How long for final bill and refund

beefturnmail

Hi - I switched from First Utility to Sainsbury's (British Gas) on the 5th July. First Utility have the final meter readings, I can see them when I log-in to my First Utility account, however when I asked for a final bill (via web-chat) they are saying it 'can take 4-6 weeks for a final bill' and 28 days after that for a refund (there will be one).

Is this reasonable/normal? Bills have been generated within a couple of days of submitting a meter reading for the period they were supplying my energy, so if they have the final readings what is the reason for the delay?

System

Ofgem requires suppliers to use their reasonable endeavours to raise a final bill within 6 weeks of the transfer of supply. Usually, it is much quicker in my experience unless there is an IGT involved in a gas switch. Most suppliers have an escalating approvals process for credit refunds and 28 days tends to be worse case for a large refund.

spiro

If you switch electricity then it is the new supplier who supplies the change of supplier to the old supplier. And yes the EU directive allows 6 weeks.

keith1950

The new and old supplier have to agree the opening/final readings.
It is usual to give the opening reading to the new supplier and they will contact the old supplier with them.
I have found if you give the readings to the old supplier it usually delays the outcome for some reason.
From past experience it can take up to 8 weeks after leaving to get a refund

Wolf3

Whilst FU might have the readings you supplied for the transfer, the new supplier are the ones responsible for the transfer process.

If you provided the readings to your new supplier, the perceived delay is actually down to the fact the readings are validated by a 3rd party organisation before these are confirmed with the old supplier. This process was set up to stop any customer fiddling their readings and ensure you wouldn't be billed for the same energy by 2 different suppliers. This process can actually take a maximum 29 working days to validate the reads