Switching: Being charged for same units of energy twice

fred246

It seems to have gone on for years. When I mention it to other people nobody actually checks. I am surprised Martin Lewis never mentions it. There's no point swapping when they just steal the savings. I think they just work on the basis that they steal from people that don't check and for people that notice they refund it.

mac.d

Do you still have access to your e-on account online, and if so can you look back and see what the smart meter reading was for the day or day before the switch went through?

How long is it since your switch date, as I don't think it's completely unknown for companies to send out a final statement, then send another updated one after it. Since you are now a customer of Octopus, I don't think there is any harm in you sending them an email querying your opening reading with them, and saying your final bill from your previous supplier is showing something different, and see what their response is. Though as with every other company right now, its unlikely they'll deal with it until the current situation is over.

Aa1242

mac.d said:

Do you still have access to your e-on account online, and if so can you look back and see what the smart meter reading was for the day or day before the switch went through?

How long is it since your switch date, as I don't think it's completely unknown for companies to send out a final statement, then send another updated one after it. Since you are now a customer of Octopus, I don't think there is any harm in you sending them an email querying your opening reading with them, and saying your final bill from your previous supplier is showing something different, and see what their response is. Though as with every other company right now, its unlikely they'll deal with it until the current situation is over.

I can access the EON account but don't think I can view the meter reading history although I'll double check. The final bill with the estimated reading has only just been issued, so maybe they will follow up with a confirmed reading at some point.

Aa1242

I've read up on the Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD) and believe it applies to the situation where the meter reading used on the final bill from the old supplier and opening reading of the new supplier is different from what you submitted to the new supplier as the opening reading (e.g. you submit an opening reading of 1234, but a reading of 1500 is used on both the final bill from old supplier and opening reading from new supplier). The key thing here being that the readings the old supplier and new supplier have are the same.

I think ARD is not relevant here as the readings the old and new suppliers are using are different.

Can anyone confirm this?

Talldave

I can't confirm it, but what you say makes total sense. There should only be two possible outcomes following a switch: (1) both suppliers use your reading (2) both suppliers use the adjusted reading provided by the independent (but regularly useless) answerable to nobody meter reading "checking" organisation. 

You can appeal in case (2) but only when the margin of error in their made up reading exceeds limits they also made up.

Joe9090

I am currently in the process of moving from EON and am still awaiting the final bill so I will let you  know if I have a similar problem.
Edit 16th April. I have now received my final bill from EON and it matches the readings I gave to my new supplier.

rags58

. I enclose extract from ombudsman services about customer transfers and gaining suppliers responsibilities to their customers.  

"When a customer transfers from one supplier to another, the two suppliers should agree a transfer reading. During this process the gaining supplier may request a meter reading from the customer. (reading given) It is the gaining supplier’s responsibility to facilitate the transfer and agree the transfer readings with the losing supplier. Agreeing a transfer reading ensures that both suppliers do not bill the customer for the same energy usage

I had the same issue last year and after a few letter of complaint to my current (gaining) supplier they rectified the opening reading so I wasn't charged twice 

brewerdave

Looking back over the past 2 years or so ,I moved utility suppliers on 10 occasions(some via SOLR process) .
 On 4 occasions (only with the leccy tho'), the gaining supplier's initial read has not been agreed with the closing read even after I've raised the discrepancy!
 Some of the smaller Companies are incapable of understanding their responsibilities or indeed how the system works ,whilst the administrators of the failed Companies don't want to get involved UNLESS they can claim more money back. 
 But on 3 of the occasions , I'm in profit, as the opening read used was higher than the close!
 In kwh terms, I'm over 1000kwh up. I've got £150 put aside in case they ever sort themselves out - seems a distant possibility with most of them   

hermante

At the start of 2020 I switched to Bulb who accepted my meter reading. Now 3 months later I received a message from the old supplier saying they have not yet been able to close my account because Bulb had not sent them my opening read. They therefore created an estimated final bill, which double-charged me for about 100kWh, and refunded my credit balance based on this amount.

On asking how I could resolve this situation, the old supplier said that if I sent them my first bill from Bulb they would accept that as proof of my final meter reading. I just did this and they said they have now authorised a refund of the amount overpaid for that 100kWh.

So it turned out to not be a big deal but seems a bit odd that they had to go through me rather than the ARD process mentioned in this thread.

Aa1242

hermante said:

At the start of 2020 I switched to Bulb who accepted my meter reading. Now 3 months later I received a message from the old supplier saying they have not yet been able to close my account because Bulb had not sent them my opening read. They therefore created an estimated final bill, which double-charged me for about 100kWh, and refunded my credit balance based on this amount.

On asking how I could resolve this situation, the old supplier said that if I sent them my first bill from Bulb they would accept that as proof of my final meter reading. I just did this and they said they have now authorised a refund of the amount overpaid for that 100kWh.

So it turned out to not be a big deal but seems a bit odd that they had to go through me rather than the ARD process mentioned in this thread.

My understanding is that ARD process only applied where the suppliers together agree a different reading from what you provide as an opening reading and you want to challenge it (e.g. you supply an opening reading of 5000, but the suppliers agree it should be 4500). But there must be a difference of over 250 between your reading and the reading they use. Both suppliers would be using the same reading and you wouldn't be getting charged twice for the same units.

In this case the old supplier says they didn't get a reading so used an estimated one so I think this would fall outside of ARD.