Energy Supplier made a mistake and now I have to pay for it

dp2019

Hi all,

I am currently having an issue with my energy supplier who I currently have a dual energy tariff with. I pay by monthly direct debit which they have decided is the right amount for me.

At the start of June 2018 they changed my direct debit to near enough half of what I was originally paying each month. I didn't think anything of this as I thought they knew what they were doing, how wrong I was as this is where the problems start!

The next bill I received was in March 2019, 9 months after my last one. This bill shows that I have made 9 payments of my new direct debit amount. At the end of this bill it says that I owe them about £320. After I received this bill I rang my energy supplier to see what was going on and they said that they hadn't received the correct meter readings and they took the meter readings over the phone. 2 days later I checked my online account and they had changed my direct debit to £1400 a month and they thought my annual usage was going to be £15,400. I very nearly had a heart attack reading this as I only live in a 2 bed mid-terrace house with my soon to be wife and we're out at work all day. I rang them up again complaining and they changed the direct debit back to the amount they changed it to (half of what I was originally paying) and apologised for the issue, they said the person I spoke to on the phone took the readings down incorrectly (he put the zero's at the start of my reading at the end). It's a good job I checked as I'm sure they would have took the full £1400 next month!

I rang them again in May and asked whether I still had a problem with my account and they said the problem is that the smart meter wasn't sending them readings and there were 2 meters on my account when there should only be one. They organised a new meter to come and get fitted on 14/05/2019 and they would look into it further. Excellent! I thought, I'm finally getting to the bottom of this. It's about time considering we've had about 5 people round checking the meters over the course of us being with them!

The next bill I received was at the end of May and they messed up yet again. My ending statement amount was around £4,450 and I was not happy. I got back on the phone, complained and they fixed the issue.

I carried on paying the amount I thought was correct (seen as though they changed it), but the amount I owed them was increasing every month. I raised this point with them and got through to the Customer Resolution Manager, or someone with a similar job title I can't really remember. The woman on the other end of the phone informed me that the direct debit amount was changed incorrectly and I had been paying the wrong amount for a year! She then informed me that if I carried on paying my original amount, they would owe me £30 not me owing them £300! This felt like a kick in the teeth seen as though I'm getting married in September!

I discussed the fact that it was them that changed my direct debit, not me, and asked why it's only getting pointed out to me now despite complaining several times in the past. I then stated that they were quick enough to change my direct debit when they owed me £4 but when I owe them due to their mess up, they haven't asked me once to increase my direct debit and they've just let it build up and up!

She then asked me why I haven't changed supplier and I said that I looked but I was getting both my gas and electricity for a really good price and no one could beat it. She also asked why I didn't submit my meter readings and I said that I have a smart meter and isn't that the whole point of having one, so you don't have to submit the readings!

The woman on the phone said the only thing they could do is up my direct debit back to the original amount and back date my bill to when my 12 month contract was up with them (December 2018) and choose a cheap tariff to reduce my amount and then apply £5 for every "fail" they had carried out. We worked out together that there were 6 fails in total therefore a measley £30 will be knocked off my bill when it's all sorted. This was 10 weeks ago and I receive a phone call off her every 2 weeks stating that it's still not been done.

Yesterday I received a phone call off them saying that they've back dated my tariff and nothing extra has come off the bill. They have offered £70 off the bill as a "good will gesture" and asked me to set up a payment plan to clear the balance. I have told them that I have emailed the ombudsman 2 weeks ago and I am awaiting their response and that I will have to think about it. They're going to call me back next week to see what my decision is. They have also advised me that the result from the ombudsman will be to ask me to set up a payment plan and accept the good will gesture but I am unsure whether I should wait to see what their decison actually is.

The change in my direct debit took effect at the start of this month so I am back to paying the correct amount. Hopefully I use less than normal (due to not needing any heating on) and the £300 bill get's chipped away bit by bit.

I am not happy with their offer, I don't feel like I should pay them anything at the end of this, they should be paying me, or at least wipe the debt I owe them for all the stress and hassle their incompetence has caused. I am not the one at fault here, yet they are making me feel like I'm responsible. I feel the way they have handled this from the start to now is utterly dreadful and them telling me that I have to pay for their mistake isn't right at all!

Any advice on my situation would be greatly appreciated, I don't really know what to do as I have only lived in my own house for nearly 2 years, before this I was living at my parents so I didn't have to deal with any of this stuff.

JJ_Egan

You pay for what you use.Or are you disputing you used this amount .

You have been offered £70 compo but want the entire debt written off .

PennineAcute

Whilst not brilliant customer service, I fail to understand how this has cost you, in monetary terms.

For your inconvenience, they have offered you £70 compensation. If you feel this offer is not satisfactory, then you can refuse it, explaining why, and hold out for another offer. Bear in mind that another offer may not be forthcoming, or could even be zero.

Unfortunately, this is a hard lesson learnt. Whatever the rights or wrongs why you should, you should always query why a supplier has altered your DD. Better still, you should always take your own readings to ensure that what they are billing you is correct.

I look at it this way, you order some items and when they are delivered, you always check your parcel to ensure they have sent what you ordered and charged you correctly. Energy suppliers are no different, if they are saying you used £x in a time period, you should check that this is correct. If you do not, it becomes more complicated to sort out the longer you leave it.

Robin9

dp2019 wrote: »

Hi all,

............ I currently have a dual energy tariff with. I pay by monthly direct debit which they have decided is the right amount for me...................


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You are learning some of the facts of life the hard way.

Now you've got some firm details of your consumption put those into a comparison site three times - once for dual, once for elec, once for gas. You may well find that having separate suppliers is more economical.


Secondly they didn't decide on the DD - it was based on the estimate of consumption you gave divided by 12. If your consumption was greater than you said it was going to be then the DD will change. As you didn't give them meter readings the supplier makes a guess and it takes a long time to untangle the mess as you've found out.

Snap their hand off with the compensation offered.

You say that your contract started in June 2018 presumably on a fixed tariff. Did you get an email in April/May telling you that that the tariff was coming to an end ? What did you do ? If nothing then since June your supply will be on a standard (ie expensive) tarif.f

The_Fat_Controller

If your DD was not covering your usage and it seems you noticed that, then obviously you will be accumulating debt.

Take the compensation and agree a plan to pay for your current use and arrears.

There is no free lunch !

[Deleted User]

Hi,


you've got to set up a spreadsheet and start taking regular monthly readings, from the actual meters, don't rely on the smart meter IHD.


That way you can see what you've used and what you've paid and notice any shortfall, then get DD adjusted if needed, better to go into winter with a credit as you will use more gas then.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Checking your account is simple arithmetic.



As said above your initial mistake was blindly accepting that the initial DD was set at the correct level. The next was not questioning the DD amount cut in half.


£70 compensation is a good offer and I doubt you will get more from the Ombudsman.

Gerry1

This is just another example of why the default should be Monthly Variable Direct Debit. Unfortunately, many people simply don't understand Fixed Direct Debits. They think it's like unlimited broadband that stays the same price month after month; they don't realise FDD is just a guesstimate of what they might use and that there will usually be a shortfall or overpayment.

The energy companies have cut corners by reading meters far less frequently, so cold weather etc can bring a nasty shock many months later. Instead of realising that their usage has been more than the guesstimate, people complain bitterly that the energy price has suddenly doubled. But it hasn't.

It's so much simpler with MVDD: use more, pay more... use less, pay less. With smart meters, there's really no excuse for continuing what are effectively estimated bills: it defeats the whole (supposed) purpose which is to nudge customers to use less energy. A high bill at the end of the month is much more effective than a once-shiny toy that's now switched off, long forgotten and gathering dust at the back of a drawer !

Of course, MFDD should be available for those who really want it because they're living from one payday to the next. But it's a double edged sword if the energy company doesn't review the DD sufficiently often.

tempus_fugit

Yes, as long as fixed direct debit is still available for those of us that keep tabs on our energy usage then I'm fine with that. The thing is, it's not hard. Number one, NEVER just accept an energy company's suggestion for the direct debit, not without checking it against your usage first. Also, be aware of your usage, particularly the annual usage, work out the cost over the year (it's easy, it's just the kWh * rate plus 365 * daily standing charge), then divide this by 12. And be aware that you will use more in the winter than the summer. A,low a little bit of a buffer in case of a cold winter and then TELL THEM what you will pay each month. If its done correctly they should have no issue with it.

In this case the OP easily has usage data for more than one year, so it should be easy to work out a guesstimate for usage over the current year, plus of course they will have to pay a bit more to cover the debt. As others have said, actual energy used has to be paid for, it's neither here nor there as to whether the energy company "made a mistake" setting the direct debit amount. As above, it's a hard lesson learnt.

Talldave

I like the Pure Planet approach of higher DD for half the year. But even that doesn't cope with my current property's disproportionate gas consumption (72kWhr this last week, 2,200kWhr in the coldest winter week). So pleased to be moving shortly, someone else can have the single-glazed barely insulated fridge.