Ecotricity made a mess up of our account - what should we do?

iamhanuman

Apologies for the long post!!! Only get in if you're here for the long haul!!!

Thanks in advance - any advice welcome!!!

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So, when we moved into our property in 2019 we inherited key meters which were a total nightmare and left us without power on more than one occasion when shops were closed and we couldn't top up. It was over a year of struggle to get Ecotricity (our previous provider) to take over the account and fit a smart meter.

Earlier this year we discovered that they hadn't been taking their monthly direct debits. That was partly our mistake for not spotting but I had been in contact with Ecotricity for advice on getting onto their app to view bills and how it kept erroring etc. I'd also called them saying I wasn't receiving bills and so on, so that was a thing.

Then suddenly they reveal they haven't charged us since fitting the meter. So now there's this huge backlog of debt owing and they still won't take normal monthly direct debits, meaning the balance is growing.

They acknowledge they can't charge for more than a twelve month period of the originally discovered balance but they have been pretty abysmal at trying to come to a solution as to how to go forward.

Obviously this is all against the current backdrop of energy crises so I received an email from them today saying the following - what would you advise for a next step?

Please note I've received no texts from them - that's a lie right there - and any calls must have come from unrecognised numbers - contact has always been initiated by me:

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Hi ****,

I have called and text but have not heard back from you.

Our billing team have assessed the bill and updated the back billing amount. Your balance is now £4016.54.

I have attached a copy bill for your reference. This bill covers 29 January 2020 to 10 July 2022 with a back billing credit on the electricity of £1402.58 and on the gas £623.39.

Whilst I appreciate that money does not fix this, I appreciate we have not managed your account set up nor ensured that your queries were answered quickly and efficiently, our service has fallen short, for this, I would like to offer you a goodwill credit of £400.00 for the time we have taken to provide you with response and resolution.

This would reduce your balance to £3616.54

I appreciate this is a large amount to pay in one lump. Please contact our credit support team on 01453 761350 to set up an interest free payment plan to suit you. If this isn’t done, we will have no choice but to send this back to a debt collection agency to collect payment.

I will also be providing feedback across the business about the issues you have had with joining Ecotricity and subsequent meter change.

I hope this gives reassurance and resolves your complaint. If you’d like to accept the goodwill offer in full and final recognition of your complaint, please come back to me within the next seven days.

Full details of the complaints process and our complaints code of practice can be found on our website. If you would like a paper copy of this, please let us know – we are able to send you one free of charge.

 

You can get help with energy problems. This includes issues with your bills or meters, or if you’re struggling to pay for the energy you use. If you live in England or Wales, go to citizensadvice.org.uk/energy or contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133. Calls are free. If you live in Scotland, go to energyadvice.scot or contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 196 8660. Calls are free. Citizens Advice and Advice Direct Scotland are the official sources of free and independent energy advice and support.

Best wishes

Emma Whitney

Complaints Investigator

Customer Champion Team

Telephone: 0800 130 3321 – ext - 5757

Email: complaints@ecotricity.co.uk

Website: www.ecotricity.co.uk

iamhanuman

I should also add, some of that "inefficiency" they're referencing there was handing our account to multiple debt collection agencies, including doorstep collections which luckily I didn't answer and just saw the letter on the mat. That really was not appreciated!

victor2

Welcome to the forum!

Firstly, verify that the amount billed is correct - it seems very high for 12 months usage, but maybe you are a high user.

Both meters would presumably have started at zero, since they were new smart meters, so take readings from them now and ascertain how much of each fuel you have used since they were installed. Remember electricity is simple, as the meter records kWh, but the gas will be in m3 and need converting to kWh. The formula they use to do that will be on your bill, but multiplying the units used by 11.2 will give you a very close kWh figure.

Assuming it all looks OK, and their credit to offset the back-billing look OK, then you have to work out a payment method with them. I'd accept the goodwill gesture if all they've done wrong is not bill you or take your DD. The payment process you work out should cover your ongoing usage as well as they debt owed. It's going to hurt, but you have had some free utilities out of the long time it has taken them to sort it out.

Alnat1

I would add to above, if the account was not on a fixed rate for the whole period they are charging you, check they have charged the correct unit rates and split the usage fairly between them and for summer and winter.

pochase

There offer seems to be more than generous to me, they will only bill you for 12 months instead of 30 months, plus give you an additional £400 as a good will.

I am not sure what more you can expect here. 

I am a bit unsure regarding the outstanding amount. was the £4016 the amount for the whole time, or just for the last 12 months? If it is only the last 12 months the credits listed for back billing / usage for the first 18 months seem to be extremely low in comparison.

EssexHebridean

Firstly are the figures they are giving correct, by your calculations, for the amount of energy you have used? Have you read the meter manually at all in that time, so you have any sort of record? (and yes, I know it's a smart meter but it is still good practise to read it yourself on a fairly regular basis!)

How much should the DD have been to them? The thing that stands out here above pretty much everything else, to me anyway, is that since some point in 2020 there has presumably been money that was budgeted for energy bills left in your account each month - which has either been frittered away, or used on essential living costs, or has been spotted as surplus and transferred to savings. If the latter, then great - you have the money there to cover the bills. If frittered, then that frittering needs to stop. If it's been being used to meet other priority bills though, you have a problem. You need to ascertain which of those things has occurred and react accordingly to avoid the problem getting bigger going forwards. I would also suggest that a tighter grip on your household budget might be a good plan!  

FreeBear

victor2 said: Both meters would presumably have started at zero, since they were new smart meters, so take readings from them now and ascertain how much of each fuel you have used since they were installed. Remember electricity is simple, as the meter records kWh, but the gas will be in m3 and need converting to kWh.

And check that the gas units recorded on the bill are actually cubic metres and not (100) cubic feet - It is not unknown for a supplier to install a smart meter and fail to update the database to show that it is recording metric units rather than the old imperial units (Solarplicity pulled this stunt on me).

iamhanuman

Thanks so much to everyone for commenting here. I'm in talks still work Ecotricity and will take all this to them.

I will add for context that we're a family living with disabilities and on government income. Full time caring is a major reason why things like money management are not always done so well and I really appreciate the input from everyone. Life is tough enough already and the current climate just makes it even more so. Thank you everybody 🙂👍