EDF strike again...payment demand

theGrinch

Soon after moving into a new house I changed suppliers away from EDF, which was in Feb 2008.

At the time, I gave the gas reading and was sent a final bill which I paid. This week, I have been sent a revised bill for the period 28th Jan 2008 to 19 Feb 2008 saying I have an outstanding gas bill.

Any thoughts on this please?

KimYeovil

Is it accurate? Does the new bill correspond with the starting reads with your new supplier? Or is there now a conflict?

theGrinch

KimYeovil wrote: »

Is it accurate? Does the new bill correspond with the starting reads with your new supplier? Or is there now a conflict?

I no longer retain the circa two year old bill.

factoryworker

theGrinch wrote: »

I no longer retain the circa two year old bill.

first thng to do is to check your first bill from new supplier (if you don't have ring up and ask your current supplier what opening/start read was and date at start of supply [presuming you havent changed supplier again since]); it will have an opening/start reading; is this the same as the last reading for the same date on the the revised bill you've received; if it is, you owe it, if it isn't you need to ring your current supplier and ask them to raise an 'Agrred read dispute'; techinically they have to be raised within ayear but if you get someone with experience they'll sort it.

theGrinch

factoryworker wrote: »

first thng to do is to check your first bill from new supplier (if you don't have ring up and ask your current supplier what opening/start read was and date at start of supply [presuming you havent changed supplier again since]); it will have an opening/start reading; is this the same as the last reading for the same date on the the revised bill you've received; if it is, you owe it, if it isn't you need to ring your current supplier and ask them to raise an 'Agrred read dispute'; techinically they have to be raised within ayear but if you get someone with experience they'll sort it.

thanks for that. all I know is when asked to give a reading at the time I gave an accurate reading on which a bill was raised and paid. On this basis, I am uncertain as to why 2 years on a new bill has been sent. Hmmm

DVardysShadow

theGrinch wrote: »

thanks for that. all I know is when asked to give a reading at the time I gave an accurate reading on which a bill was raised and paid. On this basis, I am uncertain as to why 2 years on a new bill has been sent. Hmmm

Companies are scraping the bottom of the barrel to look for any half chance of claiming a payment from anyone, due to the credit crunch. Personally, I would put them to the test and demand copies of all back bills.

But, you know, a debt can be chased for 6 years, so don't shred until the 6 years has gone.

factoryworker

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Companies are scraping the bottom of the barrel to look for any half chance of claiming a payment from anyone, due to the credit crunch. Personally, I would put them to the test and demand copies of all back bills.

But, you know, a debt can be chased for 6 years, so don't shred until the 6 years has gone.

First part is probably true, but is also becoming a priority as OFGEM have applied a lot of pressure to ensure accurate bills; this has instigated special teams to clean sweep all accounts; unfortunately it sometimes brings up cases like this, which would simply had been wiped/forgotten before; you dont say how much the bill is for, but the reality is that outgoing/new suppliers don't always use same reads, but it could just mean you underpaid the prev supplier; seems harsh after this time i agree but check both suppliers opening/closing read and the date; ask if it was estimated/customer own read or Data Collector Actual (not assumed) Read. if the bill is about £30 a quick call to ask if it could be wiped sometimes works particularly if you've never missed/paid late, although a months usage is winter could easy be £100 which would be less likely wiped; its your a/c, your data, your bill - ask they have to provide...

Premier_2

KimYeovil wrote: »

Is it accurate? Does the new bill correspond with the starting reads with your new supplier? Or is there now a conflict?

theGrinch wrote: »

I no longer retain the circa two year old bill.

theGrinch wrote: »

thanks for that. all I know is when asked to give a reading at the time I gave an accurate reading on which a bill was raised and paid. On this basis, I am uncertain as to why 2 years on a new bill has been sent. Hmmm

It's strange how you checked that final bill and can recall it being correct, but cannot recall, or didn't check, that the initial bill from your new supplier was correct.

I remember when I changed suppliers I gave the actual meter reading to both old & new supplier. I also checked the bills when they arrived. The old supplier billed correctly, but the new supplier billed from a later meter reading.
Being the honest person I am, I called the new supplier to ask why. They explained that they had on record the meter reading I supplied, but also one the previous supplier had sent them (which must have been estimated) which was a higher reading. The new supplier informed me that they had decided to bill me from that higher reading and if that resulted in me getting a few free units, so be it

Anyway, as others have said, contact your current supplier and ask them the meter reading they have billed you from.

theGrinch

yes both old and new suppliers get reading. the opening and closing reading are usually the same..right?

its nothing bank breaking...£20 or so, but I would treat it the same had it been £2 or £2000.

just wondered had anyone else come across this revisionism 2 years later and is there a limit (if any) to how far rebilling can go back? What is to stop them coming back a third, fourth or Nth time? Seems an abuse of process as I am sure many many people wouldnt have a clue 24 months on.

Premier_2

The final meter reading from the old supplier should be the same as that as the start reading from the new supplier.

When that is the case, there can generally be no reason to come back and ask for more (excepting any calculation/tariff errors but this is not usually the case in the modern day computing age).

theGrinch

could the previous owner have given a slightly different reading?