one of Australia’s largest energy retailers, AGL is committed to keeping energy prices competitive and affordable for customers,” the spokesperson said, adding that anyone with concerns should contact them.
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