Hit with an energy bill 3 years later?

JustSomeGuy92

Hi all, a couple of weeks ago my housemate from uni of 3 years back messaged me saying Spark Energy had contacted her and sent her a bill totalling over a £1000.

I was a bit shocked since I'm pretty sure we paid every bill we received during that time and closer inspection of the bill I think this seems a bit off.

Another issue I have is the timeframe they've billed us for, they've billed us for Gas and Electricity use from September 2011 until June 2012, despite us having evidence we paid them £355 for utilities in December 2011.

On top of this we have receipts and bank statements proving we paid British Gas and Swalec during this time for utilities during this timeframe as well. My housemate has sent me a bundle of information and old pictures of old bill from Spark that we had during our time there as well as a copy of the new bill.

Finances and energy bills aren't really my forte so I'm not really sure what to do about this and I'm not sure where to go with it

Any help would be really appreciated!

CashStrapped

I assume that because your ex-housemate has been contacted, rather then you, they were the person whose name is on the bill.

I can imagine this happening a lot in student houses. When you move in, it is your responsibility (collectively) to find out which company is the current supplier and provide an opening reading. Then, when your tenancy ends, a closing reading. That enables you to know exactly what you used. While I say collectively, the responsibility ultimatly comes down to whose name is on the account. However, with student houses, there is in my view a shared responsibilty to make sure you are all paying your share and the correct amount etc.

If one, or both [opening and final meter readings] of these things is not done, you have problems.

So, what you need to do, via your housemate (as she is the only person the energy company will deal with) is confirm that she gave opening and closing readings when you moved in and out.

Here is a possible scenario: (this may not be what happened, but just shows how things can go wrong and get complicated).

When you moved out, you did not give a closing reading. New students moved in and they did not set-up an account at all. They, throughout the term would have received reminders/warnings, but ignored them. They then move out when the term ended and new students moved in. These new students do set up an account and give opening readings. The energy company then have a whole terms worth of unpaid bills which is still in the original students [your] name. They assume that you owe them that money.

So, to cut a long story short, you need to do the following:

1.Look at the bills they supplied you. Look for the dates you moved in and moved out. Match these to any confirmed customer readings (not estimated ones).

2. See if any of the bills mention a closing balance or final meter reading.

3. If you can find an opening and final meter reading, from the numbers you can calculate how much electricity you used, and how much in total you should have paid. You can then calculate if you paid enough.

If you cannot find any confirmed (not estimated) meter readings nor any bill saying "final balance" etc. You need to ask your friend:

1. Did they give an opening and closing meter reading and close the account when you left the property.

CashStrapped

Hello Again,

I have found some further information you may find interesting:

Two further posts on the forum with issues similar to yours. Prehaps they are actually related issues.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5030185

Furthermore, after doing a bit of googling, I have found further issues relating to spark energy.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?27499-Spark-Energy-Warning-!!!

So, while I would still take my advice above, or at least follow that up. It is looking more and more like bad practice by Spark Energy. If your housemate has concrete evidence they were with and paying another electricity company at the same time Spark are claiming you were with them, you need to complain to the energy ombudsman, or at least get advice via them.

You may actually need to complain to Spark energy first, and if they do not back down/resolve the situation, escalate it to the ombudsman or even OFGEM

Former Spark Representative

Hi JustSomeGuy92


I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with a historic bill you thought had been sorted.


The information that CashStrapped has given about potential reasons for the bill is great, and if you would like to contact me to get this sorted out then you can find my email address in my profile.


Kind regards


Jenny
Customer Relations Manager

JustSomeGuy92 wrote: »

Hi all, a couple of weeks ago my housemate from uni of 3 years back messaged me saying Spark Energy had contacted her and sent her a bill totalling over a £1000.

I was a bit shocked since I'm pretty sure we paid every bill we received during that time and closer inspection of the bill I think this seems a bit off.

Another issue I have is the timeframe they've billed us for, they've billed us for Gas and Electricity use from September 2011 until June 2012, despite us having evidence we paid them £355 for utilities in December 2011.

On top of this we have receipts and bank statements proving we paid British Gas and Swalec during this time for utilities during this timeframe as well. My housemate has sent me a bundle of information and old pictures of old bill from Spark that we had during our time there as well as a copy of the new bill.

Finances and energy bills aren't really my forte so I'm not really sure what to do about this and I'm not sure where to go with it

Any help would be really appreciated!