132 help electricity

OK - those of you living permenantly in italy can you offer me some advise

We bought our house in october last year and in January the bank paid to the electric company Euros 125.

Now considering we have not lived there since we bought the place i was a little shocked to see the amount and thuoght that the transfer from previous owners had been messed up.

I asked to see a copy of the bill and have been sent load sof documents - but nothing that looks like a bill.

From what I can figure {and my italian is far from good} - I am on a fixed charge of 115 euros a year and the connection and set-up charges were 78 euros.

Since then we have had a furthe rpayment taken out of the account for 35 euros

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If the 115 does not include tax - then about 35 euros a quarter is probalby correct forthe fixed bill ? - but 78 & 35 = 115 not 125

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Please explain !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/20/2005 - 12:23

Cannot remeber exact details, but we paid a significan sum as a fee for reconnecting our home with ENEL.

Since then we have always found our bills to be very good value compared to our old UK address. However, we do live in a very economical and spacially challenged appartment......

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/20/2005 - 12:32

...remember to take a regular reading of your meter as the bills are based on consumption estimates & not actual consumption.

We have found that the winter months push up the estimate (and this is carried forward into summer when we never have any heating on) meaning our standing order is high.

We call the ENEL number (a free -800 number) and then the bills are updated; we just don't have the funds deducted from our account, rather than get a 'normal' refund.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/21/2005 - 12:13

We were also charged about 80 euros by ENEL to set up a new contract and have the pleasure of receiving future bills. The house was already connected so there was no reconnection/new supply fee. When 'non-resident' each bill was about 38 euros. Bills are sent out every two months and on the back provide a detailed breakdown of all costs. IVA is charged at 10%, again this is itemised. The meter man calls once a year so apart from the one immediately after his visit all bills are based on estimated consumption. A few days before the next bill is due to be sent out, you can phone in with your current meter reading and the bill will be adjusted accordingly. Details are given at the bottom of all bills. Even if you pay by direct debit you recieve the same format of bill as if you pay in person at the bank/PO, it just states that your account will be debited on the last payment date given. Bills arrive well before the due date so it is strange that you are not recieving any and just have your account debited, it would be worth trying to find out where the bills are ending up.

Hope this is of some help - at least the figures roughly tally with ours.

Anne 2

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/31/2005 - 02:50

I am a resident so I could be wrong as the rules for non residents could be different.
The first year in my house ENEL sent me bills ever 2 months with an estimate of how much they thought I may be using - at the end of the year they checked the meter and then sent me a check for the amount they over estimated ( in my case it was about 60 euros - not a lot but enough for a pizza and a beer ).
So maybe- you will get a big whopping check in the mail one day when they see how much electricity you haven't consumed.