Together Energy are asking me to pay £2,500+

dougal21

Hello,

I was a Together Energy customer (gas & elec) and I paid my monthly bill by direct debit throughout 2021 at about £137 per month.

In October 2021 the prices went up sharply and my DD increased accordingly to about £254 per month. This continued through to the end of year when it was announced that they had gone into administration.  When Together Energy went bust, British Gas took on my account and I started paying them by DD. So in all that time I've been paying each month.

However, Together Energy sent me a final bill in early 2022.  I tried to contact them to dispute the amount as it was a whopping £2,580+.  There was no phone number I could call, they didn't reply to emails, and the website login for my old account no longer worked. 

I tried several times and gave up but now I've received a final warning that the debt will soon be handed over to a debt collection agency.  I have contacted British Gas to see if they can help but they can do nothing.  They also said that no other Together Energy customers had contacted them about a similar problem.

I need to know why I'm being charged so much when I was paying monthly and they never suggested that I should increase the direct debit.  I also need to know that if the debt is valid and I'm legally obliged to pay it how I can pay in installments, but if they don't talk to me then we can't discuss it.

What should I do?  Contact Ofgem?

pochase

Does the final meter readings in the final bill match your start readings at British Gas?

Edit
I just found  that I asked the same question 5 months ago when you asked the same question, but never returned to your thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79342985/#Comment_79342985

molerat

You need to figure out if you do owe that money.  Have you got all your old bills ?  Did you monitor your bills with them ? Do the handover reads to BG correspond.  If it is a valid debt you will have to pay it and you would have to come to some agreement with the administrators for a payment plan.  Unfortunately the energy ombudsman can not become involved with this as they are no longer a licenced energy supplier.

[Deleted User]

The OP may be confused. Energy bills are based on the amount of energy used and the agreed tariff. DD payments are just put into a pot from which actual energy bills are deducted.

As others have suggested, you need to check your old TE statements which should show whether actual or estimates readings have been used for billing. A supplier should use its reasonable endeavours to calculate an accurate estimated annual consumption for electricity and gas; however, accuracy suffers if the consumer has not been giving frequent meter readings.

Provided TE and BG have used the same readings to close and open your accounts then your focus needs to be on TE’s statements. The blame for catch up bills doesn’t sit solely with the supplier: consumers need to check their bills.

dougal21

pochase said:

Does the final meter readings in the final bill match your start readings at British Gas?

Edit
I just found  that I asked the same question 5 months ago when you asked the same question, but never returned to your thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79342985/#Comment_79342985

Thanks.  I didn't get the notifications so forgot all about that.

MWT

I suspect we are all in danger of repeating ourselves from that thread, but the fundamentals remain the same, without comparing meter readings and determining what the actual consumption and cost was over the period the supply was with 'Together' vs the amount paid, it isn't possible to say if the large bill is correct or not...

km1500

do you have a final closing bill from Together?

If not, then your priority should be to get one.

Debt collectors cannot do much, but if it goes to court then I think the judge would look kindly on your defence that Together are uncontactable and you haven't had your final closing bill.

Meanwhile, do your opening readings with BG agree with what your meters said when the account was taken over ?

Also, if you have any Together bills, you can see from the readings on that bill and the opening readings on BG account what your usage was

pochase

OP mentioned in his opening post that he received the final bill early this year.

@dougal21 you still have not answered the questions regarding the meter readings. Without further information if the bill you received is justified or not nobody will be able to give you advise.

brewerdave

Just one point re the original post - BG Customer Service person is talking thru their rear end - there have been hundreds if not thousands of ex T.E customers posting that they have had issues with totally incorrect final accounts. There are many who are owed huge amounts and many more that are being chased for frightening sums. As somebody who was with T.E in the past ,I can confirm that their billing systems were a complete joke.

[Deleted User]

However, Together Energy sent me a final bill in early 2022

There is an element of customer denial going on here. If I had received a bill for £2000+, I would not have waited 6 months in the hope that it might just go away. 

A simple check of Companies House provides the following details:

Administrator of Together Energy

Alan Kelly

Suite 5, 2nd Floor

Regent Centre

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE3 3LS

Email cp’glasgow@frpadvisory.com

Tel 0330 055 5455

An old fashioned letter sent by Registered Post would have generated some form of response.

morhen

[Deleted User] said:

However, Together Energy sent me a final bill in early 2022

There is an element of customer denial going on here. If I had received a bill for £2000+, I would not have waited 6 months in the hope that it might just go away. 

A simple check of Companies House provides the following details:

Administrator of Together Energy

Alan Kelly

Suite 5, 2nd Floor

Regent Centre

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE3 3LS

Email cp’glasgow@frpadvisory.com

Tel 0330 055 5455

An old fashioned letter sent by Registered Post would have generated some form of response.

I have already been in contact with him.  He just said the final winding up date is in November with a very limit staff left to help with any billing issues.  He said he would get them to look into my issue, surprise surprise!  Nothing has happened.  They are trying to bill me for estimate usage which is way, way out.  The end units on the bill they supplied do not match the starting units on the British Gas bill at all.  The OP isn't the only one who is having issues with final bills from Together energy/Bristol energy.