13k underpayment!

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082367#Comment_82082367

I hope the OP gets it sorted before too long as if the bill is wrong and can only charge for a years worth of energy the money not being spent on the arrears could be offset by how much the solicitors are going to charge for their time sorting out this mess.

I could of missed it but why is a solicitor involved with the energy bill?

Could be sorting out the estate maybe?

QrizB

I could of missed it but why is a solicitor involved with the energy bill? Could be sorting out the estate maybe?

Yes, it seems to be part of administering the estate.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081655#Comment_82081655

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081758#Comment_82081758

So, I wonder, exactly when is the supplier deemed to be responsible? What constitutes "setting the DD too low"?

In my home, I have never changed the DD, nor ever suggested a monthly amount. The automated process at the supplier does it all and sometimes I accrue a credit balance and sometimes I accrue a debit balance. Every so often I receive a letter saying the DD will go up or down. I just let that happen and make no comment. That, IMO, is the supplier setting the DD amount.

In my Mother's case, as I set out upthread, she was not happy with the original DD amount so they asked her what she wanted to pay. After her saying £50, that was settled on £80 per month. That seems to be treated by the energy supplier as a manually / customer set DD. I know Mum has mentioned that they have contacted her to ask if she'd like to put the payment up and she simply says she'd prefer not to, so it stays at £80. It seems to me, that in my Mum's case, the amount paid was set by the customer and the fact it is a DD is simply the payment method which could just as easily be SO, cheque, or whatever.

I'd always expected there'd just be a large balance to settle at some point in the future when Mum stop managing her own finances. It would not seem equitable if that balance could be written down under back billing rules.

MarzipanCrumble

@Grumpy_chap

"I'd always expected there'd just be a large balance to settle at some point in the future when Mum stop managing her own finances. It would not seem equitable if that balance could be written down under back billing rules."

I don't understand why the utility company should accept that and let a large bill accumulate - it has to be paid back, surely? And as such if it is the cistomer's instruction and can be proved as such, surely it is not subject to back-billing rules. Otherwise why aren't we all doing it???

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082880#Comment_82082880

I agree with you entirely.

I raised the way my Mum's billing as a query as to whether a similar conversation may have taken place between the OP's Mum and their utility supplier.

However, the response from some seems to suggest it is down to the utility supplier to not allow debt to accrue.

Reed_Richards

I'd always expected there'd just be a large balance to settle at some point in the future when Mum stop managing her own finances. It would not seem equitable if that balance could be written down under back billing rules.

Your mother wanted to pay £50 per month, her supplier agreed to £80; that's the supplier setting the amount of the DD. If it is too low and your mother is building up a large debit balance then the onus is on the supplier to do something about it. I suppose they could be playing the long game, allowing a large debit balance to accumulate in the expectation that it will have to be paid-off when your mother moves house or in the event that she dies. But this would go against all OFGEM guidance.

I suppose if your mother had told her supplier that £80 per month was the most she could afford then the supplier might accept this, believing that the bill will have to be settled eventually. Presumably the latest DD payment is deemed to pay-off the oldest debt?