13k underpayment!

QrizB

You might want to remove the full address from that bill you posted.

At the top of the bill It's the address of their solicitor, so a business address not a personal one.

Robin9

There should be a couple of more pages of that bill - one will show the meter readings, and the second a financial one showing the charges for the month/quarter and the DD credited .

A couple of practical checks - look at meters and read them (ignoring figures after decimal point), note the serial numbers and on the gas is it ft3 or m3. How does that info compare to the bills ?

Does her bank statements show the DD to OVO

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079870#Comment_82079870

Also, may be wrong here, but is the bill in that screenshot from July 2026? So the £250 electric usage was from the month leading up to that?

If she died in 2025, who or what was still using utilities to that extent in June/July 2026?

WiserMiser

Are the meters wholly within the property? If they're in an external meter cupboard or meter room they may be crossed over.

A neighbour may have thought that the costs were always reasonable and just kept turning the thermostats up, blissfully unaware that someone else was paying for their usage.

Grumpy_chap

So, looking at the bill that was submitted, the electricity consumption per month was £250 and the gas £100 in the middle of summer. That's £350 per month.

The DD was paying £160 per month.

Hence, accruing a debt at the rate of £190 per month, probably more in winter, so 68 months (5 years) to accrue £13k debt.

How was the £190 DD payment set?

I ask because, I know in my Mum's case at least, the utility companies can be over-compensating at times for "sweet old dears" - when my Mum moved to her bungalow she complained about the estimated monthly bill so, as she says, the person in the call-centre merely asked "well, how much would you like to pay then?" and Mum responded with something absurdly low, suggesting £50 and the call-centre, apparently responded that was a bit low, what about £80? So, my Mum has been paying £80 per month since 2016. It is almost certain that there will be a horrendous bill when she leaves. All crazy, given that Mum has enough to pay the bill. I think she understand but does not want to understand, and instead happily jokes about how little her energy bill costs her.

Is there any possibility that the OP's Mother had a similar discussion at some point?

WiserMiser

"We’ll send regular statements for any energy usage and standing charges until the property is sold or the keys are returned. While these
statements may show an amount due, please rest assured that we do not expect you to pay this personally. We understand that these costs are usually settled from the estate once funds become available, such as after the Grant of Probate."

Source: https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/bereavement

WiserMiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079916#Comment_82079916

BG have form for crossed meters and not resolving the issues.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/21/british-gas-energy-meter-home-tariff

Area88

12-month cap: Regulated by Ofgem, if a supplier made a mistake and never billed you or kept direct debits too low, they cannot recover energy used over a year ago

Robin9

@sirjojo26 The bill you have posted suggests that your mum was a very high consumer. What sort of property did she live in ?

Have you any bills pre 2022 ? Were they also very big ? Just wondering if there is a billing issue ?

sirjojo26

Thanks for all the replies.

Not had chance to go through the whole document yet, but a couple of things I've noticed.

There is a mixture of estimates and smart meter readings.

There are a few refunds of about 70 odd quid, instead of taking it off of the debt..

For a bit of context.

She felt the cold, and I don't doubt she used a hell of a lot of gas in the winter.

In the summer she would be sat in the garden all day reading a book.

It's a fairly large house, 5 bedrooms but with double glazing and central heating. It also has a heated pool , but this was only on about half of the year.

She was paying just under 2k per year, they are claiming her usage was nearly 6k per year.

If this is accurate surely they should have notified her that she was massively underpaying?

I think it will be hard to dispute the usage , but surely something should have flagged up to adjust the direct debit ?

Thanks