Year old bill. 7 January 2021 at 12:13PM in LPG, heating oil, solid & other fuels 6 replies 61 views

kelrico

I have received a bill for electric and gas for December 2019 from my previous supplier. I am about to switch again so have not been with them for a year. The bill was sent on 19 Dec 2020 for a period after 20 Dec 2019. I never missed a meter reading or a DD payment, so am just wondering how this has taken a year and what actions I have available. I had £255 in credit when I switched which I thought had been given back to me. The supplier is now saying they have taken the £255 and require another £170 and I do not understand how that is possible, I thought that's what DD helped avoid. Obviously due to Covid, Xmas and me being disabled this is all rather stressful, any advice greatly appreciated.

JJ_Egan

This is oil and lpg board .

DD is a monthly amount its not a future bill .

Do you have meter readings , did you give frequent meter readings or just hope DD covered what you used .

Hasbeen

Direct Debits are not all you can eat / use.

They are put into a pot and used against your bill.

They are adjusted when you give readings.
You either end up with credit or debit.

Hopefully you are not doing the same now?

greatcrested

If you owe the money, you must pay the bill.

Check the meter readings to see what you've been charged for (back in 2019, & when you left etc) and check what you paid.

If your DDs were insufficient to cover the cost of fuel you used, then you owe whatever is outstanding, but only the readings will make that clear.

You'll also have to check whether or not you received the £225 back.

kelrico

Never missed a reading or a DD, definitely didn't get £255 back. I will pay the bill if I owe the money it just all feels wrong that this is exactly 1 year old. Is this normal for an energy company (a big one) to wait this long to sort a final bill?

Gerry1

The back billing rules mean that they can't charge you for unbilled energy from more than 12 months ago, so they don't want to miss the deadline.  Just use the opening and closing readings to do the sums.

If you owe the money then you'll have to pay it.  Ask for a payment plan if it's a problem.

dunstonh

Billing should be based on facts.  So, the opening read and the closing read should be factual information and easily verified.   Your direct debit is based on averaging your annual amount and covers a period of low use (summer) and a period of high use (winter).   Often you build a credit in the warmer months that you spend in the colder ones.   So, your account can swing from credit to negative over the year.
Bottom line is that you should be able to easily work out if its correct or not.