Spark Energy - Billing Issues

andrewfarish22

In January 2018 we signed up with Spark Energy on a Smart Meter tariff, in which the salesman advised that it would only cost £70 per month and did not provide any information on the tariff. At this point I had no knowledge of how tariffs and finding the best deal worked, so £70 per month seemed to be a great deal for a 3-bed property. Once the smart meter was installed the readings appeared high and didn’t seem to match up with our usage. It was only until we receive a text message 3 months later that the direct debit would be changing to £300 per month to pay back the debt and the future usage. At this point I started to investigate how it could be so much, when we seemed to be using an average amount.

I later found that the smart meter was reporting back a tariff that was on 27p per kWh in the day and 9p in the night for Electricity on a 2-rate tariff. I forgot what the Gas was. Which then explained the high bill. I then logged into the portal and it shown that the tariff we should be on is 15p per kWh for Electricity on a single rate tariff. I then contacted Spark energy to advise on the error as we also only have a single rate meter installed. They then reverted the directed debit back to £70 whilst they said they will investigate. It was then a few months later we received a similar text message saying the bill would be changing again to £270 per month. I contacted them several times via phone call, email and chat service, requesting this be resolved immediately so that we can see our actual usage and so that we can prevent a huge debt. Spark Energy continued to ignore this issue and we was still receiving incorrect bills; therefore, we couldn’t manage our energy usage. This issue was ongoing until now May 2019 and they have finally rectified the issue, however despite us chasing this since January 2018 to prevent being in debt, they have now advised that we are in debt of above £350. I have raised this with the Energy Ombudsman which is why they got this resolved. They have admitted liability but insist I should pay off the debt. They have offered £100 as a good will gesture for their mistake, which I have refused.

I would like to know where I stand and if I am right to refuse to pay the debt? Since, we have tried to prevent this from happening and have provided them with evidence to prove this, but they until now have allowed the debt to increase even though we have given them enough time to resolve.

I am still waiting on the response from the Energy Ombudsman, but just wondering if I should have taken the £100.

I feel cheated by Spark Energy, as they had the chance to prevent this from happening but didn’t, which is their fault I am in this debt.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Many thanks