Flow charging us £250 for gas in July

ijones8784

I switched to Flow energy in July, and was just checking my statements and was horrified to discover that for the month of July (One of the hottest I can remember, so definitely no heating or fire as being used!) i have been charged £250 for gas. (For the months of August, Sept, and Oct, I've been charged on average £15).

Looking at the meter readings, it looks like i entered the wrong opening read, ie one that is far too low (not sure how though, i've been doing this a long time). Anyway, the next meter reading (which is accurate as i have photo evidence of all the subsequent ones) is 300-odd units higher - so their automatic billing dept basically thinks we've used £250 of gas in those 4 weeks. I called up, naively assuming I could not be the first person to make that innocent mistake and that they'd be able to help - but so far saying they're unable to do anything about it. I totally get that it must be my fault- I had just hoped a human being might be able to see that the amount is ludicrous, and clearly wildly inaccurate, and go back and estimate a more accurate read for July, given they now have three months of data to go from (and they're more than happy to estimate when it suits them).

Has anyone got any experience of this? I cannot be the only person this has happened to and can't quite believe there's no process in place to rectify it. (And yes, I shall be taking and saving pictures of ALL meter readings from now on. Lesson learned).

Robin9

I did a similar mistake with Flow.

Simply sent them a photo of today's reading. Eventually I used up the credit.

System

ijones8784 wrote: »

I switched to Flow energy in July, and was just checking my statements and was horrified to discover that for the month of July (One of the hottest I can remember, so definitely no heating or fire as being used!) i have been charged £250 for gas. (For the months of August, Sept, and Oct, I've been charged on average £15).

Looking at the meter readings, it looks like i entered the wrong opening read, ie one that is far too low (not sure how though, i've been doing this a long time). Anyway, the next meter reading (which is accurate as i have photo evidence of all the subsequent ones) is 300-odd units higher - so their automatic billing dept basically thinks we've used £250 of gas in those 4 weeks. I called up, naively assuming I could not be the first person to make that innocent mistake and that they'd be able to help - but so far saying they're unable to do anything about it. I totally get that it must be my fault- I had just hoped a human being might be able to see that the amount is ludicrous, and clearly wildly inaccurate, and go back and estimate a more accurate read for July, given they now have three months of data to go from (and they're more than happy to estimate when it suits them).

Has anyone got any experience of this? I cannot be the only person this has happened to and can't quite believe there's no process in place to rectify it. (And yes, I shall be taking and saving pictures of ALL meter readings from now on. Lesson learned).

You need to check that your old and new suppliers have used the same readings to close and open your accounts. The gaining supplier will have had your meter readings verified by an independent industry third party. If the readings are not the same then ask Flow to initiate an Agreed Readings Dispute.

https://octopus.energy/blog/secret-life-opening-meter-reading/

ijones8784

thank you - hmm I checked, Npower (our old supplier) have the same number for the closing reading - though they said that they got that from Flow, so that makes sense i suppose. I might ring up and ask for the penultimate reading, because from the figures I can only assume it's higher than the closing month! As the number is so wildly out

System

ijones8784 wrote: »

thank you - hmm I checked, Npower (our old supplier) have the same number for the closing reading - though they said that they got that from Flow, so that makes sense i suppose. I might ring up and ask for the penultimate reading, because from the figures I can only assume it's higher than the closing month! As the number is so wildly out

NPower will have received the readings from Flow. If the readings are the same then you will have underpaid NPower and, as a result, you have a large bill from Flow. Unless you have evidence to show that the reading used to open your Gas account is wrong, you have to put this one down to experience. You are not paying for the same energy twice only the difference between the two tariffs which will not be that much.

ijones8784

either way, £250 for one month in a very hot summer seems mental no? Could it be a problem with the meter perhaps?!

System

ijones8784 wrote: »

either way, £250 for one month in a very hot summer seems mental no? Could it be a problem with the meter perhaps?!

You are not paying £250 for one month's usage. Think of it this way.

You moved from Flow and your Final Bill should have been £200 but you misread your meter and they only charged you £100. Npower used the incorrect meter reading to open your account. Charges based on your actual usage should have only been £125 but because of the low start reading, you ended up paying £250.

I suspect that you haven't been giving your supplier monthly meter readings. Industry estimated opening readings can be in error because of a lack of actual meter readings. You could have raised a Dispute had you compared your opening reading with what was showing on your meter.

Yes, you could ask Npower to check your meter. It will raise a charge for doing this which will be refunded if the meter is found to be in error - which I doubt is the case. Suppliers only have to obtain a meter reading from you once every 12 months. Accurate billing requires either a smart meter or consumer-provided actual meter readings.

Robin9

I admit to being a little confused here and also what you want to achieve.

Could you post the readings from the last few months please