Is this fair? Arvo / Octopus Energy

Manchestermrs

Hi all,

I am wondering if this is fair treatment or if I can challenge it?

I have been with Arvo Energy for the last three years or so (before I got automatically transferred to Octopus Energy). 

Anyway, I was stunned to be sent an email from Octopus Energy recently saying I owe Arvo Energy £1,800! I paid £130 by direct debit for dual fuel and never really thought much of it. Yes I got monthly bills but as I was just paying on direct debit I didn’t open them (I had triplets two years ago and have a full time job and five children!). 

Anyway, is it fair that Arvo didn’t contact me either by email or telephone over the last three years to raise this and to suggest I increase my direct debit?

In order to pay this balance I now have a direct debit going to Octopus of almost £300 per month (at their suggestion). 

Thanks so much for any advice. 

MWT

Not wishing to sound unkind, but it looks like Avro were contacting you every month, but you just didn't look at what they were sending...

I trust you have now looked at those bills and have satisfied yourself that they were correct?

Even if Avro hadn't gone into administration there isn't much you can do if your supplier has been providing you with bills which you have been ignoring.

I would suggest checking the bills to see if they were all low estimates ending with a large catch-up bill with a correct meter reading, as under normal circumstances that might give you an opportunity to use the back-billing rules, but sadly now Avro have lost their supply licence those rules no longer apply...

Reed_Richards

It seems more than fair to me.  Arvo tried to contact you by letter but you ignored their attempts.  

Spies

Sorry, but this is your own doing for not opening your bills. 

QrizB

Manchestermrs said:

Thanks so much for any advice. 

During your three years with Avro, were you submitting regular meter readings? Were the Avro bills (that you weren't reading) based on your actual readings, or were they all estimated?

Manchestermrs said:

Anyway, is it fair that Arvo didn’t contact me either by email or telephone over the last three years to raise this and to suggest I increase my direct debit?

If you were submitting regular meter readings, Avro should have noticed that you were falling behind and would probably have suggested an increase in your DD. If however they only had estimates, they would have had no reason to think you were falling into arrears.

matelodave

Sorry, but having a job, lots of kids, illnesses or sick relatives are just excuses rather than reasons for not managing your bills properly.

How do you suggest that AVRO should have been contacting you if you couldn't be bothered to open their bills or check your account on their website. Why should they have to phone you to ask whether you'd managed to get around to to open their bills.

Merlin139

If you have been billed correctly for what you have used then you are liable for what you owe.

If AVRO were aware of your growing Debit then they would have raised your DD to cover your expenditure. They would only have to give you a months notice of the DD increase. Makes me think that they did not have up to date readings.

As other have said it looks as if the problem is of you own making 

If you cannot afford the repayment schedule then you should contact them with an offer based on what you can afford.  

Robin9

Since you've been with Octopus have you been giving them monthly meter reads.  Have you looked at the bills you've been getting ?

Manchestermrs

Thanks all. Thought this might be the case but it was worth a shot! 

Someone has come out to do meter readings every few months or so but will now try to keep up to date on meter readings and billings. I appreciate it was my own doing. I should now be able to make this more of a priority. 

I take it that I cannot change suppliers until this debt is all paid off?

Thanks for your help. 

Spies

Manchestermrs said:

Thanks all. Thought this might be the case but it was worth a shot! 

Someone has come out to do meter readings every few months or so but will now try to keep up to date on meter readings and billings. I appreciate it was my own doing. I should now be able to make this more of a priority. 

I take it that I cannot change suppliers until this debt is all paid off?

Thanks for your help. 

No point changing suppliers right now, you won't get cheaper energy elsewhere.

Unit prices are roughly 20p/kwh electric and 4p/kwh gas due to the price cap, any fixed rate deals will be a fair bit higher so it's best to stick with it.

QrizB

Manchestermrs said:

Thanks all. Thought this might be the case but it was worth a shot! 

Someone has come out to do meter readings every few months or so but will now try to keep up to date on meter readings and billings. I appreciate it was my own doing. I should now be able to make this more of a priority. 

I take it that I cannot change suppliers until this debt is all paid off?

It's always worth asking!

What works for me (at least until my meter goes smart again) is to set a routine of reading the meters on eg. the last day of the month.

As for changing supplier, yes you'll probably find Octopus blocking any switch until you've cleared the arrears. At least in the short term there's nowhere cheaper to switch to, at least until winter is over. You might want to check the comparison sites in March.