Huge bill for reversed day and night readings

tornewbie

We are with Octopus. We had a new meter fitted, possibly before we signed with them many years ago. The new meter had it's day and night readings backwards. I told octopus before we started with them and a couple of times since. In January 2025 they finally paid attention. They issued a bill for over £4000. I complained, they now have changed it to just under £2000 and are trying to take £437 a month.

A few questions
how do i check the sums are right?
Which tariffs will they be using given fuel prices have varied hugely over the past 5 years?
Can i refuse to pay? 
I'm guessing I can at least say I can only pay an extra £30 a month or something?
Any other advice or things i should be looking out for?

Thanks so much for any advice you are able to share!

QrizB

tornewbie said:

how do i check the sums are right?

It will all be written out on the bill. Check that it makes sense and ties up with your meter readings.

tornewbie said:

Which tariffs will they be using given fuel prices have varied hugely over the past 5 years?

 The tariffs will be shown on the bill. They should be the tariffs you agreed with Octopus for the periods in question.

tornewbie said:

Can i refuse to pay?

You can drag it out and.make them take you to court, then send bailiffs around if you really think that's better? Or have them switch you to PAYG?

They've already let you off £2000!

tornewbie said:

I'm guessing I can at least say I can only pay an extra £30 a month or something?

Normally, you can ask to pay it back over the same period as the arrears developed over. So, from what you've said, they could ask you to pay an extra £40-50 a month over the next four years. Have you asked?

MeteredOut

OP, was the £2000 reduction as a result of them re-billing using the correct day/night readings/prices, or was that them removing charges due to back billing rules?

tornewbie

MeteredOut said:

OP, was the £2000 reduction as a result of them re-billing using the correct day/night readings/prices, or was that them removing charges due to back billing rules?

Thanks

I'm not sure! Bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. thanks tho!

tornewbie

MeteredOut said:

OP, was the £2000 reduction as a result of them re-billing using the correct day/night readings/prices, or was that them removing charges due to back billing rules?

MeteredOut said:

OP, was the £2000 reduction as a result of them re-billing using the correct day/night readings/prices, or was that them removing charges due to back billing rules?

Thanks for your time. It's all a bit beyond me. So I;m not sure. it would be great if they have randomly lopped £2000 off but I guess I'm keen to know if they have been kind or made an error. In which case how much of it is an error!

Not expecting you to answer 

Thanks so much

emsi_b

Our smart reader day and night readings also ended up reversed- apparently nothing to do with them, some technical hitch elsewhere. You will need to go through all your past readings with a fine tooth comb and work out exactly when it switched, and then set it all out in writing as a complaint. When they send you the corrected bill, you will need to check it against what you've observed from your review of your meter readings. They can be found in your app/online account- the plus side of the smart meters. That is how they ought to know what to charge for what tariff rate. 

It took us 9 months to get it fixed- and we ended up with £100 goodwill gesture as they acknowledged they weren't keeping us up to date with what was happening. We didn't pay them a penny until it was resolved, but had put aside our usual expenditure ready to pay off the huge bill when it arrived.