Back Billing??

blansh2511

Morning Guys,
First time posting and apologies if this has been covered but I am a little confused,
13 months ago we were with Pure Planet for our energy, contract came to an end in November 2019, and we moved to Scottish Power.
We didnt hear anything from Pure Planet no final bill, letter or phone call so I cancelled the D/D, my assumption was if we owe anything they will be in touch.
Now in December we received a phonecall and email from them saying we owe them over £200 and that there was a system error and it has only been brought to light. Obviously I'm not happy that a year later they are asking for monies owed so I did some research on the ofgem website and spoke to citizens advice and they told me about Back Billing etc... 
I emailed Pure Planet regards this and politely explained that under the back billing rules I wont be paying due to the followin:
You cannot be charged for gas or electricity used more than 12 months ago if you have not been correctly billed by a supplier

Their response was that it is still a valid bill as they haven't incorrectly billed, re-issued amended the bill, which I totally understand however I have no idea if they have had final readings from me to calculate said bill so my thoughts are is this an accurate bill and so would it need recalculating?
If they are correct and I'm in the wrong i will pay the bill however I am just looking for some thoughts on this as if Pure Planet are just trying to be difficult then I will stand my ground.

Thanks 

John

Robin9

@blansh2511   From your own calculations do you agree with the £200 ?

blansh2511

I haven't really given it much thought to be honest i have checked my readings sent to them and the last actual readings i sent were sept and the october was estimated and then in november they only have gas as a closing reading, so its all a little bit all over the place.

[Deleted User]

Final readings are irrelevant on a supplier switch. The gaining supplier is responsible for determining the opening reading which is then passed to the losing supplier as the closing reading. If you failed to provide your new supplier with a reading, then an estimated reading will have been produced by a data collector. Both suppliers have to use the same reading. 

Under Standard Licence Conditions:

Quote: 21BA.1 Subject to paragraph 21BA.2, where the licensee or any Representative Issues a Bill to a Domestic Customer or otherwise seeks to recover (including via a Prepayment Meter) Charges for the Supply of Electricity from that customer (hereafter a “charge recovery action”), they must only do so in respect of:

(a) units of electricity which could reasonably be considered to have been consumed within the 12 months preceding the date the charge recovery action was taken; and

(b) where applicable, amounts in respect of a Standing Charge or any other type of supply charge accrued within the 12 months preceding the date the charge recovery action was taken. Unquote

Final Bills are not specifically covered by this SLC, and the fact that the old supplier relies on the new supplier to provide them with a closing reading may give them an out. Your case is also weakened to a degree by the fact that you appear not to have bothered to contact the supplier about the missing bill. Personally, I would push for a bill reduction for poor customer service. 

blansh2511

Thanks Dolor, I know I'm clutching at straws, I'm just annoyed that its taken them 12 months to decide to contact me, I do take some responsibility regards the bill however at no point did they ring me or write to me regards the final bill so as far as I'm concerned there was no final bill (maybe naïve) given that the new supplier didnt inform the old supplier of the electric reading surely Pure Planet have assumed the final bill therefore wouldnt be accurate and needs to be reworked? 
John  

Phones4Chris

Firstly, I suggest you check your first bill from your new/current supplier (Scottish Power?) and check that the opening reading(s) are the same as the closing readings from Pure Planet because if they are not the same and Pure Planet's reading are higher than Scottish Power's opening readings if you end up HAVING to pay Pure Planet. you'd be paying for some usage twice over, to both suppliers!
Secondly, just because Pure Planet are claiming it's some sort of re-issued bill does not change the facts. Have you fully paid all previous bills from Pure Planet? The fact that they failed to send a closing bill is their problem. The wording of the OFGEM rule is clear as you know, it says "correctly billed" that includes no bill as well as inaccurate ones. The linked CAB letter on OFGEM's site covers the "no bill" situation.

[Deleted User]

Phones4Chris said:

Firstly, I suggest you check your first bill from your new/current supplier (Scottish Power?) and check that the opening reading(s) are the same as the closing readings from Pure Planet because if they are not the same and Pure Planet's reading are higher than Scottish Power's opening readings if you end up HAVING to pay Pure Planet. you'd be paying for some usage twice over, to both suppliers!
Secondly, just because Pure Planet are claiming it's some sort of re-issued bill does not change the facts. Have you fully paid all previous bills from Pure Planet? The fact that they failed to send a closing bill is their problem. The wording of the OFGEM rule is clear as you know, it says "correctly billed" that includes no bill as well as inaccurate ones. The linked CAB letter on OFGEM's site covers the "no bill" situation.

I agree with your point on opening and closing readings; however, given that delays to Final Bills have a recently introduced Ofgem Compensation Scheme I believe that Back Billing may not apply. A number of legal sites state the following

Quote

What should you do if you receive a back bill?

If you receive a back bill, the 12-month rules will apply if:

• You’ve asked your supplier to send you a bill, but you haven’t received one for over a year
• Your bills have been based on estimated readings rather than the accurate meter readings you’ve provided
• You’ve been charged for the wrong meter without realising
• Your supplier hasn’t resolved a query you raised about your account or meter
• Your supplier failed to reassess a payment arrangement, such as a direct debit, within 15 months.

If any of these situations apply to you and you receive a back bill for more than a year’s energy use, you should contact your supplier immediately.

Quote

Which of the above apply to the OP?