Energy Credit Refund - New Build

[Deleted User]

matt_drummer said:

The statement should be of a frequency to allow a customer to understand and manage their account.

The supplier should make every effort possible to obtain regular and timely meters readings from their customers.

If they don't get the readings it should made very clear that the account balance is incorrect and doesn't reflect the true position. That warning should get stronger the longer the gap between bills.

Six months isn't frequent enough in my opinion with energy costs as they are now, too much scope to get into trouble.

The OP has no idea how much they owe BG or BG may owe them, it's not great is it?

Also BG as a company have no idea what they have sold for the last six months and whether they will actually get paid for all of it.

Smart meters should be made compulsory and fines issued for non compliance.

We really shouldn't have customers potentially racking up huge bills for six months not realising how much debt they are now in.

It's unnecessary with the technology we have available today.

Yes but the SLC default position is that a supplier only has to obtain a meter reading once every 12 months. The manner it which it is obtained is not prescribed: that is, it could be a customer; smart or actual meter reading. Previous to this there was an obligation on suppliers to read meters once every two years ( five years if it was BG).

Smart meters - fines on the supplier or the consumer? In France, consumers who refuse a smart meter pay what amounts to an annual fine. FWiW, I agree that smart meters should be made compulsory but I don’t see people like ML taking up the cause for mandatory smart meters and monthly bills.

Edit: So far in this discussion, no one has mentioned making it mandatory for suppliers to provide an API connection to consumer accounts. To my knowledge only Octopus offers its customers API access. Clearly, this works best when a smart meter is providing daily updates. 

It follows that whilst my online account might show £xx credit, a more accurate estimated credit balance can be achieved by looking at future credits on a third-party App. Bright also works well for those with smart meters where there is no API.