Unexpected bill demand by Administrators for People's Energy

JHoney

I'm stunned to receive a bill from the Administrators for £152 when People's Energy haven't supplied our energy since the beginning of 2021.  We switched to Avro in Dec 2019, everything was paid by DD and we've never messed around with bills or failed to pay them.  The switch went fine, life went on and I received nothing further from People's Energy, I've not had any emails or letters that I know of alerting me to any debt.  So today this demand for payment has turned up, which considering how bad things are right now is a really bad joke that I'm not finding funny.  I can't see how we can owe them any money when we didn't cancel the DD until about 6 months ago, if they had an amount to collect then surely they would have collected it? If it's a collection failure on their part then am I even liable for anything owed after all this time? I've never had this situation before, if anyone has any ideas how to proceed or what my legal rights are here I'd be very grateful for advice. 

cx6

I suppose the first thing you should do it to satisfy yourself that you either do or don't owe this money.

I assume the demand refers to a final bill with meter readings etc? If not, then you should ask for the final bill. Then you will be able to check if the bill is correct or not.

Your legal rights are that if you owe the money you have to pay it and if you don't owe the money then you don't.

user1977

As above, if you owe the money then you owe the money, the debt doesn't disappear just because they've taken a year to chase you up about it.

AzureBlue

JHoney, I'm having difficulties with my energy provider too. My advice is to firstly write to the Administrators (or email and keep a copy for future proof) setting out what you have told us and requesting to know why you were not previously informed of any outstanding amount and what the sum pertains to. Also request the details of any meter readings and the final meter reading.

Secondly, contact your new company for the meter reading they took at the beginning of your new contract for a direct comparison. You will be able to determine whether you owe anything.

I would simultaneously contact your local Citizen's Advice organisation for assistance because they often have specialit staff dealing with energy issues who can mediate on your behalf and act with more authority (it's free!)

If the Administrators don't get back to you then write a complaint to them and contact Ofgem (who regulate energy companies) for further assistance. Their website is www.ofgem.gov.uk. They can launch an investigation and determine whether you owe anything or if the company is acting illegally here. They are likely dealing with similar cases across the country due to energy companies going bust.

As I understand it, companies have to take certain steps before threatening people with administrators/court and if they haven't done things properly (like send you an outstanding bill or former warning letter) they don't have a right to threaten you with court action later on.

Definitely don't part with any money unless you genuinely believe you owe it and have been given hard evidence and have spoken to Ofgem beforehand.

Thrugelmir

JHoney said:

I'm stunned to receive a bill from the Administrators for £152 when People's Energy haven't supplied our energy since the beginning of 2021.  We switched to Avro in Dec 2019, everything was paid by DD and we've never messed around with bills or failed to pay them.  The switch went fine, life went on and I received nothing further from People's Energy, I've not had any emails or letters that I know of alerting me to any debt.  So today this demand for payment has turned up, which considering how bad things are right now is a really bad joke that I'm not finding funny.  I can't see how we can owe them any money when we didn't cancel the DD until about 6 months ago, if they had an amount to collect then surely they would have collected it? If it's a collection failure on their part then am I even liable for anything owed after all this time? I've never had this situation before, if anyone has any ideas how to proceed or what my legal rights are here I'd be very grateful for advice. 

Where you ever billed on the final meter readings when you switched?  Just paying a standard amount by direct debit may not have been enough to settle the actual debt. Administrators have a legal duty to recover money for creditors of the company. The problem isn't going to simply go away. 

Manxman_in_exile

Perhaps I'm being over-critical, but I always find it very difficult to understand how these "disputes" or "differences" ever arise in the first place.

Surely with any energy (and now water) provision you're dealing with a product which is actually measured by a meter as it is consumed?  And then you receive periodic bills and/or statements that give you a bill amount together with the meter readings (either actual or estimated) upon which that bill is based.  (Plus details of any fixed charges and what period they cover).

You can always check any charges against your own readings and take your own readings when moving house or changing provider - can't you?  Am I missing something?

I'm wondering if the OP might be confused regarding time periods as the dates in the first two sentences don't make sense - there's a year missing?  (Might be a typo or it may be the source of the problem - who knows).

MattMattMattUK

Manxman_in_exile said:

Perhaps I'm being over-critical, but I always find it very difficult to understand how these "disputes" or "differences" ever arise in the first place.

Surely with any energy (and now water) provision you're dealing with a product which is actually measured by a meter as it is consumed?  And then you receive periodic bills and/or statements that give you a bill amount together with the meter readings (either actual or estimated) upon which that bill is based.  (Plus details of any fixed charges and what period they cover).

You can always check any charges against your own readings and take your own readings when moving house or changing provider - can't you?  Am I missing something?

I'm wondering if the OP might be confused regarding time periods as the dates in the first two sentences don't make sense - there's a year missing?  (Might be a typo or it may be the source of the problem - who knows).

You are missing the laziness of people, who often do not do those things. Many just presume someone else will do it all for them.

Then when you get onto SoLR people thought they could be clever and mess with the submitted readings, either to get more energy at the cheaper rate from the old supplier, or en that somehow they would get away with giving one lower reading to the old supplier and another new higher starting reading to the new supplier, thinking the energy in the middle would be "free". 

Finally with energy there seems to be a persistent issue with people thinking that the direct debit paid monthly is them paying their bill, rather than it just being money into an account that will later be billed based on actual usage.

mikb

@MattMattMattUK all true, and then you went and missed out "incompetence by energy company" -- including online-only accounts that they don't let you sign into (and won't discuss over the phone, "you must deal online") and energy companies that ignore the meter readings you submit, preferring to estimate instead.

It's good to be able to check and second-guess their bills and maths, to catch errors, but it's another thing getting them to listen and FIX it.

TELLIT01

JHoney said:

I'm stunned to receive a bill from the Administrators for £152 when People's Energy haven't supplied our energy since the beginning of 2021.  We switched to Avro in Dec 2019, everything was paid by DD and we've never messed around with bills or failed to pay them.  The switch went fine, life went on and I received nothing further from People's Energy, I've not had any emails or letters that I know of alerting me to any debt.  So today this demand for payment has turned up, which considering how bad things are right now is a really bad joke that I'm not finding funny.  I can't see how we can owe them any money when we didn't cancel the DD until about 6 months ago, if they had an amount to collect then surely they would have collected it? If it's a collection failure on their part then am I even liable for anything owed after all this time? I've never had this situation before, if anyone has any ideas how to proceed or what my legal rights are here I'd be very grateful for advice. 

If People's Energy haven't supplied you since the beginning of 2021, why was the DD continued until 6 months ago?  Did you still owe them money when you switched away from them?  If not, presumably they actually owe you money if they continued to collect the DD after you switched.

ThumbRemote

TELLIT01 said:

JHoney said:

I'm stunned to receive a bill from the Administrators for £152 when People's Energy haven't supplied our energy since the beginning of 2021.  We switched to Avro in Dec 2019, everything was paid by DD and we've never messed around with bills or failed to pay them.  The switch went fine, life went on and I received nothing further from People's Energy, I've not had any emails or letters that I know of alerting me to any debt.  So today this demand for payment has turned up, which considering how bad things are right now is a really bad joke that I'm not finding funny.  I can't see how we can owe them any money when we didn't cancel the DD until about 6 months ago, if they had an amount to collect then surely they would have collected it? If it's a collection failure on their part then am I even liable for anything owed after all this time? I've never had this situation before, if anyone has any ideas how to proceed or what my legal rights are here I'd be very grateful for advice. 

If People's Energy haven't supplied you since the beginning of 2021, why was the DD continued until 6 months ago?  Did you still owe them money when you switched away from them?  If not, presumably they actually owe you money if they continued to collect the DD after you switched.

The said the Direct Debit wasn't cancelled, not that People's Energy have still been taking money via the Direct Debit. They simply left the Direct Debit in place after switching supplier, and then cancelled it at a later point. 

mobileron

I understand theres a 12 month time limit on back billing does this apply.https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules