£100+ credit disappears with new “Final Bill”

hboots00

Hi,
I joined “Look After my bills” in 2020, foolishly thinking it would really give me a better deal. I was handed to Utility Point who started me on a low direct debit and then increased it to £200+ a month just before Christmas. As the year ended I had a £143 credit on my account after sending in the final readings. They made it difficult to move to a new supplier as they had me down as a outstanding debit on my account. After many phone calls, it looked like it was over and I was going to receive my credit back in April. After chasing and chasing, I final received a “Final Bill” in July in addition to my existing final bill raised in April. This bill was for an amount which conveniently put me £5 in debit, cancelling out my credit and looking like they’re doing be a favour with a gesture of good will. 

Now the question is, after I have a final meter reading, how are they able to produce this bill. They said there was a discrepancy with the new supplier and the meter reading was too low. This amount of money and usage is well over any other month I have spent with them so seems completely fabricated?! I’m in dispute with them via “Resolver” but I have no further evidence to help my case as this new reading they’ve produced with me new supplier is completely fabricated. I’m just lost for what to do next and how the hell I’ve just lost £140+ With an imaginary usage charge?! Does anyone know how to help me?

Robin9

Are you really that much of an excessively high user that results in a £200 DD. Give us your actual annual consumptions please.

As you have realised LAMB doesn't do anything that you can't do yourself - only better.

hboots00

No we’re a small eco friendly family so I was shocked when they increased it so high, there was a debit balance, but nothing that wouldn’t have been paid off before the end of the contract term. Are annual electric was £684 (4362 units) and Gas £235, which is a bit higher than usual for us as we had a baby this year and the heating was on more than we would usually. 

I’ve already left LAMB, so frustrated with myself, thought I was saving myself a job and now this is a bigger job to fix it. 

MWT

hboots00 said:

They said there was a discrepancy with the new supplier and the meter reading was too low.

Check that their closing reading is the same as your new supplier's opening reading...

The reading can get altered by the industry process for switching but if it is then it has to be used by both losing and gaining supplier so you are not double charged. 

It also has to be within a defined margin of the actual reading, how much is the difference?

Reed_Richards

This issue comes up time and time again.  You must agree that the final reading from your old supplier must necessarily be the same as the starting reading from your new supplier.  Therefore even if this handover reading is higher than you think it should be, money that you pay your old supplier is money that you don't have to pay to your new supplier.  So you have not lost much money at all, you might even have gained if the old rates were better than the new ones.

   

victor2

Do your closing readings with the old supplier agree with the opening readings with the new one? They should, so that you won't pay for the same utility twice. When you switch suppliers an "independent body" validates the final readings and can (and usually does) adjust them. Both suppliers are required to use the adjusted readings. I have seen these bodies even change the reading given by a smart meter on the day of changeover. If the adjustment is more than 250kWh of electricity or 125m3 of gas, it can be challenged by the suppliers. If you have photos of your meters showing the readings you provided on the day and the difference is large, contact your new supplier to see if it can be challenged. But if you've effectively been charged for utilities you haven't yet used at an older and possibly cheaper rate, you will have financially benefitted in the long run, so it may not be worth it.

It has been said on here many times, but is worth repeating - don't think in direct debit amounts, think in kWh for both electricity and gas, as that is what you are billed for.

Keep a record of your actual readings, as you provide them to your supplier, and do so monthly.

Robin9

hboots00 said:

No we’re a small eco friendly family so I was shocked when they increased it so high, there was a debit balance, but nothing that wouldn’t have been paid off before the end of the contract term. Are annual electric was £684 (4362 units) and Gas £235, which is a bit higher than usual for us as we had a baby this year and the heating was on more than we would usually. 

I’ve already left LAMB, so frustrated with myself, thought I was saving myself a job and now this is a bigger job to fix it. 

You always need to  think in terms of kWh 

The electric is a little above average for a gas heated home;  gas is well below (assuming 3p/kWh about 7,000 kWh

Trying to save yourself 5 mins of meter reading once a month .................   result tears.

Who are your present suppliers ?

[Deleted User]

Some points worth making. There is no need to contact the old supplier with a reading if you are switching suppliers: indeed, it can add to the level of switching confusion when two Final Bills arrive. More often than not, the first one isn’t a Final Bill. Secondly, a credit/debit balance is only valid if it is based on an Actual metering reading* and then for one day only. Thirdly, consumers get very alarmed when the industry agreed opening/closing reading is different from the one provided (* industry-validated switching readings will normally be annotate with an ‘E’).

I had a situation where I overpaid my old supplier £80 for electricity that I had not used. As suggested above, I only paid the gaining supplier the daily standing charge until the meter index reading passed the industry-validated opening reading. So the true difference in cost was the difference in unit prices (old versus new). This came to £2.34.

tomvilla21

It could be that your old and new supplier have agreed a reading incorrectly. Did you provide a reading to your new supplier when they asked for it?

if you did and it is different to the one you provided you can speak to your old supplier to raise a dispute change of supplier read, this can take up to 6 weeks but could get this resolved. 

My advice always take a monthly meter reading and take a photo. Whether you have a smart meter or not this is still the most accurate way of working out your usage and is perfect evidence if ever you think something is not right with your bills. 

[Deleted User]

tomvilla21 said:

It could be that your old and new supplier have agreed a reading incorrectly. Did you provide a reading to your new supplier when they asked for it?

if you did and it is different to the one you provided you can speak to your old supplier to raise a dispute change of supplier read, this can take up to 6 weeks but could get this resolved. 

My advice always take a monthly meter reading and take a photo. Whether you have a smart meter or not this is still the most accurate way of working out your usage and is perfect evidence if ever you think something is not right with your bills. 

Not quite. Agreed Reading Disputes are subject to certain rules:

For a ‘Read Dispute’ to be possible, there needs to be a big enough gap between the reading used and the reading you gave. This is called a ‘tolerance’. If the gap is too small, it’s known as being ‘within tolerance’.

The tolerance for an electricity reading is 250 kWh or more. 

For example if you submitted a reading of 01000 and the estimate used was 01300, there's a difference of 300 kWh and a reading dispute is possible. 

For gas meters measured in cubic meters (m3), the tolerance is 108 units.

For example if you submitted a reading of 00010 m3 and the estimate used was 00100 m3, the difference is 90 units and therefore within tolerance. 

For gas meters measured in cubic feet (ft3), the tolerance is 38 units. 

For example if you submitted a reading of 00360 ft3 and the estimate used was 00400 ft3, the difference is 40 units and a reading dispute is possible. 

A ‘Read Dispute’ is usually started by the new supplier.

Source: Ovo Energy