Avro increased bill by £400 despite submitting meter reading

Misd_sixties22

Please help!
I've been with Avro since August and have submitted meter readings every month.  Last night I discovered they had upped my direct debit by over £40 and when I looked at my statement, the gas bill was £400 more than it was last month. I have called them and they said as the gas readings hadn't been validated, they had been using estimated meter reading to calculate my bill each month.  On my bill, it says C for customer and also E but, short of getting the calculator out, I never noticed they were not using my readings.  Nowhere on the bill does it say it has not been validated or stated they've been using estimated readings. The lady I spoke to said I should be checking the bill and it says it's not validated on there but I can't see it.  We've had numerous boiler problems this month and simply cannot afford a £400 bill.  I've looked at USwitch which says:

The Ofgem Back-Billing Principle as stated above applies to you and your energy bill if:

• Your supplier failed to bill you at all and you have requested bills from them
• Your energy supplier billed you using estimated meter readings instead of valid readings provided by you or a meter reader

So, does this look like it's their fault? I don't see how I'm at fault for not having validated meter readings.  Does this mean someone coming to read the meter?
Thank you.

bagand96

Did your opening Gas reading with Avro (first bill) match the closing gas reading on your previous supplier's final bill?

Ofgem back billing states that energy providers cannot bill you for energy used more than 12 months ago (as the Uswitch information says) so if you only joined Avro in August this is unlikely to apply.  Unless you think this catch-up bill relates to energy used more than 12 months ago?

You will need to check the readings on record at the time of supplier change match as a first step.  then have a look through your Avro bills to see what readings they've been billing on.

Gerry1

Misd_sixties22 said:

Nowhere on the bill does it say it has not been validated or stated they've been using estimated readings.

As you noted, the E abbreviation says that they've used an estimated reading.

Back billing won't apply because you haven't been with them for 12 months, and they have been billing you.

Opening reading validation process

You can challenge the estimated readings if they are adrift by more than 125kW (electricity) or 39 imperial gas units (you'll see ft3 on the meter) or 125 metric gas units (you'll see m3 on the meter).  Ask for a payment plan if you can't meet the increased DDs.

IIRC Avro need meter readings within a very narrow window, only a day or two, otherwise they tend to use an estimated value, so look closely at the dates against the readings and see whether you need to submit the readings a bit earlier or later.

Take readings today, do the sums and see whether you really do owe them a lot of money.  Just subtract the opening readings from today's values, do the sums and compare the total costs (inc VAT and standing charges) with the total paid from the bank.

Remember to convert the gas volume to kWh using the formula on the bill or use Gas kWh Conversion.

Misd_sixties22

Thank you.  Yes, I have jus checked. It is the same.
I am printing off the bills and I can see some of my meter readings are missing for gas but they are there for electricity. I definitely would have done both at the same time.  

Misd_sixties22

Oh no I was looking at Electricity which is the same.
My last gas reading to my previous company was 18th Aug: 2714
My opening at Avro is: 2175
Is that it?! A jump of over 500!!

[Deleted User]

Misd_sixties22 said:

Oh no I was looking at Electricity which is the same.
My last gas reading to my previous company was 18th Aug: 2714
My opening at Avro is: 2175
Is that it?! A jump of over 500!!

Probably. Speak to Avro and ask them to raise an Agreed Readings Dispute with your old supplier. The process is not necessarily fast!

Misd_sixties22

Thank you. Will be sending a long email later. Won't be returning to Avro anytime soon that's for sure! 

Gerry1

That's a difference of about 6,000kWh or 17,000kWh depending on whether it's an imperial or metric meter, representing an overcharge of up to about £200 or £500 depending on your kWh rate.

Keep us posted about how you get on !