Standing charge billed for the wrong number of days: how to spot it
The standing charge is a fixed daily fee for keeping your site connected. It is charged whether you use energy or not, so the only thing that should change it on a bill is the number of days, unless the rate changes during the period (see below). That makes errors easy to prove.
Count the days correctly
Count both the first and the last day of the billing period. A bill from 1 August to 31 August covers 31 days. A bill from 15 September to 14 October covers 30 days (16 in September and 14 in October).
A quick way: subtract the start date from the end date and add one. If the bill only gives meter read dates, the usage normally runs from the day after the previous read to the day of the current read. A read on 31 July closes July's usage, so an August bill starts on 1 August.
Compare with the days charged
Find the standing charge line. It usually shows the number of days and the daily rate, for example "Standing charge 34 days × 65.00p = £22.10". If the days charged are more than the days in the period, you have been overcharged.
| Days | Rate | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| On the bill | 34 | 65.00p | £22.10 |
| Expected (1–31 Aug) | 31 | 65.00p | £20.15 |
| Difference | 3 | £1.95 before VAT |
The amount looks small, but it repeats. Three extra days a month is about £23 a year on this rate, plus VAT, and more on sites with higher standing charges.
Why it happens
- Overlapping periods: the new bill starts on the same day the last one ended, so one day is charged twice.
- Read dates and billing dates mixed up: the bill period follows meter read dates, but the standing charge follows calendar dates, or the other way round.
- Re-bills: a corrected bill adds days that were already charged on the original.
- Rate changes mid-period: two standing-charge lines that together cover more days than the bill.
Check across bills
Put your last few bills side by side. The end date of one bill should be the day before the start date of the next. Gaps can mean missing charges that may be back-billed later; overlaps mean days charged twice.
When the rate changes mid-period
If your standing charge changed during the billing period, for example at a contract renewal or a price change, the bill should show two lines: one for the days at the old rate and one for the days at the new rate. Add the days on both lines together. They should still equal the days in the period. Then check each line's days against the date the rate changed.
Gas bills work the same way
Gas standing charges are also daily, so the same check applies. Gas bills are more often based on estimated reads and quarterly periods, which makes long or overlapping periods more likely. Count the days for each bill and compare them with the days charged, exactly as for electricity.
Keep a simple record
A spreadsheet with one row per bill (start date, end date, days counted, days charged, daily rate) makes repeated errors obvious and gives you the evidence for a complaint covering several bills at once.
What to do
- Note the billing period, the days you counted and the days charged.
- Work out the difference × the daily rate.
- Ask the supplier to correct and re-issue the bill, quoting the figures.
- Check earlier bills for the same pattern.
If the supplier doesn't fix it, see how to escalate a complaint.
CheckEnergyBill counts the days and compares them with the standing charge on every bill you upload, and compares several bills side by side. Check a bill free.