Electricity company charging an extra grand 6 months after moving out

gixxerman_2

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me?

We were renting a relatively small 2 bed flat from the summer of 2013 to the summer of 2014, for 1 year. The flat was run on electricity and no gas. We paid approximately £780 between us over the year according to estimated bills we had sent through every 3-4 months. (We asked the previous tenants what they paid on average for electricity before we moved in and they said £33/month - I assume that's each).
I had a phone call from our electricity company recently, 6 months after we moved out, closed our account and paid our final bill, saying that they've reconsidered our bills using the moving out meter readings in July 2014. They noticed that our off peak night time readings had stopped and therefore the meter had been broken for the year that we were there. They then said that because of this we owed them close to a grand on top of the £780 we originally paid. I wonder whether this is possible? And if the night readings stopped and the meter wasn't changed, whether this is actually their problem, not ours 6 months later?
My housemate is still living there and said that when the electrician came round to change the meter, he was told that because the night readings had been broken we would be charged for double day time readings instead. I'm worried that we are being chased for a bill we shouldn't be paying. The company said that they would lower it by around £300 because it was their fault that it hadn't been picked up before, but I still feel the original figure is far too high.

If anyone has had a similar problem or knows anything that may be helpful, I would very much appreciate your input!

Thank you in advance.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

The fact the meter was faulty opens a whole extra can of worms, so I'll leave that to one side for now....

2 Important things to consider - without an opening meter read submitted in a timely fashion, you could well be paying for previous occupants energy. Unless you can build a time machine, I can't see how you can go back and get this.

Estimated billing is guesswork. If and when the meter is finally read, you will be liable to a large catch up bill, as you're seeing here.

Back to the meter, when things go wrong like this, they adjustment made is always in the customers favour - hence the £300 reduction. However, without evidence, it's going to be very difficult to argue the principle amount.

gixxerman_2

Hi,

Update on this. The energy company gave us two different versions of why we owed the money for this bill and after they sent us a letter than was barely legible and mis spelt my name etc we just decided to refer the case onto the Energy Ombudsman.

After calling the energy company from my boyfriends phone however they have since added his phone number to their call list, and he is now receiving txt messages and phone calls claiming that 'you still owe us for the energy you have used. call this number.....'

Surely they cannot be chasing him for the money, and are they even allowed to chase for payment when the case is under review from the energy ombudsman?

Thanks again,

spiro

gixxerman wrote: »

Hi,

Update on this. The energy company gave us two different versions of why we owed the money for this bill and after they sent us a letter than was barely legible and mis spelt my name etc we just decided to refer the case onto the Energy Ombudsman.

After calling the energy company from my boyfriends phone however they have since added his phone number to their call list, and he is now receiving txt messages and phone calls claiming that 'you still owe us for the energy you have used. call this number.....'

Surely they cannot be chasing him for the money, and are they even allowed to chase for payment when the case is under review from the energy ombudsman?

Thanks again,

You can't go to the ombudsman until you have raised a written formal complaint and given them 8 weeks to resolve it. If you had checked the estimated bills against the meter readings you would have realised the meter was not advancing. £33 per month for an all electric flat should have rung alarm bells when the average energy bill for a property with gsh is about £1000 pa.

gixxerman_2

We've raised a written formal complaint and given them 8 weeks to resolve. They hadn't even replied to our complaint letter when we then wrote them a final letter saying we were referring the complaint onto the ombudsman. They then finally replied saying they had replied 4 weeks previous (they hadn't, we hadn't received anything) and included a copy of this mysterious letter (that had several spelling mistakes and made literally no sense) so we then referred them to the ombudsman.

Also, whilst I thank you for your reply, my question was mainly about whether they are allowed to add a number to their systems with no prior permission and whether they are entitled to chase for money while a complaint is underway with the ombudsman. I would really appreciate replies to those questions.

Thanks.

gixxerman_2

P.S Also in our original letter we had stated the back billing act as half the bills they were chasing for were actually from over 12 months ago, so I believed they were unenforceable. In each correspondence with the energy company about this they have simply glossed over that fact and chosen not to answer our questions on the matter, and they did not even make reference to it in their mysterious 'reply' that we never even received.

footyguy

Post removed...

macman

Yes, they can back bill you for at least a part of that period, but I am not clear if the back billing code otherwise applies here. The night rate consumption will be estimated. Your case is somewhat undermined by a) failing to read your meter even once (despite receipt of several estimated bills) over a whole year, b) failed to verify any of your bill readings against actual meter readings, c) failing to notice when you submitted final readings that the night register had not advanced at all. Had you done that, this would have been picked up 3 months into your tenancy. The supplier only has to read once every two years, so it's very much your problem.
The Ombudsman may well find in your favour regarding the handling of the complaint, but you will still have to pay for the estimated unbilled usage-the two are entirely unrelated.
The electrician's comments are ridiculous-you won't be billed on a multiple of twice the day usage. A typical E7 user consumes 30-40% on night rate, so that gives you some idea of the likely bill. But since you have already paid on estimated readings, I can't see how they can come up with a bill that large. The day rate, of course, should not be in this equation, as it will have been adjusted according to your actual final read and so covered by your original final bill.

spiro

Energy companies, and other companies, often log any phone number you call them from especially if they believe you owe them money.

gixxerman_2

Guys while I really appreciate the comments about the initial problem, that is now with the ombudsman and I can do nothing more about it. If they find in our favour or the energy company in question is kind of irrelevant now, and I am prepared for either outcome. I realise the faults on my part and if the energy company had perhaps explained to us exactly why we were faced with a massive bill properly then we would have paid a settlement on it earlier. However they have ducked and dived and also given differing answers to our queries and also point blank refused to answer our letters, hence why we have referred them on to the energy ombudsman.

My questions were purely about them harassing my boyfriend with txts and phone calls for payment bearing in mind he never lived at the address in question and has nothing to do with the account, and whether they are allowed to continue to chase for payment whilst an enquiry is underway with the ombudsman. If anybody can please help me with those questions I would very much appreciate it.

Thankyou

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

gixxerman wrote: »

Guys while I really appreciate the comments about the initial problem, that is now with the ombudsman and I can do nothing more about it. If they find in our favour or the energy company in question is kind of irrelevant now, and I am prepared for either outcome. I realise the faults on my part and if the energy company had perhaps explained to us exactly why we were faced with a massive bill properly then we would have paid a settlement on it earlier. However they have ducked and dived and also given differing answers to our queries and also point blank refused to answer our letters, hence why we have referred them on to the energy ombudsman.

My questions were purely about them harassing my boyfriend with txts and phone calls for payment bearing in mind he never lived at the address in question and has nothing to do with the account, and whether they are allowed to continue to chase for payment whilst an enquiry is underway with the ombudsman. If anybody can please help me with those questions I would very much appreciate it.

Thankyou

Is he being harassed? If so, then it's a police matter.

If, as I suspect, it's less dramatic than that, the account holder needs to call up, and give their correct number, and ask for any others to be removed. They might do it, they might not. At the end of the day, you're a debtor, and if the roles were reversed you wouldn't just delete the number because the debtor told you so?