Back Billing

dwhit_2

HI, All first-time poster and looking for some advice, I was with an energy supplier for 18 months and at the earliest convenience for me, I switched suppliers once my account had reverted to the standard rate tariff.

I had both gas and electric from this supplier and ever since I started they were never able to send me a bill, I always had a letter from them when my quarterly bill was due that they were having problems and can not raise a bill and are looking into it. I must admit I never followed it as I was not too worried as I was paying them on a direct debit and it was about what I would normally use and was on a fixed tariff so I would either end up with a credit or a small bill to top it up which I was not bothered about.

Once I changed suppliers for a better deal which all went fine but I still didn't get a final bill but got another letter stating they were unable to raise a bill and are looking into it. I left it a few weeks and didnt hear anything so decided to chase.

After speaking to their customer services department they had to escalate it to get resolved but didn't understand why this has happened. It was then they said I could be eligible for the back billing process where they can not bill me more than 12 months usage (First I had ever heard of it) and the will pass this on to the team.

They located the issue with my account and it was due to me having a smart meter from my previous supplier and they had not set up the account correctly preventing the bills.

The back bill team have come back and said I am not eligible and I am not 100% sure why, in a letter I have received it says there could be several reasons preventing them from reading my meter to making no effort to pay.

My only failing is not sitting on the phone for an hour to get to their customer service to chase for a bill, My meters are both under my stairs and we have let them in to read when they visited, however, they only did this once and only did the gas meter, don't know why. And I have paid monthly without fail.

Speaking to another customer service agent of theirs, they advised I may also be entitled to back bill due to their failure to review the account as I had paid the same amount from the start.

I am not sure where to go now, Have they failed in their duties and this back pay legislation applies and should I continue with it or accept it and close the account and pay the final bill.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

matelodave

I'm guessing that you also may have failed by not giving them meter readings yourself.

If you used it you should pay for it, why should the rest of us subsidise you getting it for free

dwhit_2

Thank you for your reply matelodave. I am positive I also supplied meter reads via their app but can no longer log in to confirm this. I have no problem paying what I am due to pay. It was them who told me about the legislation and I am just trying to clarify if this applies in this situation or if they are trying to get out of it. If a company failed in its duties to you would you not accept compensation which may be paid for by other customers?

Cardew

You can look up ypurself the Billing Code which deals with back-billing; it gives various scenarios.


In essence the energy company can only back-bill 12 months if you haven't had a bill AND it is the energy company at fault.


From what you say, it does indeed seem that the 12 month back-billing code might apply.


The reason behind this code is so customers don't get hit with a big bill. Assuming the back billing code did apply you would have only paid for the last 12 months energy and the earlier 6 months would be written off.


However that would only happen if you hadn't paid anything; but you have been paying every month by Direct Debit so getting a big hit doesn't apply in your case. All the 18 months of Direct debit are taken to settle the account. You will only get a rebate if you have overpaid.

alannaglover

Hi I am hoping someone can help. 

I am with Eon heat district heating and I have no choice but to use this supplier where I live. 

This morning I called eon as over the last 2 weeks I’ve had issues with my boiler and had engineers out but subsequently had my heating stuck on for 7 days when I didn’t want it on so was hoping to get some sort of refund. I called to give them a meter reading and it turns out my smart meter has been stuck on the same reading since 22 March 2019 it’s now 14th Feb 2020! I’ve been paying direct debit each month but turns out they were only charging me the standing charges. They reduced my direct debit to this based on my consumption and I’ve had at least 8 engineers out to my boiler in the last 12 months and the supplier take daily reads remotely and no one has picked up on the meter being stuck. They have said I will have a engineer out within the next 2 days to replace the meter and then they will watch my usage for the month and then work out my previous usuals. How will they do this fairly? How can they prove what I’ve used? Also can I claim for Back billing as I’m sure it’s going to take them a few weeks to work this out which will probably take me past 22nd March 2020? Any advice would be great 

ps my bills I’d received stated actual not estimates as they read my meter daily! 

DawnCrush

alannaglover said:

Hi I am hoping someone can help. 

I am with Eon heat district heating and I have no choice but to use this supplier where I live. 

This morning I called eon as over the last 2 weeks I’ve had issues with my boiler and had engineers out but subsequently had my heating stuck on for 7 days when I didn’t want it on so was hoping to get some sort of refund. I called to give them a meter reading and it turns out my smart meter has been stuck on the same reading since 22 March 2019 it’s now 14th Feb 2020! I’ve been paying direct debit each month but turns out they were only charging me the standing charges. They reduced my direct debit to this based on my consumption and I’ve had at least 8 engineers out to my boiler in the last 12 months and the supplier take daily reads remotely and no one has picked up on the meter being stuck. They have said I will have a engineer out within the next 2 days to replace the meter and then they will watch my usage for the month and then work out my previous usuals. How will they do this fairly? How can they prove what I’ve used? Also can I claim for Back billing as I’m sure it’s going to take them a few weeks to work this out which will probably take me past 22nd March 2020? Any advice would be great 

ps my bills I’d received stated actual not estimates as they read my meter daily! 

The issue with bumping old threads is that the advice issued back then may not be appropriate today.

I suggest you start a new thread if you wish to ask a question based on the situation today

Edit:
I see you have since started a new thread ... but on a different board.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6103132/back-billing