Bill 8 months late - demanding payment

kbcara

When I moved house as is normal I was obliged to pay the current utility provider but within two weeks I had switched to my preferred supplier providing readings to both the previous/new suppliers.

I have today received a bill .... 8 months on .... from the previous supplier for a 14 day period that they are demanding payment for. It is based on an estimated reading too!

They tell me it is industry standard to not base the reading on what I said but on what the new supplier said - but I told them both the same thing!! And why did it take 8 months: they said because my new supplier took so long - but have been paying them the whole time with no problems.

Am I obliged to pay anything to someone who waits this long to ask for payment? I thought it was all done and dusted.

terryw

Unfortunately you do have to pay for the energy that you used despite the delay in sending the bill.

jalexa

kbcara wrote: »

I have today received a bill .... 8 months on .... from the previous supplier for a 14 day period that they are demanding payment for. It is based on an estimated reading too!

A very unusual post, it mentions neither the amount of the bill nor the usage.

How does the old supplier's "estimate" compare with the new supplier's opening reading? Higher or lower? Without that it is impossible to comment.

At this stage the "8 months" is neither here nor there. If it is a correctly calculated bill then it is payable. However regulations expect final bills to be presented within 6 weeks so if you want you can make some mischief about that. If you are not satisfied with the reason you can raise a complaint seeking an explanation (in writing). The supplier processing costs for a complaint are likely be greater than 14 days of supply. You may (or may not) get the bill waived. But doing "nothing" is not an option.

Atidi

kbcara wrote: »

When I moved house as is normal I was obliged to pay the current utility provider but within two weeks I had switched to my preferred supplier providing readings to both the previous/new suppliers.

I have today received a bill .... 8 months on .... from the previous supplier for a 14 day period that they are demanding payment for. It is based on an estimated reading too!

They tell me it is industry standard to not base the reading on what I said but on what the new supplier said - but I told them both the same thing!! And why did it take 8 months: they said because my new supplier took so long - but have been paying them the whole time with no problems.

Am I obliged to pay anything to someone who waits this long to ask for payment? I thought it was all done and dusted.

How did you manage to complete the switch within just 14 days? :huh:

Is the opening reading of the new supplier the same as that of the final reading of the old supplier i.e. the bill you have just been sent?

Why did you think this "was all done and dusted"? You don't appear to have mentioned having paid the initial supplier previously for the energy they supplied you.

kbcara

Sorry if it is an unusual post - I didn't know what is a usual post! I now have the bill next to me. It's £19.27 for 19 days and 124 units though I'm not sure why that is relevant to the question of if such late billing is acceptable?

I thought it was 'done and dusted' as I had paid a significant bill to the supplier but thinking back I guess it must have been just the gas. Generally I pay my bills all by DD so I would not have noticed a bill in the post not arriving - and isn't it up to them to bill me when I have closed the account with a reading, not up to me to chase them?

In the first few months I could have answered what was the opening reading, what reading did I give at transfer and what was the opening reading with current supplier, but 8 months on I don't have this information any longer! That's kind of my point - I can't check the bill to know it's right to accept whether or not it is payable.

Their bill has an opening reading - how do I know 8 months on it is right? Their bill has an estimate close reading - why is it estimated when I gave them one, and how do I know 8 months on it is right?

"However regulations require final bills to be presented within 6 weeks so if you want you can make some mischief about that." Thank you - could you refer me to where I can find this regulation?

Thanks very much to any help you can give.

Atidi

kbcara wrote: »

Sorry if it is an unusual post - I didn't know what is a usual post! I now have the bill next to me. It's £19.27 for 19 days and 124 units though I'm not sure why that is relevant to the question of if such late billing is acceptable?

Nor me. I'm not sure why you've posted it now. :huh:

kbcara wrote: »

I thought it was 'done and dusted' as I had paid a significant bill to the supplier but thinking back I guess it must have been just the gas.

So this is now for the electric? I'm glad that's all sorted

kbcara wrote: »

Generally I pay my bills all by DD so I would not have noticed a bill in the post not arriving - and isn't it up to them to bill me when I have closed the account with a reading, not up to me to chase them?

How much did you pay the initial supplier by DD for the 14 days they supplied you? Remember they have to give you 10 working days before they can take any money by DD.

kbcara wrote: »

In the first few months I could have answered what was the opening reading, what reading did I give at transfer and what was the opening reading with current supplier, but 8 months on I don't have this information any longer! That's kind of my point - I can't check the bill to know it's right to accept whether or not it is payable.

As long as the opening reading of the new supplier is the same as the closing reading of the initial supplier, any small difference in the readings you supplied and they estimated is not important, and would not relate to very much monetry value either way.

Sadly, as you already admit you don't usually bother looking at the bills as you pay by DD, I fear you wouldn't have known if the opening redaing was correct even itf they had sent the bill immediately :cool:

kbcara wrote: »

Their bill has an opening reading - how do I know 8 months on it is right? Their bill has an estimate close reading - why is it estimated when I gave them one, and how do I know 8 months on it is right?

Unless you know it's wrong, I suggest you just accept it.

kbcara wrote: »

"However regulations require final bills to be presented within 6 weeks so if you want you can make some mischief about that." Thank you - could you refer me to where I can find this regulation?

Thanks very much to any help you can give.

I'm sorry, I have no idea. Have you tried Google?

jalexa

kbcara wrote: »

"However regulations require final bills to be presented within 6 weeks so if you want you can make some mischief about that." Thank you - could you refer me to where I can find this regulation?

Refer the supplier to Standard Licence Condition 27.17 (note that SLC 27.18 permits a subsequent amendment in certain circumstances).

While the regulation does not guarantee a bill in 6 weeks, the "mischief making" potential is in requiring a reason for the 6 week failure. Then consider the reasonableness of the explanation. No explanation would be a fail as might be an unconvincing explanation.

Can I again stress that the central issue is the relationship between the old supplier's estimated closing reading and the new supplier's opening reading. Without an understanding of that you cannot progress the bill accuracy.

kbcara

I don't know it is wrong. But more importantly I don't know it is right and nor do they or they wouldn't say 'estimated'. It is so old I can't check. I do check my bills when I get them. But my first bill from my current supplier was 8 months ago, so I no longer have it to check against this bill from my previous supplier which is 8 months late!

Thank you very much Jalexa, will check that out - great advice, thank you for taking the time to help.

"“Provision of final Bill
27.17. Where the responsibility for the supply of gas to a Domestic Customer transfers from the licensee to another Gas Supplier or otherwise terminates, the licensee must take all reasonable steps to send a final Bill or statement of account of the Domestic Customer’s account within 6 weeks of the supplier transfer or termination of the Domestic Supply Contract.
27.18. Where subsequent information becomes available to correct an error in the final Bill or statement of account issued pursuant to paragraph 27.17, the licensee shall send a corrected Bill or statement of account as soon as reasonably practicable after the subsequent information becomes available.”.

Atidi

kbcara wrote: »

I don't know it is wrong. But more importantly I don't know it is right and nor do they or they wouldn't say 'estimated'. It is so old I can't check. I do check my bills when I get them. But my first bill from my current supplier was 8 months ago, so I no longer have it to check against this bill from my previous supplier which is 8 months late!

Thank you very much Jalexa, will check that out - great advice, thank you for taking the time to help.

"“Provision of final Bill
27.17. Where the responsibility for the supply of gas to a Domestic Customer transfers from the licensee to another Gas Supplier or otherwise terminates, the licensee must take all reasonable steps to send a final Bill or statement of account of the Domestic Customer’s account within 6 weeks of the supplier transfer or termination of the Domestic Supply Contract.
27.18. Where subsequent information becomes available to correct an error in the final Bill or statement of account issued pursuant to paragraph 27.17, the licensee shall send a corrected Bill or statement of account as soon as reasonably practicable after the subsequent information becomes available.”.

I thought we'd already established the demand relates to an electricity supply, not a gas supply? :huh: :cool:

Cardew

kbcara wrote: »

It is based on an estimated reading too!

They tell me it is industry standard to not base the reading on what I said but on what the new supplier said - but I told them both the same thing!!

Leaving aside the delay, it is 'Standard Practice;)' with some customers to give an incorrect meter reading in order to gain some advantage. i.e. if moving to a cheaper tariff they give a reading lower than shown on the meter; if moving to a higher priced tariff they give a higher reading.

The companies have a computer with a sophisticated algorithm that estimates the meter reading on any date; and they tend to use this estimate if there is any discrepancy betwen the estimate and the customer's reading.

However the algorithm cannot take into account unusual patterns of consumption and uses an average. I have an annex with gas/electricity meters that is rarely used. Two winters ago it used a lot of gas as it was very cold(to prevent frost damage) and we had people staying in the annex.

Later that year I changed supplier and supplied the correct meter reading which was almost the same as an actual reading some months earlier. This was rejected and an estimated reading substituted.

macman

If you haven't kept the meter readings until you actually received a bill, despite the delay, then you've not really got much basis for a successful complaint.
The actual meter readings are not that crucial; as long as the closing and opening reads agree you are only being billed once anyway, does it really matter by whom?
And given that you've effectively had an interest free £20 loan for 8 months, is it really worth the hassle?
If it turned out instead that you were £20 in credit, would you be happy for the supplier to just write it off? I think not.