No bills for energy since Symbio went bust

Qyburn

TheMilkmansDad said:

I think I'm right in saying that back billing only applies if you have made reasonable attempts to contact the supplier, judging by the above I think this has not happened.

Where is that stated in the rules or guidance? It would be interesting to see the actual wording of that qualification.

pochase

Ofgem states on the follwing page

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules

You should only be charged for any unpaid consumption during the last 12 months if you have not had an accurate bill for this consumption before.

As the OP did not have a accurate bill or a bill at all, I read that as they will be able to bill him for up to 6 years. The back billing rule does not allow for a bill to be changed in arears, it clearly states you can be charged if there was never a bill,

Petriix

pochase said:

Ofgem states on the follwing page

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules

You should only be charged for any unpaid consumption during the last 12 months if you have not had an accurate bill for this consumption before.

As the OP did not have a accurate bill or a bill at all, I read that as they will be able to bill him for up to 6 years. The back billing rule does not allow for a bill to be changed in arears, it clearly states you can be charged if there was never a bill,

I read that completely differently: they can only charge you for unbilled consumption from within the last 12 months; the exception is only if they've previously given you an accurate bill for older consumption which has gone unpaid, then they can continue to pursue those charges. If they've never sent you an accurate bill then they can't go back more than 12 months.

Edit: it clearly states this on the page:

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. 

Newcad

pochase said:

As the OP did not have a accurate bill or a bill at all, I read that as they will be able to bill him for up to 6 years. The back billing rule does not allow for a bill to be changed in arears, it clearly states you can be charged if there was never a bill,

No, that's not correct.

A total lack of billing is applicable in the 12 month back-billing rule.

As my currenrt dispute with Scottish Power shows - They fully accept that the back-billling rule means that because no billing at all was produced they can only back bill for 12 months.
(In my case we are disputing when that 12 months started).

However where correct billing has/had been issued, but payment not collected for some reason, then that correct billing is subject to the 6 year statute of limitations.
(The statute of limitations means that you still owe the debt, but after 6 years they can't chase it through court).

yippeekiay

I'm in the exact position as the OP.

I was with Symbio - moved over to Eon Next in October 21, not had a bill yet. I've queried it using their feedback form from an email I received but I don't think that got to them otherwise I would have expected a bill by now.

I got the £400 discount from the government, this was added to my account balance which now shows a big credit obviously as they were taking the DD out prior to and including the £400.

Now the discount has ended (and as I stated in another thread) my DD is now showing at £0 whereas I expected it to revert to what it was previously.

So I am going to be changing it myself to cover the Electricity I have used since Oct 21 & my projected use for the next year as I know I am actually a couple of hundred pounds in arrears due to keeping a very detailed spreadsheet of my use with all the tariff changes etc.

If/when they finally get round to issuing me with a bill I will question the back-billing rule that has been mentioned in this thread while ensuring I have the credit on my account balance or set aside.

I'm quite hopeful seeing what Newcad says above, in that I may only be billed for the previous 12 months! That would be a welcome surprise though I'm not banking on it.

gt94sss2

yippeekiay said:

If/when they finally get round to issuing me with a bill I will question the back-billing rule that has been mentioned in this thread while ensuring I have the credit on my account balance or set aside.

I'm quite hopeful seeing what Newcad says above, in that I may only be billed for the previous 12 months! That would be a welcome surprise though I'm not banking on it.

Are you supplying meter readings?

Regardless, if you have a credit balance on your energy account, that is offset against any money owed before the back billing rule kicks in.

km1500

don't put the credit into your account - they can back bill if there is money there, but not if there isn't

MultiFuelBurner

Thanks for all the replies and I feel we have done what we should including chasing after most people got transferred twice. 

I have calculated what will happen if I am just billed the 12 months, full 17 and included and excluded the £400 payment.

Going to sit and wait this one out with Eon Next putting £80 a month away anyway and that's earning interest nicely.

yippeekiay

gt94sss2 said:

yippeekiay said:

If/when they finally get round to issuing me with a bill I will question the back-billing rule that has been mentioned in this thread while ensuring I have the credit on my account balance or set aside.

I'm quite hopeful seeing what Newcad says above, in that I may only be billed for the previous 12 months! That would be a welcome surprise though I'm not banking on it.

Are you supplying meter readings?

Regardless, if you have a credit balance on your energy account, that is offset against any money owed before the back billing rule kicks in.

Yes, every month on the 8th (when they request them) since I was moved over PLUS additional readings when tariffs changed at the end/start of their respective months i.e. Price Cap changes etc.

So they've had the readings but never issued a bill to date.

km1500 said:

don't put the credit into your account - they can back bill if there is money there, but not if there isn't

Right, understood - should I ask for a refund so there is less credit as there is currently more than a years credit in there haha?

MultiFuelBurner said:

Thanks for all the replies and I feel we have done what we should including chasing after most people got transferred twice. 

I have calculated what will happen if I am just billed the 12 months, full 17 and included and excluded the £400 payment.

Going to sit and wait this one out with Eon Next putting £80 a month away anyway and that's earning interest nicely.

I was going to setup a new DD amount as my current one is STILL showing as £0 as they have yet to revert it to what it was before the £66/£67 discount. But I think I'm going to do exactly what you are in keeping the money aside to earn interest instead of paying them & possibly losing any benefit from the back-billing rules as far as I understand them.

EDIT:- Just checked my account & they have had 21 meter readings from me since Oct 2021. I'm very diligent & print off a full meter reading statement, payment statement & tariff cost/changes everytime I check my account.

MultiFuelBurner

Still no bill and now the saved up money to pay is earning just under 5% interest.