How to read a bill before you pay it

A bill is designed to be paid, not read. The total is large, the lines are small, and the one line that doubled is somewhere in the middle. Ten minutes with a pen saves more than a month of switching tariffs.

Check the period first

A bill that covers six weeks looks like a price rise. A bill that covers three weeks looks like a saving. Before you compare anything, check the dates, and check whether a previous bill overlapped.

Read the readings, not the total

For anything metered, the opening and closing numbers are the whole argument. If the closing reading is lower than the opening, or the opening does not match last month's closing, the bill is wrong and you can prove it in one line.

Find the line that changed

Put this month next to last month and look for the biggest difference, not the biggest number. Rent is the biggest number and it did not change. A 12 pound 'account administration fee' that appeared this month is the thing worth a phone call.

• A charge you have never seen before.
• A charge that doubled with no change in usage.
• A discount that disappeared without a letter.
• A late fee on a payment you made on time.

Ask in writing, pay the rest

Pay the part you agree with, on time, and write to ask about the rest. Withholding the whole bill usually triggers a late fee that is now legitimately owed, which turns a good argument into a bad one.

Keep a one page record

For each utility: provider, account number, tariff name, contract end date, and the date you last compared. One page, updated twice a year, is enough to stop most of the money that leaks out of a household unnoticed.