Battle with EDF. Please help.

Surrey_maiden

April 2014 (Not a typo) I moved and requested a final bill. I was on the Blue Price Tariff for duel fuel and paid by DD. I submitted both gas and electricity readings regularly. You can imagine my horror at at receiving a final bill of £975! I immediately stopped the DD and contacted them disputing the amount.
Apparently they had stopped charging me for electric in April 2012 despite my Annual Statement for 2013 showing what I had used the previous year and their prediction of my usage for the following year. No indication that I was not being charged for electric.

From April - September 2014 there were numerous emails sent. I brought to their attention the Back Bill Code which means they cannot charge from April 2012 but still include that period in the calculations. I had five different final bill amounts each one disputed, I had no explanation as to why they apparently stopped charging me and no answer as to what happened to the meter readings I submitted as they were no longer showing on my account...conveniently!
I forwarded what I calculated my final bill should be, obviously it was rejected as it was far less than their calculations.
September 2014 I contacted the Ombudsman who confirmed they had received my complaint along with copies of all the emails and then it all went quiet I heard nothing from the Ombudsman or EDF.
Fastforward October 2017 I receive a letter from EDF saying they are now passing my account to a Debt Collector for another amount. This now makes it six different final bill amounts.

I'm at a total loss of where to go now. Maybe I was naive in thinking that not hearing from them that the Ombudsman had dealt with it.
I will be extremely grateful for any advice.

PixelPound

So EDF stopped charging you in 2012, and when you requested a final bill in 2014 you became aware of this? Since 2014 you haven't paid because the bill amount was changing and you disagreed with what they put forward. Did all these bills vary widely, and were there explanations. Has it passed to a DMC or sold on to a DMC? The former means its still owned by EDF, the second not.

Is your disagreement that you don't owe any or that you feel its a different amount to what EDF stated.

Cardew

Surrey_maiden wrote: »

From April - September 2014 there were numerous emails sent. I brought to their attention the Back Bill Code which means they cannot charge from April 2012 but still include that period in the calculations. I had five different final bill amounts each one disputed,

Why do you feel the(12 month) back billing code means the company cannot charge you from April 2012?

That code stipulates that it applies if the company have not produced bills, and you appear to have had a bill in 2013 showing your annual statement. Even if the ruling did apply it would still mean that you would still have to pay for the last 12 months electricity.

Does the amount claimed include gas?

Were you getting joint gas/electricity bills?

Autumnella

There's a loophole with the billing code where any payments you have made are cleared against the period which would otherwise have been written off. The £975 must have been what you had used in the past year prior to moving out.

Surrey_maiden

Cardew wrote: »

Why do you feel the(12 month) back billing code means the company cannot charge you from April 2012?

That code stipulates that it applies if the company have not produced bills, and you appear to have had a bill in 2013 showing your annual statement. Even if the ruling did apply it would still mean that you would still have to pay for the last 12 months electricity.

Does the amount claimed include gas?

Were you getting joint gas/electricity bills?

I was on duel fuel the Blue Price Tariff which was for 2 years. I was paying £108 a month for both so it's not that I hadn't paid. EDF are saying they didn't charge me for electric from April 2012 bearing in mind that they set the DD amount for both.
In their calculations they include the period from April 2012. - April 2013. My understanding of the Back Billing code is that they cannot charge me for that period only for April 2013 - April 2014.

Surrey_maiden

nic_c wrote: »

So EDF stopped charging you in 2012, and when you requested a final bill in 2014 you became aware of this? Since 2014 you haven't paid because the bill amount was changing and you disagreed with what they put forward. Did all these bills vary widely, and were there explanations. Has it passed to a DMC or sold on to a DMC? The former means its still owned by EDF, the second not.

Is your disagreement that you don't owe any or that you feel its a different amount to what EDF stated.

I first became aware they had stopped charging for electric when I inquired why the bill was so high. I was an existing customer only for electric until September 2012 when I switched my gas to them and joined the Blue Price Tariff for 2 years paying £108 a month DD for both gas and electric. I know I owe something but not the amount they are claiming. Trouble is they don't seem to know exactly how much I owe them. First bill was for £975.01 which I disputed followed by £859.96, £395.58, £589.96, £347.76, £675.01, back to £347.76, 859.42, 709.42 and lastly £834.42. There have been calculations which I assume is only understandable by EDF employees as I and friends can not make sense of and as you can see each one brings a different result.
Letter just states it is in the process of passed to debt collection agency.

Surrey_maiden

Autumnella wrote: »

There's a loophole with the billing code where any payments you have made are cleared against the period which would otherwise have been written off. The £975 must have been what you had used in the past year prior to moving out.

No it's not for the past year as I was making monthly payments the bulk of the bill is for the electric they didn't charge me for. I was submitting meter readings on a regular basis along with EDF reading the meter themselves. I switched my gas to them in September 2012 prior to that I only had electric with them. When I switched my DD increased from £54 a month to £108. So don't understand how they were not charging me for electric

Cardew

Surrey_maiden wrote: »

I was on duel fuel the Blue Price Tariff which was for 2 years. I was paying £108 a month for both so it's not that I hadn't paid. EDF are saying they didn't charge me for electric from April 2012 bearing in mind that they set the DD amount for both.
In their calculations they include the period from April 2012. - April 2013. My understanding of the Back Billing code is that they cannot charge me for that period only for April 2013 - April 2014.

My understanding is that they cannot go back more than 12 months(i.e. April 2012 - April 2013) if you haven't received any bills; not incorrect bills.

It is obviously worth making an official complaint - even if it is just for their ineptitude - and see what the Ombudsman makes of their explanation. Although history suggests you will only get a £50 or £100 reduction.

Put the official complaint in quickly and it should stop it going to a DCA(Debt Collection Agency)

Raxiel

Surrey_maiden wrote: »

I first became aware they had stopped charging for electric when I inquired why the bill was so high. I was an existing customer only for electric until September 2012 when I switched my gas to them and joined the Blue Price Tariff for 2 years paying £108 a month DD for both gas and electric. I know I owe something but not the amount they are claiming. Trouble is they don't seem to know exactly how much I owe them. First bill was for £975.01 which I disputed followed by £859.96, £395.58, £589.96, £347.76, £675.01, back to £347.76, 859.42, 709.42 and lastly £834.42. There have been calculations which I assume is only understandable by EDF employees as I and friends can not make sense of and as you can see each one brings a different result.
Letter just states it is in the process of passed to debt collection agency.

If they were taking £108 just for gas that sounds pretty incredible!

Did you get any big credit refunds during this time?
Have you checked, and do you agree with, their gas consumption and charges?

Surrey_maiden

I'm in a living nightmare. Went to the Ombudsman in September 2014 but they don't have any record of it despite me receiving an email and having a Ref number. ( On their old system apparently) EDF say they never contacted them!
I've received another email it appears that the charges are an estimate as they state...... The calculated charges for 365 days between 26/4/13 – 25/4/14, based on past usage.
Surely I'm only liable to pay for what I've actually used and not an estimate they had meter readings.

Surrey_maiden

Raxiel wrote: »

If they were taking £108 just for gas that sounds pretty incredible!

Did you get any big credit refunds during this time?
Have you checked, and do you agree with, their gas consumption and charges?

Well that's what they are claiming as they state the amount owed is electric only.
No big credit refunds, apparently I was £48 in credit.
As soon as I raised my complaint I was unable to access my online meter readings. How convenient!