Unexpected high bill

Got a high bill and not sure what to do? Read on to work out if your bill is correct or if something is wrong.

Has your company sent you an unusually high electricity, gas or water bill? Has your bill gone up and stayed up?

There could be many causes for a high bill. It’s important to work out first if the bill is correct or if there’s a mistake.

Visit the Trouble paying a bill page if you know why your bill is high and you’re having difficulty paying it.

Reading your electricity, gas or water bill can sometimes be difficult. Watch our video for helpful tips on how to read your bill.

For more information on water charges, read our Charges on water bills - metropolitan and Charges on water bills - regional, urban fact sheets.

You could end up with an unexpected high bill for many reasons. Some of the causes we see are:

• Using more electricity, gas or water because of changes in circumstances resulting in more time at home (for example working from home, maternity leave, unexpected unemployment or retirement etc.)
• Using more electricity, gas or water because of seasonal changes or other reasons (for example, more heating in winter, more cooling in summer, more water when it’s hot, hosting guests at your house)
• New appliances that use a lot of energy
• Your concession has not been applied or has been applied incorrectly
• Faulty appliances that use more energy than they should
• Charges from an earlier period that you didn’t pay
• Your company estimated how much electricity, gas or water you used and its estimate resulted in a ‘catch-up’ bill
• A water bill that includes the quarterly Parks charge
• Your tariff has increased
• There’s a water leak at your property
• The meter is not correctly recording your usage
• Meter reading errors
• Cross wiring of the premises.

Visit the Billing mistakes page for more information about billing and concession errors.

Visit the Delayed or catch-up bills page for more information about estimated bills.

If you think there’s something wrong with your bill, contact your company and ask them to check your bill.

Even if you think there is a mistake on your bill, you should pay the part of the bill that you think you owe. This makes sure that your debt doesn’t unnecessarily get higher while we investigate. It also shows that you are willing to pay the part of the bill that you agree you owe.

If you think your meter isn’t recording your usage correctly, you can ask your company to test it. If there is a problem with the meter, the company should arrange for it to be fixed and correct any errors on your bill.

If the meter is shown to be working properly, you may have to pay the cost of the meter test. Usually, there’s some other reason for an unexpected high bill. Before you ask for a meter test, check for other things that might have caused the high bill.

Visit the Meters, poles, wires and pipes page for more information on meters.

Contact your company about your bill if you think there’s something wrong. If you aren’t happy with their response, contact us. We can do things like assess your energy use, check that your meter is correctly recording your use and check that your bill matches the information from your meter.

We can help with most complaints about energy or water issues in Victoria, big or small. Our service is free to Victorian customers.

Need general information?

If you don’t have a complaint but just want some general information, we call this an enquiry. We may even be able to refer you to another agency.

You can make an enquiry at any time. Call us on 1800 500 509, send us an email or start a live chat.