Massive DD error by Good Energy

HelenHol

We have been with Good Energy for 2.5 years when we moved house and have been paying a dd payment of £64 per month for gas (which they estimated at the start). They have never reviewed our dd figure compared to consumption during this whole time.

At the start of this year, when our quarterly bill came in we noticed that we didn't seem to be paying enough as our bill was building up, so submitted a gas meter reading and asked them to review the gas dd amount. This didn't happen.

We have now just received a dd review and the monthly dd figure has gone up to £348 as they have just told us we have a balance of £2.1k outstanding on the account! We clearly should have been paying closer to £160 dd per month during this whole time. We are very unhappy with them as if we had know we were spending this much on gas we would have looked at our gas usage (We have an AGA so would have turned this down etc).

We did supply meter readings during the 2.5 years and in Jan this year we supplied a meter reading and asked for the direct debit amount to be reviewed - this didn't happen. Good Energy's automated systems are supposed to review the dd payments against the usage in Sept of each year - this didn't happen in Sept 2012 due to an error in their systems (and also when we asked for a review in Jan 2013 with the meter reading).

They have agreed that this happened due to an error on their systems. We now just want to find a way to pay off the outstanding balance owed and switch supplier as the Good Energy experience has been a shocker for us!

We are just wondering what suggestions members have for what we can do to get any kind of compensation for this?

Thanks in advance.

purple45

That is a scary amount to owe and a scary amount to pay each month. But if I had been paying an estimated figure I wouldn't have let even a year go by without checking the figures and phoning through and insisting on an up to date bill and to review the amount being paid. Yes its a really horrible situation to be in but I think its probably your responsibility to check.

kelpie35

I have to ask you, have you never submitted or looked at your meter readings per month?

I don't know if you are able to be compensated or not but would advise you that whoever you change to you read your meter every month to ensure this does not happen to you again.

I use British Gas and submit my meter reading every month and am advised when to lower my DDs

Good luck

HelenHol

Thanks for your thoughts. We did supply meter readings during the 2.5 years and in Jan this year we supplied a meter reading and asked for the direct debit amount to be reviewed - this didn't happen. Good Energy's automated systems are supposed to review the dd payments against the usage in Sept of each year - this didn't happen in Sept 2012 due to an error in their systems (and also when we asked for a review in Jan 2013 with the meter reading).

purple45

I still think that you're probably responsible for contacting them to chase it. I think that the best you could hope for is to spread the debt over as long a period of time as possible. Maybe look at their complaints procedure and write a good letter of complaint clearly detailing everything. You could try asking them to reduce it as a gesture of goodwill and you could also ask them to spread the debt out, you could even try suggesting an amount that you could afford to pay and see if you can get that agreed. If I were in your position that is what I would do and then I'd just hope for the best, I wouldn't expect any great results but if I got anything I'd be happy.