Electricty Supply and Back Billing

nrushforth

Strange one this.

Moved into a brand new property in September 2006 and contacted our previous Gas/Electricity Supplier to take over the supply from the builders.

This all got sorted and have been happily paying our supplier (Scottish Power) for the last 3.5 years.

I received a letter a few days ago from E-on stating that they have been recently informed that I have been responsible for the property since September 2006 and may receive a high gas bill.

It turns out that Scottish Power had been billing me using an invalid Meter Point Reference number all this time and the Meter installed at the property was installed by E-on.

Conversations have taken place between E-on and Scottish Power with regards refunding me the 3.5 years gas costs and then E-on billing me for the same 3.5 years of gast costs.

The lady at Scottish Power informed me of the 12 month Back Billing legislation, stating that the maximum E-on can back bill me for is 12 months. Having spoken to E-on they state this does not apply in this circumstance. E-on also told me that if the bill from them for the equivalent usage is higher than the amount paid to Scottish Power then I would not be liable for the difference.

Does anyone have any info regarding the 12 month Back Billing rights? Who is right? (This is hassle I could do without!!!:mad:)

Thanks

spiro

The 12 month rule applies if the supplier has failed to bill you and you have made attempt to get them to.

What you appear to have is what is refered to as a 'crossed meter' in that the MPRN and Meter Serial Number for the property has been mixed up on the central register. I am guess there is another customer involved somewhere because this issue normally happens when 2 'plot addresses' become 2 'house number addresses' and they are not the logical way round ie. you have plots 1, 2, 3, 4 up one side of a road but they get numbered 2, 4, 6, 8.

Cardew

I don't think the back billing rule applies in this situation.

However, even if technically you may be liable for any difference(or entitled to a refund?), as you have done nothing wrong, I suspect common sense will prevail and any debt be written off!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi nrushforth

I'm sorry you are being caused hassle by this situation. Unfortunately, this type of mix up does occur, particularly with new builds.

It tends to happen when builders advise us of the wrong metering details for individual properties.

This results in accounts being created for the separate addresses but with the wrong metering details attached to each. Consequently, charges are incorrectly directed to the wrong properties.

It sounds as though your situation is fairly advanced as Scottish Power are looking at refunding the amount you have paid to them for gas we have supplied.

With regards to the Billing Code, this will depend on the particular circumstances of your case.

Generally, where we are at fault for not sending a correct bill, we will only back bill for 12 months from the date we attempted to correct the account.

We will not usually accept claims under the Billing Code where we have been given incorrect details by the person previously responsible for a property. In this case, your builder.

However, I am speculating. As I say, each case needs to be looked at individually and the agent looking after your account will be able to let you know the reasons behind the decision not to apply the Billing Code.

Ask for a complaint to be raised if you are not happy with the reasons given. This can then be escalated to a manager for another look and then, if necessary, to the Ombudsman after 56 days.

Again, I'm really sorry you are having to go through this experience but I hope this is useful. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Premier_2

nrushforth wrote: »

...Does anyone have any info regarding the 12 month Back Billing rights? Who is right? (This is hassle I could do without!!!:mad:)

Thanks

Here's link to the back billing code, but I'd read the other links too, especially the FAQs which offer a further insight into the application of the code.
http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/customerbilling.html

Don't worry about it. If it ends up that EOn can actually bill you, then the money you've paid Scottish Power can be recovered ... and I suspect the difference will only be little, you might even end up in pocket.

aussielover

I am also having problems with Eon . They have decided after 15 months to back bill me for more than £4000 in used electricty . The first I heard about it was in a phone call from their representative in march 2011 . I had until then been under the impression that the £95 PCM I was paying by Direct Debit was enough to cover my usage . They have said that because we signed up to self serve we cannot apply the Back Billing rules even though we never recieved any e-bills or e-mails from them to the the e-mail address given .. surely they would have to write to us at some stage in order to argue this point ?... It means our bill for usuage for the year would total over £6k and we will have difficutly paying the £4000 over the next year . They surely should compensate us for their error in not billling us correctly or bringing this matter to our attention before now ?.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi aussielover

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with us.

How has this extra charge come about? Have we been billing to estimated meter readings and you've now received a catch up bill following an accurate reading?

Are the readings we've used at the start of the account correct? Have we now billed up to a correct reading?

I would also check the meter serial number on the bill is the same as that on the meter.

Self Serve is our online registration service where customers manage their accounts online. If you've registered for this, you won't receive paper bills as they are shown online when you log into your account.

Sorry for all the questions aussielover but trying to build up a picture of what might have happened here. An extra £4000 is a big difference over 15 months.

Malc