No electricty bills for flat bought in Feb last year. Now Octopus are demanding >£7,000

JackTheBiscuit

Hello

I'm seeking some advice concerning the energy charges (electricity only) to our flat, which we took ownership of in Feb last year. 

In spite of a handful of attempts to communicate with Shell Energy back then - phone calls where we were on hold for ages, and finally written letters, to provide our new details + the meter reading, we were never answered, and we never received any bills. Until July last year when we received a single letter, from their debt collection agency, requesting payment of an enormous sum of approx £3,000. We replied, this time keeping the certificate of postage, with a letter requesting a summary of the fees, and once again it went quiet. 

Until the past 6 to 8 weeks. We have now received two letters from LCS debt collection, claiming to act on behalf of Octopus Energy who, we guess will have assumed responsibility after their take over of Shell. The first letter claimed they were seeking to recover £6,500, and the second which came a few weeks later put that at £7,000!

We live in a 2 bedroom flat, where the second bedroom is not used. When the temperature dropped over last winter, we really only used the heater in our bedroom and the living area.  We are quite frugal with our energy use. So we're convinced that the £7,000 must be based on unpaid use from the past owner and an extremely generous estimate of further use that is way off what we have actually consumed under our ownership, and possibly some penalties. This is supported by a hand written note of the meter reading when we completed the purchase in Feb last year (which we attempted to call in to Shell at the time), as well as copies of letters we posted, and then photogrpahic evidence of the meter reading in August last year, and again in August this year.

So, even taking into account if we were on a non discounted tarrif and the standing charge, we estimate our liability at around £2,000 maximum.

We wrote back to LCS in August and the first letter was not acknowledged. So on the second attempt we requested a copy of the letter / deed of asignment, which we think must have spurred them to kick it back to Octopus, who wrote to us at the beginning of september, inviting us to correspond by email, or to phone in order to discuss repayment of the debt. We have not responded, yet.


What visibility are we entitled to in respect of identifying fees or penalties that may have been added to the bill, and can we expect these to be removed, or is it likely to be a struggle?
Are we going to be liable for the energy used by the previous owner, if indeed those fees were never cleared?
Is there any recourse in this situation regarding back billing?

Thanks very much in advance for some guidance on this

HillStreetBlues

Have you taken any meter readings?

Reed_Richards

You read the meter when you moved in, you can read the meter now so you can tell how much electricity you used.  Electricity prices have varied since February 2023 but if your estimate of £2,000 owed is based on those reading then it should be approximately correct.  How does Octopus know what your meter readings were and are now?  

masonic

You can find the back billing rules here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill
You mention providing them with an opening meter reading when you moved in. If you have acted reasonably and not done anything to prevent them from billing you, then they'd be entitled to bill you for 12 months usage. That could be worked out pro-rata from the meter reading you mentioned and a current reading - assuming there are none in between.

leonj

You have gone over a year and half without setting up an account?

masonic

leonj said:

You have gone over a year and half without setting up an account?

In fairness, things like this can happen when there's a dispute over opening readings, followed by the supplier being taken over.

JackTheBiscuit

leonj said:

You have gone over a year and half without setting up an account?

Well, after a handfull of attempts in the days, weeks and months after completing the purchase, we found other things to be getting on with. We did follow up after 6 months, and once again, no one acknowledged our attempts to set up an account.

tim_p

What was the reading on the hand written note and what is it now?  Have you been putting money aside ready for when you will need to pay for what you’ve used?

Xbigman

Phone Octopus. Tell them you tried to set up an account with Shell numerous times and you have proof of posting for one of the attempts. Give them the opening and current meter reads and the date you moved in. Ask them to set up an account for you and send you a bill. Also tell them as far as you are concerned they can only bill you for 12 months under the back billing rules (I think there's a 50/50 chance of that succeeding) and see what they come back with.


Darren 

masonic

Xbigman said:

Also tell them as far as you are concerned they can only bill you for 12 months under the back billing rules (I think there's a 50/50 chance of that succeeding) and see what they come back with.

I have promising news on that front. I am in the middle of some sort of billing fiasco with Octopus going back over a year. They decided to cancel all of my bills from July 2023 to present and rebill me for the whole period. Their billing system automatically wrote off some of the charges as "Write off (past billable date)". Only a few quid as I had been topping up my account based on what I knew I owed.

phillw

JackTheBiscuit said:
Well, after a handfull of attempts in the days, weeks and months after completing the purchase, we found other things to be getting on with. We did follow up after 6 months, and once again, no one acknowledged our attempts to set up an account.

Did you phone them? 

Writing a letter, especially when you know the first attempt failed, seems like you went out of your way to not contact them.