Energy Co bungled bill, now large debt

softekcom

This is sooo weird, I don't know what discussion title to use ...  LONG post

I moved into a property in March 2022, and continued with the existing energy dual fuel supplier (let's call it EC).

I paid my bills by direct debit and this continued until March 2023.  They sent me a bill and the bill was paid from my bank account. The amounts varied.

In March 2022 I got a whopper of a bill (£1000+).  I contacted EC and queried it via the app on my phone.  I was assured that this was a mistake and that I didn't owe anything and that this would be corrected.  I took screenshots of the conversation.

In April, just before I moved out of the property, I was sent a refund of £1000+.  This was not a refund I sought, there was no explanation in the letter.

I logged in to the app to settle my bill before I moved, and the app said my balance was 0.  I took a screen shot for the lettings agents.

Rolling on to September, while I was at the new address, I got a debt collection agency letter for appx £3400 for energy used at my previous address.  The account numbers were not the same as the dual fuel account I was using, I did not recognise these new separate account numbers for electricity and gas.

I sent several queries to the debt companies as well as the energy company.  The old bills were no longer accessible on my app, i had no access to the meters to check usage, or how much had been paid by the government scheme, etc.

No reply from the energy company or the debt companies.  Which left the Ombudsman as the only option.

The Ombudsman investigated it and decided that the energy company had closed my dual fuel account a month after I had moved into my old address, split my dual fuel account into two separate accounts, and the outstanding balance of £3400 was for these two new accounts.  The refund i had been sent in April 2023 was the money I had paid towards the bills for my dual fuel account. 

The Ombudsman upheld my complaint, but decided that I now owed the energy company this £3400 because the estimated new bills they had sent me were the average bill for a similar sized family.

It did not matter that I was never informed about the closure of the dual fuel account, nor that new separate electricity and gas accounts had been opened, or that I had never been billed for these new accounts.

i appealed the Ombudsman decision as the only active account during my stay at my previous address was the dual fuel account and that my last bill (actuals) was sent to me in Feb 2023, therefore the account had not been closed a month after i had moved into the property.  The account was active, billed me and I continued to pay until I moved out of the property.

The Ombudsman denied my appeal saying even though I was correct, it made no difference.  The energy had been consumed therefore I must pay this new bill.

My question is: 

Is it legal for an energy company to close a dual fuel account, and create two new separate electricity and gas accounts without the knowledge of the consumer, and then hold the consumer liable retrospectively?

Is it legal for an energy company to bill a consumer after they have moved out of the property after settling their bill?  I have no way now of disputing what they claim I have used - I have no access to the price rate/deal, meter readings or to the previous bills on the app.

Technically, isn't it possible that even after I have paid this £3400 bill they can still find something else to bill me for?  When does this stop?

MP1995

When you say ofgem do you mean the ombudsman?  Ofgem don't deal with consumer complaints in general.

Which leads me to ask, is this all made up?

softekcom

Yes, I mean ombudsman.
How I wish this whole nightmare was made up.  But, no.  They have sent me a letter from a posh sounding law firm.

MP1995

So what was the size of the property and how much does this £3400 represent in months of energy use.

softekcom

3 bed home. One adult, one child. They have just sent me a bill with just the two amounts, and estimate of usage, no monthly break-up.  The bills are for March 2022 - April 2023. So appx £260 per month.

MP1995

softekcom said:

3 bed home. One adult, one child. They have just sent me a bill with just the two amounts, and estimate of usage, no monthly break-up.  The bills are for March 2022 - April 2023. So appx £260 per month.

So for the ombudsman service to say £3400 is a reasonable bill for 12 months use that just be a big Property. How many bedrooms and how many people living there.

Did you not take any meter readings at all?

softekcom

They were supposed to be smart meters.  So no, I did not take any readings.  I was being billed regularly by the dual fuel account which i paid.  So I suspected nothing.

softekcom

3 bed home, one adult, one child.

softekcom

I paid £1602.88 (plus whatever the Government Energy payments were).  I was refunded £1168.66

MP1995

softekcom said:

3 bed home, one adult, one child.

Does seem extreme then if this is only for 13 months. 

softekcom

Nothing makes sense. I don't know what to do.