Where do I stand?

funky_drums

My Gas and Electricity supplier, EDF, recently contacted me because they have had my account on an expired tariff for the last two years. They have also discovered that they have the incorrect electricity meter registered for my address (the national system has the correct one). The meters have been read regularly throughout this period and my direct debit has not been changed or queried by EDF.

They are now trying to back date a price increase they didn't make and present me with a bill for over £1000.

As far as I am concerned, I do not accept responsibility for their mistake and should not now be financially inconvenienced because they "forgot" to correct the billing. I have paid on time every month, what I have been billed for. Had I been notified of a price change I would have also had the opportunity to change supplier, something which they are now denying me.

I have an open complaint in relation to this. So my questions are (1) where do I stand legally and (2) should I get on and find myself another supplier anyway while all of this is going on?

funky_drums

...I have just received a letter from EDF telling me that I recently contacted them to ask that they stop collecting by direct debit, which I did not do.

dogshome

EDF error going back two years ?
No 1 - Is that they can only back-bill you for the previous 12 months, which starts from the date on the letter they sent you

No 2 - (a) Is this a case of they have just been printing the wrong meter No. on your bill, but the readings on which the bills are based are correct to those on the meter in your home, or (b) is it the case that you have been billed for entirely the wrong meter?

If it's (a) then you have 12 months bills and can apply the new tariff to check what you owe - A £1000 bill for just additional charges over 12 months seems
highly suspect - Assumeing the 'expired' tariff was one with discounts for D/D payment etc, then it's reasonable that any back charges are based on a current tariff that is similar.

If it's (b) you should WRITE a letter headed Complaint asking how EDF intend to establish your true consumption figures for as long a period that you have been with them

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Unless you have massive electricity consumption EDF charging you at the old tariff rate for two years is not going to account for a £1,000 debit. Even if the old tariff is 20% cheaper you would have to be using thousands of pounds of electricity, which would not be normal as you have gas.

So I suspect the 'over £1,000' debit is more to do with the incorrect meter or you being billed on incorrect meter readings.

Personally I cannot see any Utility company attempting to 'claw back' money for their mistake in charging the wrong tariff; and I am pretty certain that even if they legally could claim, it would be limited to back-billing you for 12 months.

So we would need some more information to advise.

funky_drums

When I moved into the house in March 2011 - I supplied them with the meter reading I received from the developer. They have been and read the meter every quarter since then. I have recently supplied up to date meter readings but always relied on their readers previously as I was on a fixed tariff, etc.

They only spotted that they had incorrect meter details very recently.

The electricity back bill they presented me with today was circa £850 but I am not sure what period this is alleged to cover.

What information do you need to advise?

Cardew

As stated above, it seems pretty certain to me that the problem is not being charged the wrong tariff but connected with incorrect meter readings being used.

Can you post the detail(dates, meter readings, kWh rates, etc) on the bill you received today? Also the same for the previous bill.

When they 'recently contacted' you was that in writing?; if so what did the letter state?

Lastly what direct debit payments have you been paying for electricity?(not gas)

Could it be possible that you have only been paying for gas?

Many people will not use over £1,000(or £850) electricity in two years, let alone run up arrears of that sum.

There is a billing code that states that they will not back-bill more than 12 months where they are in error. However typical exceptions to that code are for New Build properties where the occupant has not taken measures to ensure proper billing.

dogshome

The fact the National Data base has the correct Elec. meter for the one your address, speaks volumes.
It shows that the Distribution Co. for your area did everything correctly when they installed your meter and advised the Data Base of what type of meter it was, it's Number & location.

It can only be a mistake by the Data Base, or EDF when the meter's Number was passed to them - Either of which destroys EDF's case to claim it was a developers error and the back-billing code should not apply.

"The Bill" - A demand for £850 is not good enough. The supplier has a duty for accuarate billing and this bill should show all the fine detail as to how this sum has been arrived at.

Once again, WRITE a letter headed Complaint asking for exact details of how the bill total has been arrived at, a written explanation as to how the two errors occured, and pointing out that as your meter is correctly recorded on the National Data base, the 12 month Back-billing agreement should apply.

With a letter headed Complaint sent to the supplier, all demands for payment of the bill should cease until the matter is cleared up