Eversmart (remember them?) backbilling complaint rejected by Energy Ombudsman. What next?

MWT

absolutelynot said:

2. A breakdown of charges and payments showing a balance at the bottom is basic stuff for a utility company. Do they have any legal basis to charge you if they can't produce one?

Highly unlikely they would try to get a judgement if they can't prove the debt...

Often they just sell the book on to debt collectors who get really irritating and threatening but ultimately they can't prove the debt either...

rp1974

MWT said:

absolutelynot said:

2. A breakdown of charges and payments showing a balance at the bottom is basic stuff for a utility company. Do they have any legal basis to charge you if they can't produce one?

Highly unlikely they would try to get a judgement if they can't prove the debt...

Often they just sell the book on to debt collectors who get really irritating and threatening but ultimately they can't prove the debt either...

In the event of this happening would the Ombudsman,for example not take the view that company xyz was your supplier for whatever time period involved,and that you would be billed using deemed consumption amounts?.
OP,just to confirm something if possible,you aren't disputing the amout that it's claimed you owe for this timeframe are you?.

MWT

rp1974 said:

In the event of this happening would the Ombudsman,for example not take the view that company xyz was your supplier for whatever time period involved,and that you would be billed using deemed consumption amounts?.

No such thing as 'deemed consumption' for consumer accounts to the best of my knowledge.

These are metered supplies and the supplier is expected to bill according to the meters unless the meter has stopped working, in which case estimates can be used on an agreed basis, typically actual metered usage over a similar time period.

You will usually be able to show the meter readings that your new supplier has billed you from which establishes a solid end-point for any billing from your previous supplier, and that together with the last bill you paid shows the gap, if any that remains to be settled.

rp1974

I see,thought that was called deemed consumption.
I disapprove of using whataboutery to avoid due payment,in effect.

Benjy123

MWT said:

Benjy123 said:

The eventual charge is approximately what should have been paid for as a part of the direct debit mandate, but wasn't.

Eversmart went bust, presumably, because of their own shoddy account keeping and failure to bill customers appropriately. The rule says 12 months; I'm getting billed for energy consumed over two years ago. I can't see how the rules can be flat-out ignored like this?

You can appeal, but generally you need to bring something new to the appeal not just that you don't like the outcome.

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be much you can add that would go to the reasons for the rule being there.

There was no 'bill shock' as you are only being asked to pay what you originally agreed to pay.

I'm sure we all understand the desire to get a years worth of power for free, but the back-billing rules were not put there to reward customers for successfully avoiding making payments they knew were due, for over 12 months...

So let's see if there is anything useful to work with in your specific case.

When exactly did you start with Eversmart in 2018? I ask so we can see if there was any period that was already over 12 months before they went bust in September 2019.

Just to confirm, Eversmart failed to send even one bill during your entire time with them?

How many times did you contact them to ask for a bill or to point out that they were not collecting your DD?

Also, when did you get your first bill from Utilita and what period did it cover? Did you set up a DD with Utilita and when did they collect their first payment from you?

1) Joined Eversmart in August 2018. Utilita took over in September 2019. I left Utilita in December 2019 (and settled my bill for energy consumed as a customer of them in December). Utilita sent me my first Eversmart bill in August 2020.

2) Eversmart didn't send me one invoice/bill/statement during my time with them.

3) I never contacted Eversmart about the lack of payment, as I didn't notice until I heard my account had been switched over to Utilita.

4) All my bills from Utilita, up to the time I left them in December 2019 was for energy consumed from Utilita, from the day after they took over my supply. I didn't set up a Direct Debit with Utilita; they 'assumed' the mandate for the Eversmart one and billed me appropriately for the energy I consumed from them.

MWT

Benjy123 said:

2) Eversmart didn't send me one invoice/bill/statement during my time with them.

3) I never contacted Eversmart about the lack of payment, as I didn't notice until I heard my account had been switched over to Utilita.

So there were no bills on the Eversmart online portal and you never provided them with a meter reading at any point either?

rp1974

Which of your points 1-4 were the Ombudsman made aware of before they made their ruling?.
If nothings changed since then I cant see them coming to any other conclusion than they already have.

Benjy123

So there were no bills on the Eversmart online portal and you never provided them with a meter reading at any point either?

They never asked for a meter reading, so I never provided one (although I did take a meter reading around the time I was transferred to Utilita.

rp1974 said:

Which of your points 1-4 were the Ombudsman made aware of before they made their ruling?.
If nothings changed since then I cant see them coming to any other conclusion than they already have.

The case with the Ombudsman was opened a few months after I complained about Utilita's August 2020 bill (had to wait for all of my complaints to 'time-out' as-it-were because they didn't respond to them).

MWT

Benjy123 said:

So there were no bills on the Eversmart online portal and you never provided them with a meter reading at any point either?

They never asked for a meter reading, so I never provided one (although I did take a meter reading around the time I was transferred to Utilita.

No bills on the portal either or didn't you register for their online system?

Benjy123

Didn't set up an online account, so had no sight of their online portal.