4-6 weeks - an unacceptable time period to wait for an energy refund on a closed account?

6 Posts

in Energy
I am appalled by OutFox the Market. I'm cutting a long story short, but they have been billing me for an address which I vacated nearly two years ago.
Initially, I didn't do anything with the direct debit as I thought they would cancel it from their end. It was only when the other half (who checks our joint account far more than I do) asked why OFTM was still debiting money.
I sent them an email with a dated photo of the meter on the date the billing should have stopped, and also provided the council tax bill for the property I had moved to clearly demonstrating I wasn't living in the property they were still billing me for.
They replied the following day saying they will close the account and nonchalantly said it would take 4-6 weeks just to get the final bill. It will then take a further ten working days ie two more weeks, to get the refund. So a total of two months. We're not talking pennies here. The refund will be in the region of £1500!
This is outrageous. Is it seriously going to take them 6 weeks to issue a final bill when just in a few clicks, a computer system can generate new bills almost instantly.
I'm not making this up, as when I've called up to give readings to an energy supplier in the past, they tell me there and then what I owe after they've submitted the latest reading I've just given them.
Am I being unreasonable to expect to receive a significant refund in less than two months? I've looked on the OFGEM website and it says it can take 6 weeks from a switch to generate a final bill. But I didn't switch, I moved house!
I bet if it was the other way round, and I owed them a significant sum of money, what's the betting that the final bill would be generated a lot quicker than 6 weeks!
Initially, I didn't do anything with the direct debit as I thought they would cancel it from their end. It was only when the other half (who checks our joint account far more than I do) asked why OFTM was still debiting money.
I sent them an email with a dated photo of the meter on the date the billing should have stopped, and also provided the council tax bill for the property I had moved to clearly demonstrating I wasn't living in the property they were still billing me for.
They replied the following day saying they will close the account and nonchalantly said it would take 4-6 weeks just to get the final bill. It will then take a further ten working days ie two more weeks, to get the refund. So a total of two months. We're not talking pennies here. The refund will be in the region of £1500!
This is outrageous. Is it seriously going to take them 6 weeks to issue a final bill when just in a few clicks, a computer system can generate new bills almost instantly.
I'm not making this up, as when I've called up to give readings to an energy supplier in the past, they tell me there and then what I owe after they've submitted the latest reading I've just given them.
Am I being unreasonable to expect to receive a significant refund in less than two months? I've looked on the OFGEM website and it says it can take 6 weeks from a switch to generate a final bill. But I didn't switch, I moved house!
I bet if it was the other way round, and I owed them a significant sum of money, what's the betting that the final bill would be generated a lot quicker than 6 weeks!
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They will get your final bill and refund sorted out in time.
That process takes a few weeks.
That said, if new evidence comes to light which suggests the billed reading was incorrect then section 27.18 kicks in.
I think you should be having the conversation with your other half, not with OFTM...
FYI, a supplier cannot cancel a direct debit. Only the account holder can do that. All they can do is cease drawing on it, but it remains active. It's up to you or the OH to cancel it.
There are processes and checks in place to ensure the correct balance is refunded and the energy companies have a reasonable timeframe to complete those checks and send the money back to you. They might take the full 6 weeks or they may issue a final bill much sooner, there’s not likely to be much you can do to speed up the process.