Incorrect Final Electric Bill issued

SASH_F

Having handed in my notice on my rented accomodation back in August 2010 i made contact with southern electric to inform them that i was vacating the property. They asked me for meter readings which I provided and a week later a final bill came through, i settled the amount.

Last week - 10 months later after issuing the final bill, they some how track me down and say they made an error whilst calculating my final bill and that i now infact owe hundreds of pounds.

I sent them a copy of the final bill they originally sent me and proof that it had been paid. They said it is irrelvant that i paid the original final bill as it was incorrect and must pay the correct amount.

I now have no idea of what the meter readings were when i left as i did not retain that information.

Do i have to settle this supposed new final bill?

Surely if they made a mistake they should take responsibilty?

Any legal advice would be great.

Thanks!

DVardysShadow

The meter readings should be on the final bill they sent you.

SASH_F

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The meter readings should be on the final bill they sent you.

The problem is i only kept the 1st page of the bill which had "final bill" and the "total due" plus the reference and stamp from bank once i had settled the amount.

Regardless of the meter readings am i required to settle this "supposed" new final bill when they have admited in writing that they made the mistake after issuing a final bill, 10 months later. surely they cannot retract from what they had already informed me off when it has been put in writing?

macman

Yes they can, you can be back-billed up to a year afterwards for any oustanding balance, should the original billing be incorrect.

SASH_F

macman wrote: »

Yes they can, you can be back-billed up to a year afterwards for any oustanding balance, should the original billing be incorrect.

But i have already paid a final bill and have the proof. it was their mistake for issuing the incorrect one, can anybody not see where i am coming from with this or am i being difficult?

macman

No one (including SE) is disputing that you paid a final bill.
The fact remains that if that bill was in error then they can back-bill you for whatever is still owed after 10 months.
Obviously you will need to get hold of the previous bills to establish if the supplementary one is correct.
Does your account reflect a credit for the amount paid for what you thought was the final bill?

SASH_F

macman wrote: »

No one (including SE) is disputing that you paid a final bill.
The fact remains that if that bill was in error then they can back-bill you for whatever is still owed after 10 months.
Obviously you will need to get hold of the previous bills to establish if the supplementary one is correct.
Does your account reflect a credit for the amount paid for what you thought was the final bill?

Not sure, to be honest i was shocked at the amount that they said i owed to even notice if thay had taken off the amount i had already paid. i'll find out and come back to this tomorrow.

Thanks

eurmalian

You definitely want to track down the meter readings that you gave and check them against this new bill. One poptential cause for this is new people moving into the house and deciding that they'll get cheap electric for the first few years by claiming that the reading on the meter is much higher than it actually is. If they've done that then the supplier may have changed the move in/move out reads to reflect this and rebilled you for a lot, lot more.

undaunted

In what way do they say the original bill was incorrect?