EDF energy account problems massive final bill

Mjs8621

Morning all,
I have been a gas and electric customer with EDF energy for 18 months. I paid 75.00 a month DD during that period. When ever requested I provided meter readings online. I saw no increase or decrease in monthly DD so assumed all was good and on track. Recently I have moved overseas. I informed them in good time and provided a final reading on move out day. A couple of weeks later I received a refund and assumed I had been overpaying. A further couple of weeks down the line I received an email informing me to log into my account. On doing so it was telling me I was a further couple of hundred quid in credit. This rang alarm beels so I gave them a call. This made them start digging and i have rcieved the following from them;

After looking into your account the first final bill we issued you was for an incorrect period and this is why is stated you were entitled to a refund of £957.94.
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We have now loaded your readings onto the account and realised you have not received a bill for an 18 month period, because of this the Billing Code applies where we are only able to bill you for the last 12 months.
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We have had this calculated by the relevant department and the over charges will be added onto your account of £205.99.
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This will still leave your account in debit of £1437.58 as you have not returned the refund which was given to you in error. We are able to set up a payment plan for the outstanding balance over 12 months.
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We are aware you live abroad so you are able to make these payments on our automated service using a Debit or Credit card on the date we set up the plan for you.
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If you would like to go ahead with this payment plan option please reply to this mail with your intentions. The amount payable is £1437.58.
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I have logged a complaint on your behalf due to the way you feel your account was handled in the past the reference number...

I have not agreed to any payment as yet and have told them I require full billing so I can approach the energy ombudsman, please anyone have any advice?

spiro

You can not go to the ombudsman until you have given the supplier time (8 weeks) to try and resolve you complaint. You paid £1350 over 18 months and when you left they gave you a refund of £957.94 so you effectively paid £392.06 or £261.72 pa. Surely given that the average energy bill is around £1000pa this should have set alarm bells ringing.

They have already taken the Back Billing code into account and offered you 12 months to repay the money (same period as debt accrued over) so I doubt you will get much more. What the Ombudsman would say I dont know but the supplier has done what they should have done.

jalexa

Mjs8621 wrote: »

I have not agreed to any payment as yet and have told them I require full billing so I can approach the energy ombudsman, please anyone have any advice?

Quite right too.

I have a completely different calculation than the last poster. I calculate that if the "£1437.58" is correct (and you paid it) over the 18 months you would have paid 18*£75 + £1437 - £957 = £1830.

That would be ball park average for almost 24 months, though you need to look at where the winter heating season(s) fits in. (BTW it is important for your credibility that you post some background information about house size and heating comfort preferences) but the Edf email implies billing code relief has been applied limiting billing to 12 months.

On my "calculation" I am happy for any error to be pointed out, but regardless of that a bill or letter with just "numbers" is not acceptable. Neither do I think a bill or letter with just "numbers" would be acceptable to the Energy Ombudsman. That said it is important that you have a clear complaint objective and the objective should be more than just "full billing". On "typical" consumption you would be liable for 12 months energy charges of £1000 and on that basis £600 to pay should be expected.

You said "when ever requested" you provided online readings. I hope you provided regular readings and that "when ever requested" isn't "weasel words" for once. The Edf email just says "loaded your readings". I'd like to know how many, how often.

So I say stick with your demand for "full billing", look at whether the "full billing" demonstrates actual consumption over 18 months and whether the last 12 month's consumption has been accurately demonstrated or reasonably estimated.

Would you be happy to settle for a further £600 to pay (while retaining the £957)? If not what figure?

Bark01

My understanding is you've paid £1350 (75*18) but been refunded £957.94, so you've effectively paid EDF Energy £392.06 over 18 months.

EDF Energy have stated they want to charge you £1437.58 for a 12 month period, you've already paid £392.06 of that, which leaves a debt of £1045.52 (or £87.58 if you have not accepted the refund yet).

The main thing to check is that the £1437 figure is correct based on the readings you have provided.

The main issue here is that the refund was issued, if it wasn't then the debt would be small. As its EDF Energy's fault they may offer a good will gesture to reduce the amount owed further.

jalexa

So 4 calculations (including Edf's) 4 different opinions. Just shows how complicated this can be.