Powergen - electric meters query

Angel11_2

Hi

I moved out of my property in September 2006. Was on a pre-payment meter - powergen are saying that I owe them £300 or there abouts because the meter was set to the right tarriff when the prices went up in 2005 - 4 price increases and 1 decrease - aparently.

Can anyone give advice on this please? They have passed this onto a dca who called me today and the account is on how because I'm querying it.. most definately.

Thanks for reading and respond if you are able to.

SwanJon

Don't know for sure but I think Powergen are one of the three that will ask you to pay back the difference.
Although the PP meter is often seen as a way to manage your payments, if it is set incorrectly you are not paying the right amount (too much or too little).
The supplier will be charging you at their current rate on their systems, and that will be what they use to bill you.
You could get in touch with energywatch, but based on other comments on here, I think you'll have to pay the majority of it.
Argue it down as far as you can, then ask for as long to pay it back as it took to build up.

Terrylw1

PGen are one of the 3 big players left in PP metering and do recover charges.

However, Ofgem have their policy in place to state energy could not be backbilled over 1 year from July 2007 (prior to that they could only bill for 2 years) However, if they notified you prior to the change you would be stuck to the previous 2 year agreement.

Ofgem's policy is stated in regard to bills, not statements although they are really the same thing to a Supplier.

Energywatch's statement on their site clearly relates to unbilled "energy" which is Kwh or units or power consumed, not the fact that a bill must have ever been produced. Ofgem's statement is slightly contradictory in terms of wording which I suspect is why Suppliers get away with this at times.

You should log a complaint with Energywatch about this. Energywatch & CAB have been trying to get Ofgem to change this to stop any backbilling at all. Ofgem have admitted it's a poor policy, but as yet have not agreed to make this an outlawed practice.

I suspect that if you go to Energywatch, PGen will be less inclined to push for this.


P.S. worth noting that "energy" relates to a Kwh or unit of energy billed into a settlement to the Distributor and then billed back out to the Supplier. This does not equal an estimate, so for the large utility I worked for it was agreed that no unbilled energy whatsoever should be billed over the 1 & 2 year thresholds. So, if the extra Kwh would be higher than any bill or estimate, it would be written off. However, this utility also introduced the 1 year policy prior to Ofgem's insistance to get ahead of the game. They also never forced their staff to inform the custoemr of their rights so many also payed for energy that Ofgem had said they should not, but thats greedy companies for you - don't ask, don't get.

Angel11_2

Thanks for the replies

I've asked powergen to supply me a copy of all my bills (statements) going back to 2005. I always read the meter when the bill comes in when its an estimate bill to make sure its not too far out and ring up with the new reading.

Surely it would be down to powergen to make sure the tariff is set when they have an increase/decrease in charges and to re-set the meter?

I'm struggling to believe that in the space of just over a year the bill was underpaid by £300 - or the meter failed to collect that money. I put in £10 a week as it was.

Terrylw1

It is their obligation to update prices but sometimes it doesn't happen and they need to gain access to your property.

Now in your case, if they only discovered this after you left them, they can only send you a bill for what they calculate was missed, not make any meter update since you are with somebody else.

Unfortunately, there is nothing in place to make them charge this, write it off or anything. It's an area that Ofgem have never considered inregard to supplier licences so they can get away with it.

However, it's all a matter of applying pressure with the assistance of Energywatch who are trying to get this stopped. Get them to help you fight this, they will be interested as it's another one to their list to fight Ofgem for change over.

Personally, whilst they cannot backbill over X years I can't see how they can also apply charges for underpayment over that time. It's just a loophole that Suppliers attempt to exploit.

It doesn't mean that customers don't get a write off though if they fight hard enough.

Good luck