EDF energy overcharge for gas used in 2021 but charged at 2023 price.

Yorkshire_Pud

Gas supply, edf requested reading, given in March 2022 which they failed to use but their estimated bill was close enough in May to accept it. Due to various personal circumstances I failed to provide subsequent readings until this month when I submitted a reading and photo evidence of the meter read to both their meter read company Morrisons and edf themselves.

Whilst well in credit and due a rebate when I saw the actual bill I was upset to see how they calculated it. They wiped out previous two bills and went back to starting November 2021 and whilst their useage estimate for the spring and summer of 2022 remained the same edf have taken about 70 units (cu ft) from Winter 2021/22 and plonked them in Winter 2022/23 thereby making me pay double for those units used when the kWh rate was nearer 5p than 10p and by my rough calculation costing me an extra £105 that edf did not earn.

I phoned the edf CS it was explained if no readings given then estimated bills were voided when a reading is received and they go back to the last reading before that. I was then cut off probably by the CS when I tried to explain the situation. Tried again and new CS was a bit complacent saying no need to worry you are in credit. Not the point! Important thing here and took some pushing I DID GIVE THEM A READING in March 2021 that they didn’t use for reasons I don’t understand as was promised a bill then. I offered to send a screen grab of the reading but CS said I have it but not clear if that’s still on their system or simply he wrote down what I told him.

If they use the reading I sent in March 2022 that would bookend my actual gas use over Winter 2021/22. It has been sent for Review team to look at. If they agree I will be relieved. As things stand my extreme frugality over gas use this Winter counts against me as their system has just equalled out my use over two Winters by adding them up and dividing by two.

Obviously I will have to be more proactive about sending readings in future and have to a degree contributed to this confusion, and certainly more than the twice a year billing cycle they use which means things can go ary. Once a month minimum plus salient dates when prices change like the 1st April.

My main ‘trump card’ is my screen grab of the March 2022 meter read so hopeful I can get it resolved in my favour as I need the £105 over charged more than edf ‘cheating’ me even if unwittingly. If not it’s off to offgem.

[Deleted User]

All suppliers will cancel estimated bills when actual meter readings are provided. It will then calculate estimates for tariff change dates. Fact: you will have used the energy between the two actual meter readings. 

How have you calculated the £105 difference? 

If, for example, the estimated reading used in March 2021 differed from the actual read by, say, 400 units at a cost of £105 on the higher tariff, the true cost is considerably less. To calculate the actual cost to you, the calculation is 400units x (the new unit cost minus the old unit cost).  

FYI, Ofgem does not investigate consumer complaints. Complaint escalation is handled by Energy Ombudsman Services - a private arbitration company. Before going to EOS, you need to be 100% sure of your facts.

pochase

What do you mean by screen grab?

Do you have a photo of the meter reading you took in March 2022, which will be useful, or do you have taken a screen shot of their estimated reading been used, which would not be as useful.

dunstonh

Whilst well in credit 

Its worth noting that you may show as being in credit but it doesnt mean you are.  6 month billing will mean your payments to EDF show as credited by the use isn't debited until after a bill is generated.

They wiped out previous two bills and went back to November 2021 and whilst their useage estimate for the spring and summer of 2021 remained the same edf have taken about 70 units (cu ft) from Winter 2021/22 and plonked them in Winter 2022/23 thereby making me pay double for those units used when the kWh rate was nearer 5p than 10p and by my rough calculation costing me an extra £105 that edf did not earn.

That is to be expected and is one of the risks of not proving regular readings.   

Obviously I will have to be more proactive about sending readings in future and have to a degree contributed to this confusion, and certainly more than the twice a year billing cycle they use which means things can go ary. Once a month minimum plus salient dates when prices change like the 1st April.

Or put it another way, you are 100% responsible.  Maybe you should consider switching to a smart meter.  Whilst that does not guarantee regular readings, more often than not they do.

My main ‘trump card’ is my screen grab of the March 2022 meter read so hopeful I can get it resolved in my favour as I need the £105 over charged more than edf ‘cheating’ me even if unwittingly. If not it’s off to offgem.

Is there a date and time captured with that "screen grab"?   if not, then it won't be much of a trump card as you could have taken that picture any time.

Yorkshire_Pud

[Deleted User] said:

All suppliers will cancel estimated bills when actual meter readings are provided. It will then calculate estimates for tariff change dates. Fact: you will have used the energy between the two actual meter readings. 

How have you calculated the £105 difference? 

If, for example, the estimated reading used in March 2021 differed from the actual read by, say, 400 units at a cost of £105 on the higher tariff, the true cost is considerably less. To calculate the actual cost to you, the calculation is 400units x (the new unit cost minus the old unit cost).  

FYI, Ofgem does not investigate consumer complaints. Complaint escalation is handled by Energy Ombudsman Services - a private arbitration company. Before going to EOS, you need to be 100% sure of your facts.

Learning curve for me! Edf have attributed about 70 cu ft units to this winter that were used last winter so 70 x £1.50 being the difference per unit cost now compared to last winter. 

Ok thanks for pointing out its EOS presumably funded by the government? I’m 100% sure of my facts. (Now looked it up, free to complainant, approved by ofgem, paid by the companies signed up to its services).

Yorkshire_Pud

pochase said:

What do you mean by screen grab?

Do you have a photo of the meter reading you took in March 2022, which will be useful, or do you have taken a screen shot of their estimated reading been used, which would not be as useful.

It’s a screengrab / picture of the reading I submitted to edf in my online edf account thanking me for the reading which is shown by them, 4 digits and a sentence saying they will generate a bill within two days. 

Yorkshire_Pud

dunstonh said:

Whilst well in credit 

Its worth noting that you may show as being in credit but it doesnt mean you are.  6 month billing will mean your payments to EDF show as credited by the use isn't debited until after a bill is generated.

They wiped out previous two bills and went back to November 2021 and whilst their useage estimate for the spring and summer of 2021 remained the same edf have taken about 70 units (cu ft) from Winter 2021/22 and plonked them in Winter 2022/23 thereby making me pay double for those units used when the kWh rate was nearer 5p than 10p and by my rough calculation costing me an extra £105 that edf did not earn.

That is to be expected and is one of the risks of not proving regular readings.   

Obviously I will have to be more proactive about sending readings in future and have to a degree contributed to this confusion, and certainly more than the twice a year billing cycle they use which means things can go ary. Once a month minimum plus salient dates when prices change like the 1st April.

Or put it another way, you are 100% responsible.  Maybe you should consider switching to a smart meter.  Whilst that does not guarantee regular readings, more often than not they do.

My main ‘trump card’ is my screen grab of the March 2022 meter read so hopeful I can get it resolved in my favour as I need the £105 over charged more than edf ‘cheating’ me even if unwittingly. If not it’s off to offgem.

Is there a date and time captured with that "screen grab"?   if not, then it won't be much of a trump card as you could have taken that picture any time.

Edf have generated a bill and told me I’m over £100 in credit.

I’m not 100% responsible for the overcharge as edf failed to use the meter reading I sent them in March 2022, had they done so it would have ring fenced my useage up to that date. So I’m less than 49% responsible for the problem and overcharge edf have made.

There is a date and time on my meter reading screen grab and it’s from edf site in my account.

Raxiel

The ombudsman is paid for by the suppliers. There's a cost to them for any case that gets referred, meaning it's in their interests to resolve complaints rather than wait for things to escalate. It's also why they will sometimes offer a small bit of compensation to customers who don't actually have a valid complaint, just because it's cheaper than paying the ombudsman to rule in their favour.

It's also worth noting that the Ombudsman's ruling is binding on the supplier, but not on the customer, who can still take a dispute to the law courts if they're not satisfied with the outcome (although the ombudsman's findings are likely to be persuasive to the court.)

BTW, @Yorkshire_Pud in your third and fourth paragraphs of the OP you say you gave them the reading in March 21, elsewhere you said it was March 22, which is likely causing some confusion & you might want to edit it.

Yorkshire_Pud

@Raxiel thanks corrected, gets confusing sometimes.

I’m hoping they will see it from my pov and if they don’t the screengrab should win the day because they didn’t do what they said they would and I can prove it.

[Deleted User]

Hope springs external. If you provide a meter reading it may not appear on your bill. Six monthly billing makes this more likely. The supplier’s metering agent will have come up with an estimate for the billing day based on the reading you provided.

EOS doesn’t favour either the complainant or the supplier. It just assesses the facts that are presented to it by the two parties. 

Can you provide clear evidence to show that the estimates used are incorrect? 

As others have said, you seem to be blaming the supplier for a situation that could have been avoided had you provided it with regular meter readings.

[Deleted User]

OP - there is a major flaw in your argument:

‘Whilst well in credit and due a rebate when I saw the actual bill I was upset to see how they calculated it. They wiped out previous two bills and went back to starting November 2021 and whilst their useage estimate for the spring and summer of 2022 remained the same edf have taken about 70 units (cu ft) from Winter 2021/22 and plonked them in Winter 2022/23 thereby making me pay double for those units used when the kWh rate was nearer 5p than 10p and by my rough calculation costing me an extra £105 that edf did not earn.’

Assuming you are on the Ofgem-capped tariff, there will have been tariff changes on the 1st April 2022 and the 1st October 2022. The supplier will have estimated readings for each of the tariff change dates. Do your bills show these estimated readings?

If the estimated reading for the 1st April was wrong by, say, 1000kWh of gas, then these 1000kWh will be charged at the rate from 1st April to the 1st October. If the estimated reading was still 1000kWh out on the 1st October, then the cost difference to you is 1000 x ( the present tariff rate - the April to October tariff rate) NOT the Winter 2022 to WINTER 2023 tariff rates.

It follows that if you escalate your case to EOS it will fall at the first hurdle.