EDF trying to charge me for old energy usage

skybluemoomin

Hi, a slightly strange on ithink, but EDF are really trying to do a number on me from what I can tell. Moved from Scottish Power to EDF years back now. After a bill in 2021 I noticed my house meter and smart meter showed different units of use. So I called EDF, and with it being COVID was transferred to someone working from home. I explained that the house meter showed nearly 5000 extra units compared to the smart meter, and our bills had been incredibly low compared to everyone else's at the time.was assured there was no issue, nothing to worry about etc. then in November 2022 I got charged over £2000 for the month, but they were way behind on their billing so literally nothing showed up until they billede.in August 2023 (I don't check the smart meter that often and everything seemed normal whenever I did check). Now I've been back and forth and they don't seem to get what happened and are saying I'm a grand and a half in debit. Filed complaint, heard nothing, went to ombudsman, lo and behold there's no record o f my.complaint. So I've lodged another complaint and now they've upped my.DD from £194 to £394 a month in the middle of the dispute! Can anyone give any more advice, I feel like they're just trying to do me over this, but they can't charge for energy used over 12 months ago without letting me know previously,bright? That's what Ofgem website says. Apologies for the very long post!

MattMattMattUK

skybluemoomin said:

Hi, a slightly strange on ithink, but EDF are really trying to do a number on me from what I can tell. Moved from Scottish Power to EDF years back now. After a bill in 2021 I noticed my house meter and smart meter showed different units of use.

When you say "house meter", do you mean the IHD (In Home Display)?

skybluemoomin said:

So I called EDF, and with it being COVID was transferred to someone working from home. I explained that the house meter showed nearly 5000 extra units compared to the smart meter, and our bills had been incredibly low compared to everyone else's at the time.was assured there was no issue, nothing to worry about etc. then in November 2022 I got charged over £2000 for the month, but they were way behind on their billing so literally nothing showed up until they billede.in August 2023 (I don't check the smart meter that often and everything seemed normal whenever I did check). Now I've been back and forth and they don't seem to get what happened and are saying I'm a grand and a half in debit. Filed complaint, heard nothing, went to ombudsman, lo and behold there's no record o f my.complaint. So I've lodged another complaint and now they've upped my.DD from £194 to £394 a month in the middle of the dispute! Can anyone give any more advice, I feel like they're just trying to do me over this

Have you established what energy you have actually used? The Ombudsman will only eventually rule based on facts presented to them, they will not investigate the issue themselves, so you need to make sure everything is clearly laid out before you complain to them. 

skybluemoomin said:

but they can't charge for energy used over 12 months ago without letting me know previously,bright? That's what Ofgem website says. Apologies for the very long post!

It is somewhat more complicated than that. Back billing applies which means that they cannot bill you for energy billed more than twelve months ago (there are some exceptions), but that they can also offset any money previously paid against that. It is also complicated by meter read dates so you really need to get a clear and accurate timeline of your energy usage, meter read dates and bills. 

skybluemoomin

I think when the issue was first taken to them I made it clear that I thought the in home display (under the stairs) was accurate and that the smart meter had somehow fallen behind. Because at the time bills were going up and up and ours was staying really low. So I feel that I told them we were using that energy and they said we weren't. The over a year later the smart meter seed to catch up all at once. It also didn't help that they weren't billing as often as they were supposed to i.e. at least every 6 months their site say, but was 7 or 8 months later I received the bill and started trying to work out what had happened. Then their own complaints procedure failed and they never got it (I noticed now they have an email address not an online form, so wonder if this has happened a lot?)
So from when I told them about the issue to when they billed me for the energy was at least 13 months, but I didn't get an actual written bill until nearly 2 years after the usage. And bear in mind the usage would have been leading up to that phone call in October 21.

BarelySentientAI

skybluemoomin said:

I think when the issue was first taken to them I made it clear that I thought the in home display (under the stairs) was accurate and that the smart meter had somehow fallen behind.

Well an IHD doesn't do any measuring at all, so that can't be the explanation.

I think you need to be more specific about what things actually are.  What is it that you are calling the "house meter" and what are you calling the "smart meter"?  There is only one electricity meter for your house.

skybluemoomin said:

Because at the time bills were going up and up and ours was staying really low. So I feel that I told them we were using that energy and they said we weren't. The over a year later the smart meter seed to catch up all at once. 

Were those bills based on estimated readings and then they went to actual readings?  So not the meter catching up at all, just you being billed for what you had used rather than a guess?  What did it say next to the readings on the old bills and the new one?

MattMattMattUK

skybluemoomin said:

I think when the issue was first taken to them I made it clear that I thought the in home display (under the stairs) was accurate and that the smart meter had somehow fallen behind. Because at the time bills were going up and up and ours was staying really low. So I feel that I told them we were using that energy and they said we weren't. The over a year later the smart meter seed to catch up all at once. It also didn't help that they weren't billing as often as they were supposed to i.e. at least every 6 months their site say, but was 7 or 8 months later I received the bill and started trying to work out what had happened. Then their own complaints procedure failed and they never got it (I noticed now they have an email address not an online form, so wonder if this has happened a lot?)
So from when I told them about the issue to when they billed me for the energy was at least 13 months, but I didn't get an actual written bill until nearly 2 years after the usage. And bear in mind the usage would have been leading up to that phone call in October 21.

Can you add labelled pictures of the thing you think is the smart meter, the thing you call the "house meter" and what you think the in home display is. 

skybluemoomin

Sorry, the in home display I'm probably mis-namong, it's next to the consumer unit and would be where people come to take a proper meter reading in person.
I'm clearly confused because the smart meter, a separate display on the dining room, has always been there, so I'm not sure why any readings would have been estimated, as it was meant to be linked to the main unit under the stairs.
I couldn't tell you right now when the previous meter reading was done in person or when I was asked to provide one, have to look back at that as well. Any I provided were always accurate. I just don't get why they can be so far off, say there's not an issue but still come.bacj to charge after such a delay, but won't pretend I know the ins and outs, hence asking for help/advice here while the complaint is going through. And I do appreciate the comments and pointers as to why I may be in the wrong and for clarification etc.

BarelySentientAI

skybluemoomin said:

Sorry, the in home display I'm probably mis-namong, it's next to the consumer unit and would be where people come to take a proper meter reading in person.
I'm clearly confused because the smart meter, a separate display on the dining room, has always been there, so I'm not sure why any readings would have been estimated, as it was meant to be linked to the main unit under the stairs.
I couldn't tell you right now when the previous meter reading was done in person or when I was asked to provide one, have to look back at that as well. Any I provided were always accurate. I just don't get why they can be so far off, say there's not an issue but still come.bacj to charge after such a delay, but won't pretend I know the ins and outs, hence asking for help/advice here while the complaint is going through. And I do appreciate the comments and pointers as to why I may be in the wrong and for clarification etc.

Little box in the dining room - In Home Display.  Not used for anything official, just for you to look at when you feel like it.

Box next to the consumer unit with big wires - Electricity Meter.  Is this the one under the stairs?  Used for everything official.  The only one that matters.

FreeBear

BarelySentientAI said:

skybluemoomin said:

Sorry, the in home display I'm probably mis-namong, it's next to the consumer unit and would be where people come to take a proper meter reading in person.
I'm clearly confused because the smart meter, a separate display on the dining room, has always been there, so I'm not sure why any readings would have been estimated, as it was meant to be linked to the main unit under the stairs.
I couldn't tell you right now when the previous meter reading was done in person or when I was asked to provide one, have to look back at that as well. Any I provided were always accurate. I just don't get why they can be so far off, say there's not an issue but still come.bacj to charge after such a delay, but won't pretend I know the ins and outs, hence asking for help/advice here while the complaint is going through. And I do appreciate the comments and pointers as to why I may be in the wrong and for clarification etc.

Little box in the dining room - In Home Display.  Not used for anything official, just for you to look at when you feel like it.

Box next to the consumer unit with big wires - Electricity Meter.  Is this the one under the stairs?  Used for everything official.  The only one that matters.

But most in house displays can be used to access the meter readings - You have to wade through the menu to find it.

BarelySentientAI

FreeBear said:

BarelySentientAI said:

skybluemoomin said:

Sorry, the in home display I'm probably mis-namong, it's next to the consumer unit and would be where people come to take a proper meter reading in person.
I'm clearly confused because the smart meter, a separate display on the dining room, has always been there, so I'm not sure why any readings would have been estimated, as it was meant to be linked to the main unit under the stairs.
I couldn't tell you right now when the previous meter reading was done in person or when I was asked to provide one, have to look back at that as well. Any I provided were always accurate. I just don't get why they can be so far off, say there's not an issue but still come.bacj to charge after such a delay, but won't pretend I know the ins and outs, hence asking for help/advice here while the complaint is going through. And I do appreciate the comments and pointers as to why I may be in the wrong and for clarification etc.

Little box in the dining room - In Home Display.  Not used for anything official, just for you to look at when you feel like it.

Box next to the consumer unit with big wires - Electricity Meter.  Is this the one under the stairs?  Used for everything official.  The only one that matters.

But most in house displays can be used to access the meter readings - You have to wade through the menu to find it.

Yes, but I wouldn't recommend that in these circumstances.  The OP is already confused between what all the different things are, and thinks that one is suddenly "catching up" with the other.

Making a complaint about readings and billing - stick with information from the device used for readings and billing.

It sounds a lot like the OP was being billed on estimates and then a SMETS1 smart meter got adopted and gave it's own reading.

skybluemoomin

BarelySentientAI said:

Making a complaint about readings and billing - stick with information from the device used for readings and billing.

It sounds a lot like the OP was being billed on estimates and then a SMETS1 smart meter got adopted and gave it's own reading.

So, if I let them know the official meter reading wasn't correct and their estimates were way off, surely they have a duty to then adjust the billing - I even gave them a reading over the phone, but they did nothing, then 13-14 months later they charge me all at once at a higher rate than when the energy was actually used. Just all seems weird and off.

BarelySentientAI

skybluemoomin said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Making a complaint about readings and billing - stick with information from the device used for readings and billing.

It sounds a lot like the OP was being billed on estimates and then a SMETS1 smart meter got adopted and gave it's own reading.

So, if I let them know the official meter reading wasn't correct and their estimates were way off, surely they have a duty to then adjust the billing - I even gave them a reading over the phone, but they did nothing, then 13-14 months later they charge me all at once at a higher rate than when the energy was actually used. Just all seems weird and off.

Yep.  If you have given them a reading, they either have to accept it as accurate and use it, or come and get an actual meter reading to replace it with.  That's in their licence conditions.

But - if the "official" meter reading that you are talking about was from a smart meter or from someone who visited, then you would struggle to argue that you phoning in a reading is more accurate because that is already an actual meter reading.  In that case they are free to ignore you.

Also, they should spread the 'extra' readings over all the time where it was estimated, not lump it all in yesterday, so it should be spread across any different prices you had.

Are you now comfortable with which box is the meter (and where all the readings should come from) and which is not?

Have you looked on the bills to see whether the readings are marked as estimated, smart, actual, customer, or something else?  And on the old bills too?