Are Avro Energy at fault?

jess2112

Advice needed please...

My energy plan was due to end in January. Prior to this in December Avro emailed me with a renewal quote which was reducing my bills from £122 per month to £77...using the last years consumption figures I checked the energy club and it looked like they were on par with what was out there so decided to stay and accept. £77 bill paid in January and 2 weeks ago I receive an email to say the bill is doubling....£149!!!! No explanation just that the direct debit has been amended. Of course in the current climate I can’t afford to be paying even more than I originally was and you cannot get hold of anyone. I emailed them explaining something must be wrong here, how within 4 weeks of renewing do they come to that conclusion??? Waited days for a reply which said I need to go onto the website to renew...completely disregarding my detailed info. I replied and never heard again. I called in the end and after 2 days, got a call back from finance team...in a nut shell she claims quote was wrong, figures I have been using from my January bill to do price comparisons again in the last week are old ones from previous year?!?! No explanation why these 2 things have happened. With no resolution other than lowering my bill to £137 but I still owe £149 for Feb...something definitely not right here, no apology or compassion especially when the increase in payment potentially causes an overdraft charge....
As I say any advice welcome. Thank you.

Gerry1

Unfortunately it seems that you may have made one or more of the classic mistakes.

• Not sending meter readings every month
• Misreading a meter
• Sending a gas meter reading in kWh instead of m3
• Not comparing using your annual consumption in kWh derived from actual (not estimated) meter readings
• Thinking that a Fixed Direct Debit is an All You Can Eat tariff
• Not checking that your FDD was keeping up with your actual usage

Send meter readings today, post a photo here if you are unsure of a reading.  Ask for a payment plan if you have difficulty paying.

rjmachin

It has been cold over the last few months, so the average annual bill cost may even out with your payments towards the end of the year.
Back in September, my statements were around £95, but the last 4 statements have been £150, £156, £167 and £164.

MWT

jess2112 said:

... so decided to stay and accept. £77 bill paid in January and 2 weeks ago I receive an email to say the bill is doubling....£149!!!!

That isn't a bill, it is just a payment into a pot that will be used to settle your bill when it is calculated based on your usage.

If the payments into the pot don't cover the bill then eventually the payments will have to go up.

The email you originally received was not a quote, it was an estimate and one based on what they knew of your consumption at the time.

So if for example, you have not been sending in monthly meter readings then their estimate would be wrong.

Similarly if you have been building up a debt over several months because the payments into the pot were less than the bills coming out then that could also cause the DD to go up.

Please do as Gerry suggests, read the meter today, post the details here and if you can post a copy of your last bill as well that would be a great help (just blank out the personal information).

jess2112

Hi all, thanks for your replies. 

I was not in debt with Avro and about £10 in credit with them which is another reason I don’t understand it. I understand consumption will be higher currently due to season and being at home more often and religiously send my meter readings to them. I think I need to go back to them for further clarification on this and yes support with payments. I do still think it is wrong for the ‘quote’ they originally sent and that they do not show your correct annual consumption on your statements.