Is this back billing?

elliogle

So I have been having some back and forths with good old EDF.

I moved out of my property in June 2018 (Even though house was empty in Jan), I had a credit paid to me by EDF.

March 2019 I got a nasty letter stating that I owed them £1,200 (£600 + the £600 they paid me), after some back and forth, they said it was their error and closed the account at 0

April 2019, once again, I got a nasty letter, this time I did everything in writing (I think there is a 3td time this happened too)., they confirmed it was in error and closed the account again with 0

Nov 2020, nasty letter time! This time they claim their service person entered the wrong numbers in, and it should of not been closed. Several months of back and forth, I believe they offered me £50 off...I told them I wasnt going to pay, they have never sent me a deadlock letter. Now I am getting a debt collector letter again.

Question is, even though they did give me a bill in March 2019 (Less than a year), does "Back Billing" on this count if it had been closed for 19 months?

victor2

elliogle said:

So I have been having some back and forths with good old EDF.

I moved out of my property in June 2018 (Even though house was empty in Jan), I had a credit paid to me by EDF.

March 2019 I got a nasty letter stating that I owed them £1,200 (£600 + the £600 they paid me), after some back and forth, they said it was their error and closed the account at 0

April 2019, once again, I got a nasty letter, this time I did everything in writing (I think there is a 3td time this happened too)., they confirmed it was in error and closed the account again with 0

Nov 2020, nasty letter time! This time they claim their service person entered the wrong numbers in, and it should of not been closed. Several months of back and forth, I believe they offered me £50 off...I told them I wasnt going to pay, they have never sent me a deadlock letter. Now I am getting a debt collector letter again.

Question is, even though they did give me a bill in March 2019 (Less than a year), does "Back Billing" on this count if it had been closed for 19 months?

If they confirmed their error in writing and closed the account with zero debt in 2019, then it appears the back-billing may apply. According to Ofgem (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/check-energy-back-billing-rules ):

You can’t be charged for gas or electricity used more than 12 months ago if you have not been correctly billed for it, or informed about it via a statement of account, before....

You could try citizen's advice or even seek professional legal advice.

Have you mentioned the Back Billing rules to EDF (in writing) and asked them why they think they don't apply in your case?

elliogle

victor2 said:

You could try citizen's advice or even seek professional legal advice.

Have you mentioned the Back Billing rules to EDF (in writing) and asked them why they think they don't apply in your case?

Ive sent the standard Citizens Advice back billing letter today with some amendments.. So will wait and see.

MWT

I wouldn't depend on the 'back-billing rules' in this case.

The Ombudsman has ruled in the past that where a mistake has resulted in a refund which proved to be incorrect, the supplier can reclaim the refund without it being considered as 'bill-shock' since the money was originally paid to the supplier to use for payment of bills.

So as far as recovering the incorrect refund, they can probably do that, there may be a stronger case for any additional billing beyond the £600 refund being covered if it is not for an amount they had previously billed.

In general companies can correct accounting errors for a few years after the event, and the back-billing rules only protect against billing for consumption not previously billed, not for accounting errors in final billing.

elliogle

MWT said:

I wouldn't depend on the 'back-billing rules' in this case.

The Ombudsman has ruled in the past that where a mistake has resulted in a refund which proved to be incorrect, the supplier can reclaim the refund without it being considered as 'bill-shock' since the money was originally paid to the supplier to use for payment of bills.

So as far as recovering the incorrect refund, they can probably do that, there may be a stronger case for any additional billing beyond the £600 refund being covered if it is not for an amount they had previously billed.

In general companies can correct accounting errors for a few years after the event, and the back-billing rules only protect against billing for consumption not previously billed, not for accounting errors in final billing.

I agree on the overpayment piece, and even offered that too EDF several times, but the incorrect meter ready was their mistake. Hoping the wording "You can’t be charged for gas or electricity used more than 12 months ago if you have not been correctly billed for it" in the OFGEM Back Billing. webpage.

[Deleted User]

BackBilling is covered by its own SLC:

Quote:

Provision of final bill

Electricity

27.17 Where the responsibility for the supply of electricity to a Domestic Customer transfers from the licensee to another Electricity Supplier or otherwise terminates, the licensee must take all reasonable steps to send a final Bill or statement of account of the Domestic Customer’s account within 6 weeks of the supplier transfer or termination of the Domestic Supply Contract.

27.18 Where subsequent information becomes available to correct an error in the final Bill or statement of account issued pursuant to paragraph 27.17, the licensee shall send a corrected Bill or statement of account as soon as reasonably practicable after the subsequent information becomes available. Unquote

Arguably, 27.18 applies to the OP’s case but I am no lawyer. All I can say is that three months on after switching, I am due a 3rd final bill revision from my old supplier. By pushing out a bill within 6 weeks (flawed as it was) they protected themselves from automatic compensation.