EDF Energy Bill Advice

Watkin912

I rented a small 2 bed flat for 10 months with my partner, electric only, no gas. We both worked full time, therefore out the majority of the day. We moved into the property in October 2017 to find our storage heaters did not work. We had no heating until January 2018. We were very cautious to not waste energy therefore plugs/lights were always switched off, heating (once it worked) was only turned on if we absolutely needed to. We moved out of that property due to the energy bill being so high. We only lived there for 10 months and currently have a bill of just under £2,500. I do not believe a small 2 bed can rack up a bill of £250 per month. We have moved to another small 2 bed flat, with a different energy provider, where we now pay on average £50 a month, what I would expect to pay.

The bill is still outstanding with EDF. I have tried to dispute the amount the have charged us. They have confirmed the start and end metre readings we provided are correct on their records, therefore in their eyes, that is what we owe, but in my eyes, there must be an error somewhere. I have contacted the Ombudsman for advise. All they said was unless I prove myself that the bill is incorrect, they can not help me further. I don't know how to prove the bill is incorrect as I no longer live at that property, I have no access to the metre to test it for any faults. I also tried to contact my landlord for advise if anyone else had problems in the past, but they said that information was confidential and then stopped replying to me. I now have a debt collector, Past Due, chasing for payment. I have asked them for advice, explaining that I don't believe the bill is correct, but they don't seem to want to help either.

I have attempted to work out the bill myself by deducting the start reads from the end reads of the day and night rates, and adding the daily rate and tax. I come to the total of £1,700 which I still feel is ridiculously high but at least it knocks off a few hundred.

Does anyone know where I should go from here? This dispute began when we received the first bill in March 2018, I'm tired of worrying about it. I want to be able to pay for the energy I owe and not have a debt collector after me. Thank you

wavelets

Watkin912 wrote: »

I rented a small 2 bed flat for 10 months with my partner, electric only, no gas. We both worked full time, therefore out the majority of the day. We moved into the property in October 2017 to find our storage heaters did not work. We had no heating until January 2018. We were very cautious to not waste energy therefore plugs/lights were always switched off, heating (once it worked) was only turned on if we absolutely needed to. We moved out of that property due to the energy bill being so high. We only lived there for 10 months and currently have a bill of just under £2,500. I do not believe a small 2 bed can rack up a bill of £250 per month. We have moved to another small 2 bed flat, with a different energy provider, where we now pay on average £50 a month, what I would expect to pay.

The bill is still outstanding with EDF. I have tried to dispute the amount the have charged us. They have confirmed the start and end metre readings we provided are correct on their records, therefore in their eyes, that is what we owe, but in my eyes, there must be an error somewhere. I have contacted the Ombudsman for advise. All they said was unless I prove myself that the bill is incorrect, they can not help me further. I don't know how to prove the bill is incorrect as I no longer live at that property, I have no access to the metre to test it for any faults. I also tried to contact my landlord for advise if anyone else had problems in the past, but they said that information was confidential and then stopped replying to me. I now have a debt collector, Past Due, chasing for payment. I have asked them for advice, explaining that I don't believe the bill is correct, but they don't seem to want to help either.

I have attempted to work out the bill myself by deducting the start reads from the end reads of the day and night rates, and adding the daily rate and tax. I come to the total of £1,700 which I still feel is ridiculously high but at least it knocks off a few hundred.

Does anyone know where I should go from here? This dispute began when we received the first bill in March 2018, I'm tired of worrying about it. I want to be able to pay for the energy I owe and not have a debt collector after me. Thank you

So, in short, you have 2 issues which can be summarised as follows:

1. You dispute the amount of electricity used as recorded by the meter
2. You believe the bill to be arithmetically incorrect

In regards (1) there is little you can do now you no longer have access to the property.
Lessons to learn:
a) Ensure you provide the supplier with an opening meter read on the day you move in
b) Take regular meter reads (e.g. monthly) and provide these to the supplier.
c) Ensure you receive regular bills/statements from the supplier based on your supplied meter reads
d) Ensure you provide the supplier with a closing meter read on the day you move out

By doing this, you should be alerted to any usage concerns well before 12-14 months later, and hopefully whilst you still have access to the property

In regards (2) that should be quite easily resolved.
Follow the supplier's complaint procedure giving them full details of your calculation/working out


Edit: it now transpires this complaint has been considered in full by the energy ombudsman service and the OP has rejected the final proposed resolution by the ombudsman.

In such an event, the supplier will almost certainly no longer consider any further complaint regarding these issues.

molerat

If you provided the meter readings and agree they are the ones being used then the calculation of the bill is fairly straightforward.


The wider problems here, which as you no longer have access to the property are all but impossible to resolve, is the reversal of day and night readings, an incorrectly reading meter and the possibility that the meter being read was not yours. These are something that is quite common and could have been resolved if you had been pro-active in managing your energy bills whilst you were in residence. Unless you can gain access to the property to resolve any possible issues you are going to have to suck it up and take it as an expensive lesson for the future.

Watkin912

Thank you for replying.

In response to point 1. That's exactly what we did, we gave regular metre readings. The first bill was sent to us 3 months into us being in the property which is when I first saw it was too high. As soon as we received the first bill we began disputing it then and the bills just kept on coming. We requested several times for a member of EDF to come and take a look at the metre, but they never did. Each time a new bill came in, we would highlight the issue again and resend all the evidence from the previous bills.

Response to point 2, we have contacted the complaints department, shown workings out, provided evidence. They failed to get back in touch with us and send the debt collector to take over. Feel like I have nowhere else to turn..

wavelets

Watkin912 wrote: »

Thank you for replying.

In response to point 1. That's exactly what we did, we gave regular metre readings. The first bill was sent to us 3 months into us being in the property which is when I first saw it was too high. As soon as we received the first bill we began disputing it then and the bills just kept on coming. We requested several times for a member of EDF to come and take a look at the metre, but they never did. Each time a new bill came in, we would highlight the issue again and resend all the evidence from the previous bills.

Response to point 2, we have contacted the complaints department, shown workings out, provided evidence. They failed to get back in touch with us and send the debt collector to take over. Feel like I have nowhere else to turn..

I see you started your complaint in March 2018.

Unfortunately, the ombudsman will no longer accept this complaint for consideration as you will be considered timed out.

Although, as the Ombudsman service advised you, unless you can prove the bill is incorrect, there is nothing that can be done.
Why did you not get a meter check done whilst you were at the property? You were aware of the issue by March 2018, and were still at the property until August 2018 - plenty of time to have the meter checked
(The supplier may have charged you for this check, but would have refunded you if your your meter was proven faulty)

As regards the arithemetic error you allege, then your only option now if you wish to pursue this is to take the matter to court, where you can explain that to the judge.

macman

Basics: what was your kWh usage in those 10 months? You mention(non-working) NSH's, so it's assumed you were on E7? If so, state the kWh usage on each register.
What tariff were you on? How many days occupation in total?
Armed with that info, any comp site will give you the correct total billing (by the meter) in seconds.

Robin9

Watkin912 wrote: »

........................

I have attempted to work out the bill myself by deducting the start reads from the end reads of the day and night rates, and adding the daily rate and tax. I come to the total of £1,700 which I still feel is ridiculously high but at least it knocks off a few hundred. .............................

Could you share your calculations please ? It is hard to imagine the EDF computer has a programming mistake as many other users would have the same problem.

wavelets

macman wrote: »

Basics: what was your kWh usage in those 10 months? You mention(non-working) NSH's, so it's assumed you were on E7? If so, state the kWh usage on each register.
What tariff were you on? How many days occupation in total?
Armed with that info, any comp site will give you the correct total billing (by the meter) in seconds.

The OP was only there 10 months
Comparison sites generally give annual costs

Watkin912

wavelets wrote: »

I see you started your complaint in March 2018.

Unfortunately, the ombudsman will no longer accept this complaint for consideration as you will be considered timed out.

Although, as the Ombudsman service advised you, unless you can prove the bill is incorrect, there is nothing that can be done.
Why did you not get a meter check done whilst you were at the property? You were aware of the issue by March 2018, and were still at the property until August 2018 - plenty of time to have the meter checked
(The supplier may have charged you for this check, but would have refunded you if your your meter was proven faulty)

As regards the arithemetic error you allege, then your only option now if you wish to pursue this is to take the matter to court, where you can explain that to the judge.

I did ask EDF, on multiple occasions to come to the property to check the metre. When I was in contact with the Ombudsman, I also asked them to arrange for EDF to check the metre, but no luck. EDF didn't even respond to the request, and the Ombudsman didn't arrange anything.

Thank you. I assumed the next option would be court, but wanted to make sure I had covered any alternatives first before doing so

Watkin912

Robin9 wrote: »

Could you share your calculations please ? It is hard to imagine the EDF computer has a programming mistake as many other users would have the same problem.

This is what I have calculated..

Rate 1 @ 22.68p
Rate 4 @ 7.64p

Rate 1 Start 18209 End 21421
21421 – 18209 = 3212 @ 22.68p = £728.48

Rate 4 Start 13299 End 21962
21962 – 13299 = 8663 @ 7.64p = £661.85

£728.48 + £661.85 = £1,390.33

20th Oct 2017 up to 20th Sept 2018 = 336 days
336 days x 18p per day = £60.48

£1,390.33 + £60.48 = £1,450.81
20% VAT = £290.16

= £1,740.97

wavelets

Watkin912 wrote: »

I did ask EDF, on multiple occasions to come to the property to check the metre. When I was in contact with the Ombudsman, I also asked them to arrange for EDF to check the metre, but no luck. EDF didn't even respond to the request, and the Ombudsman didn't arrange anything.

Thank you. I assumed the next option would be court, but wanted to make sure I had covered any alternatives first before doing so

When did you first ask the ombudsman service to assist you?
Have you received a final response from the ombudsman?
- if so when, what was the final resolution and did you accept it?