Final bill is it final?

hetty27

I have recently switched my supplier. It appeared to go smoothly and was issued a final bill. i was in credit and the final bill stated i would receive payment within 10 working days. On 2 occasions i have contacted the company requesting my refund to be assured it will be paid within 48 hours. However after the last promise they contacted me saying they are now querying my bill. I reported my economy 7 meter was sometimes not switching on at night and occasionally appeared to switch on for an hour or 2 during the day last November. This meant that for some nights i had no heating as i live in an area without mains gas and rely on economy 7 heater. My hot water tank was being heated on full rate electricity and dishwasher and washing being used too so no savings. It took 6 weeks for the meter to be replaced. Said company are now querying my usage from March this year to May as my usage has changed drastically ( they have been informed on a couple of occasions that i have now got solar panels which explains in full the change in usage). However they are trying to say that my bills for the last 12 months are incorrect and it appears to them that i am going to owe them a substantial amount. There was a period of 6 weeks whereby the meter was faulty which was 6 months ago. They are saying that because my usage has changed they can look back at the 12 months worth of bills and even though they read the meter twice during that period they can estimate what they think i would have used for the whole year. Is this correct? I know they are not taking into account i have solar panels.They have estimated it will take 28 days to work this out.

Biscuit_Tin

hetty27 wrote: »

I have recently switched my supplier. It appeared to go smoothly and was issued a final bill. i was in credit and the final bill stated i would receive payment within 10 working days. On 2 occasions i have contacted the company requesting my refund to be assured it will be paid within 48 hours. However after the last promise they contacted me saying they are now querying my bill. I reported my economy 7 meter was sometimes not switching on at night and occasionally appeared to switch on for an hour or 2 during the day last November. This meant that for some nights i had no heating as i live in an area without mains gas and rely on economy 7 heater. My hot water tank was being heated on full rate electricity and dishwasher and washing being used too so no savings. It took 6 weeks for the meter to be replaced. Said company are now querying my usage from March this year to May as my usage has changed drastically ( they have been informed on a couple of occasions that i have now got solar panels which explains in full the change in usage). However they are trying to say that my bills for the last 12 months are incorrect and it appears to them that i am going to owe them a substantial amount. There was a period of 6 weeks whereby the meter was faulty which was 6 months ago. They are saying that because my usage has changed they can look back at the 12 months worth of bills and even though they read the meter twice during that period they can estimate what they think i would have used for the whole year. Is this correct? I know they are not taking into account i have solar panels.They have estimated it will take 28 days to work this out.

If you have disputed it, the supplier will investigate, and if deemed appropriate will issue a revised final bill.

D_M_E

If, when you get their final "final" bill and, as you fear, it's an estimate - E after the reading(s) - write a letter headed COMPLAINT and detail the above as reason why you consider it to be wrong.

After 8 weeks if they are still sticking to their bill, escalate to the ombudsman.

[Deleted User]

You have some complex problems to sort out and i don t expect the supplier will get to the bottom of it.
Your Eco 7 timer switch is out of synch, as many are as they drift out of the correct time over the years.
20 years meter reading on Eco 7 meter s has shown me just how far out they can be.
Digital meters I have seen to be over 4 hours slow, and the analogue meters the 7 cheap hours could be anywhere in the 24 hrs if they are controlled by a circular 24 hr timer..
. The suppliers never guarantee the cheap 7 hrs to be at the exact published times..Its out of their control if a digital meter and an analogue timer switch are nowhere near the published times.
It is always the problem of the occupiers to get to grips with their meters and timers and understand exactly where the cheap 7 hrs will be
.Its nothing to do with suppliers how your domestic supply is run and what time is the cheap 7 hrs.
Only the new smart Eco 7 meters can be seen to be working correctly. All the others, except Radio Teleswitched ones are guess work.
Maybe the supplier will concede if you ask for an Energy Ombudsman ruling. In the past I have seen them back down and cave in with this threat