Final Bill after switching - how long?

Pat38493

Is there a time limit within which an energy company should issue the final bill?

I switched away from British Gas more than 2 weeks ago.  My account is showing £1200 in credit and "closed".  I am of course aware the £1200 is not real because they haven't debited the last 5 months usage yet.

There is a comment that final payment will be taken, 2 weeks after my final bill is issued.  However there is no final bill showing on the account up to now.

I have a smart meter so there is no particular reason why they couldn't issue the bill promptly.  Can I assume/hope that the fact they haven't billed me yet means I am in net credit?  I suspect if I was in debit, they would have been invoicing me pretty sharpish.

molerat

They have 6 weeks to issue a final bill.

Mobtr

If you’ve changed supplier the old supplier has to wait until they get the reading from your new supplier. They can’t just get a reading from your meter & close your account, doesn’t work that way 

Pat38493

Mobtr said:

If you’ve changed supplier the old supplier has to wait until they get the reading from your new supplier. They can’t just get a reading from your meter & close your account, doesn’t work that way 

OK - but my new supplier Octopus has been reporting usage on my account and has already issued a bill for the first 2 days usage (as I changed tariff after 2 days).

molerat

Some can do it.  When I left EDF switch date was 24 April, final bill 26th April using the reading I gave the new supplier - I did not supply EDF with that.  When I left a previous supplier I got 2 x £30 for late final bill and late refund - the refund was under £5 !

brewerdave

BG issued my final electric bill yesterday - 5 days after switch date including a weekend! That was with a smart meter.
EDF were only one day longer for final gas bill with a manual reading.
Both bills were relatively small debits - maybe a credit has to be authorised ?

Pat38493

brewerdave said:

BG issued my final electric bill yesterday - 5 days after switch date including a weekend! That was with a smart meter.
EDF were only one day longer for final gas bill with a manual reading.
Both bills were relatively small debits - maybe a credit has to be authorised ?

Yes - I am wondering if the fact that they have not issued the final bill for more than 2 weeks, indicates that I am in credit.  I did some rough back of napkin calculations and I suspect I might be slightly in credit but probably not by much.  I had deliberately not increased my payments that they wanted to increase for a few months because I knew I was planning to switch, and also because their estimates were corrupted by a one off issue that meant we used a lot more energy than normal last winter.

What I don't want is to find out I'm in debit and suddenly see them taking money from my bank with no notice, but I think that they are not allowed to take a direct debit without giving x days notice of the amount?

jennifernil

If you have your readings from your meter, and your readings from your last bill, you should be able to work out what you have used and the cost reasonably accurately.

We switched last May, our old supplier took exactly the allowed 6 weeks to issue the bill, we knew we were a bit over £100 in credit, and another 14 days, as allowed,  to refund  the credit.

We got a large refund from them earlier in the year (almost £1000 in January) as we had had a new, more efficient boiler fitted, and we had the switch to Octopus already planned and did not want to have to wait ages for what we knew would be  a large final refund.

Pat38493

jennifernil said:

If you have your readings from your meter, and your readings from your last bill, you should be able to work out what you have used and the cost reasonably accurately.

We switched last May, our old supplier took exactly the allowed 6 weeks to issue the bill, we knew we were a bit over £100 in credit, and another 14 days, as allowed,  to refund  the credit.

We got a large refund from them earlier in the year (almost £1000 in January) as we had had a new, more efficient boiler fitted, and we had the switch to Octopus already planned and did not want to have to wait ages for what we knew would be  a large final refund.

And this was British Gas?  So it seems like British gas deliberately waits the full 6 weeks if you are in credit.  Possibly a case of unintended consequences of regulation.....

[Deleted User]

Pat38493 said:

jennifernil said:

If you have your readings from your meter, and your readings from your last bill, you should be able to work out what you have used and the cost reasonably accurately.

We switched last May, our old supplier took exactly the allowed 6 weeks to issue the bill, we knew we were a bit over £100 in credit, and another 14 days, as allowed,  to refund  the credit.

We got a large refund from them earlier in the year (almost £1000 in January) as we had had a new, more efficient boiler fitted, and we had the switch to Octopus already planned and did not want to have to wait ages for what we knew would be  a large final refund.

And this was British Gas?  So it seems like British gas deliberately waits the full 6 weeks if you are in credit.  Possibly a case of unintended consequences or regulation.....

Most suppliers have an escalating approval process for refunds. The more money the consumer is owed; the greater the number of internal audit checks and the higher the level of management sign off. 

Pat38493

[Deleted User] said:

Pat38493 said:

jennifernil said:

If you have your readings from your meter, and your readings from your last bill, you should be able to work out what you have used and the cost reasonably accurately.

We switched last May, our old supplier took exactly the allowed 6 weeks to issue the bill, we knew we were a bit over £100 in credit, and another 14 days, as allowed,  to refund  the credit.

We got a large refund from them earlier in the year (almost £1000 in January) as we had had a new, more efficient boiler fitted, and we had the switch to Octopus already planned and did not want to have to wait ages for what we knew would be  a large final refund.

And this was British Gas?  So it seems like British gas deliberately waits the full 6 weeks if you are in credit.  Possibly a case of unintended consequences or regulation.....

Most suppliers have an escalating approval process for refunds. The more money the consumer is owed; the greater the number of internal audit checks and the higher the level of management sign off. 

Right, but if they have not issued the final bill, they don't know whether a refund is due or not.  I guess probably they do know because their accounting system maybe tracks what the bill will be, even if it's not actually issued.

They must be somehow tracking this because their website would respond telling you you are not paying enough if you had an increase in usage, even though you had not been issued a bill recently.