Spark Energy revised billing

SoapFairy

I moved into a very small 2 bed rental in April last year.  The property was fully electric with 'state of art' electric heating. Spark energy estimated it would cost approx £41 a month or roughly £500 pounds a year. The house was fitted with a smart meter and I lived alone.
The first bill I received was in November, 8 months after I moved in. The bill was for electricity used to end of October, and was unusually high, some £700. I queried this and was told that the bill was incorrect and I was given a revised figure of an outstanding balance of £72 after taking in to account of my dd each month. At the same time Spark customers were being transferred to SSE.  I rang SSE to confirm that the revised figure had been notified to them and was told it had.
I moved out of the property in February and received a final bill from SSE for £1111 pounds. 
Baring in mind the smart meter, SSE could not confirm the readings as the meter hadn't been 'registered'. I went back and took the readings and gave them to SSE. SSE then told me that as 1/2 of the bill had been charged by SPARK I would need to contact Spark for resolution.
Today I had a conversation with a call handler at Spark in which they confirmed id had the conversation where the amount had been reduced but that was incorrect because they had the readings from the meter which confirmed I'd used an astonishing amount of electricity. The readings were correct and had been revised up! Apparently there had been an 'under estimate' but if the readings were being sent and were correct how did they under estimate! 
I have since managed to get into my online account and it is very clear that for an 18 day period in October there is an S(special) reading, which I understand is a customer requested reading (not by me) where the readings have shot up phenomenally and bare no relation to my usage over the previous months. 
I am now facing being charged £1111 for electricity that was 'used over an 18 day period. Spark tell me they cannot investigate unless I send readings for today and again in 7 days but don't seem to understand that as I've moved I have no intention of providing readings from the current occupiers!
What can I do, anyone have any ideas? 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately it seems that the estimated consumption was very low and £500 p.a. was never likely to prove sufficient to cover a year's billing, least of all with electric heating.  It's not clear whether this is Spark's fault or your fault, but it should always be remembered that an estimate is just that, an estimate which may not match the reality.

The S probably means that it's a Smart meter reading.

All that seems to have happened is that you've used far more than was originally estimated and there's been a catch up bill.  It sounds like the smart meter had become dumb but had been upgraded during your tenancy and had started sending automatic readings.

They're probably entitled to bill you in full because you have used that energy.  You should ask them for a payment plan if you can't pay in full.

When you joined, what was the billing period stated to be?  If it was supposed to be monthly or quarterly then you could ask for a goodwill payment because earlier notification would have alerted you to reduce your usage or to find a cheaper tariff or supplier.

However, if it was six monthly billing then you don't have much of a case.

Sorry that it's not what you want to hear, but I think you'd be lucky to get £75 goodwill.  Spark are not a cheap supplier, and the lettings agent may well have received a bung to monetise you. 

You may have to put it down to experience and resolve to send readings every month in future.  Even if you have smart meters, don't assume they're phoning home.  Above all, get a place with gas central heating next time.