Economy 7 - Has anyone been charged day rate for night usage?

TonicBristol

Hello

I have a 2 bed, all electric flat (heated by storage heaters and hot water is provided by an electric immersion tank).

I've just been looking through my electricity bills (should have done this sooner) and during quarterly billing periods when the storage heaters are off (spring/summer), daytime and night-time use are both approximately 300 units.

However during autumn/winter periods (when the storage heaters are on), the number of daytime units used climbs massively, despite being out at work all day and not using more appliances, etc. I'm 100% certain the heaters and immersion tank on the correct circuits, as they were all replaced this year and the wall sockets all have LEDs which only come on at 11pm.

Has anyone had any experience of their enegy company billing the wrong rate at the right time and achieved succesful resolution, as it seems I've somewhat hugely overpaid? The supplier is EDF.

Many thanks

Rubidium

I found with EDF that you need to raise a formal complaint see here

Put it all in a email rather than phoning and you have your complaint on record.

It is very easy to check which register is for day and night rate - you can easily do this yourself by reading your meter. Meter readers do make this mistake frequently as register 1 is not always day rate.

You should get the difference refunded when the bills have been recalculated but you really should be submitting regular meter readings and checking your bills properly.

TonicBristol

Many thanks Rubidium. I had several complaints with them a couple of years ago using that process, as they refused to speak to me on my own account (set up in joint names with my now ex-partner, who they incorrectly listed as a sole account holder). It only got resolved as (coincidentally) I used to know someone who was a Complaints Handler there, who was able to escalate it and verify who I am.

On moving here, I did confirm which one should be day and night with them and have given them the readings myself for '1 and 2', but this is what I think they've got wrong.

Thanks for your response.

[Deleted User]

Had this problem in a new build some years ago - when I raised it with the supplier they sorted it out promptly as it was costing them money (My energy in the evening was at cheap rate, and I wasn't there during the day anyway).


Funnily enough I also had an issue with my water meter. 'Mine' was actually metering another flat with three people in rather than just me, but I got the water board round and easily proved to them which meter really was 'mine'.

Raxiel

I knew someone who lived in a block of 6 flats that all had dual rate meters and electric panel heaters.

His bills were lower than you'd expect for someone with peak rate heating, and after some investigation we worked out that the energy company were switching the day and night reads provided and billing against that. They did this for both the readings he entered, and the ones the meter reader entered. After speaking to neighbours the energy company was doing the same to their bills.

If it'd have been billed correctly the total would have been astronomical so perhaps the computer was transposing the figures assuming it must be a mistake because no one would want E7 with that kind of usage.

He ended up quietly changing to a single rate and hoping they wouldn't figure out their mistake until after it was time barred.