Never Been Charged For Elec Since Moving Into New House

deemanuk

This is a bit of a weird one but I moved into my property in April 2005 and set up (or thought I'd set up!) my utility bills with Powergen. They have recently been in touch to say that we have never been charged for electricity and that an 'adjustment' needs to be made. They have totally admitted that the fault is theirs but my question is, how much should I be paying back?

At the moment, they are offering the first year for free but how far should I/ can I push it? Is there a legal amount or percentage I am obliged to pay back?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated and thanks in advance!

adaze

1 year - I beleive, if it is their fault, and sounds like it is. Try the energywatch website
for more info.

Joto_2

When you get in touch with energywatch you'll realise this is more common than you think. I don't know if things have changed but we weren't offered one year free when it happened to us.
We did have the option of paying it back monthly but negotiated a good saving by paying it off in full.
I'm sure I remember reading that they now have only 6 years to contact you before the bill becomes void- not much use in your case, but I was kicking myself because we contacted them!

adaze

"I haven’t had a bill for ages – do I still have to pay?

Consumers are legally bound to pay for their utilities. However, the Limitations Act 1980 prevents charges being recovered if the electricity or gas was used more than six years ago. In Scotland this period is five years. Suppliers should at least offer a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that it has built up. In other words, if you have not had a bill from your supplier for three years then, when a bill does finally appear, you should be able to spread the repayments over three years. However, if you accept a payment plan then you will not be able to change your supplier until you have cleared the outstanding debt.

However, as a result of the ‘super-complaint’ submitted by energywatch in April 2005 to the energy regulator, Ofgem (see below), energy companies have been told that, as of July 2006, they should no longer bill for any energy used by consumers more than two years previously where the company themselves has failed to provide a bill. As of July 2007, energy companies will be expected not to bill for any amount that dates back longer than a year."

- From the energywatch website.

Not sure how legally binding it is though, but might be worth a phone call or at the very least some more research. Joto, how long ago did it happen to you?

carolyn1980

Hi

We moved into our new house in May 2006 and took out a duel fuel account and i rang last week to see if the amount we pay for our direct debits is appropriate. it turns out that we have been paying money each month but have not actually paid anything of an actual bill. For some bizzare reason they had an electricity account set up but not a gas one. As a result they admitted it was their fault, but the good news is they said they are legally only allowed to charge us for the last 12 months of usage. They therefore owed us a sum of £350 although i was really annoyed at their mistake i was really chuffed that we had recieved a years free gas as a result of their incompetance. Good luck and i would fight it all the way.:j :T

Joto_2

Adaze it happened to us from May 03 until Sept 05. They actually took out the first months DD but then stopped for some reason. It was only when I thought I'd see if it was cheaper else where that I found out. It taught me to keep a check on our bank and cross reference with our accounts if nothing else :rolleyes:

Terrylw1

The ruling in 2005 was you could be backbilled 2 years. This changed to 1 year for any new disputes found after 01/07/2007.

So, they cannot bill you for any further back than 1 year from the date they notify you.

They may try it (some Suppliers tell their staff to!) so threaten them with the Ofgem ruling and they will immmediately back down.

Just don't accept a bill that looks too high incase they try to be sneaky!

In reference to Adaze's post, it's totally binding in law as it's part of a Supplier licencing conditions.

The 6 year rule is for business customers who do not get the same level of protection. This has always been the case.

deemanuk

Wow - bit of an eye opener!

A bit of an update - the supplier have also realised that the Economy 12 meter isn't working so we've only ever been measureing usage at the day rate. The new meter's in now so let's see what happens!

Thanks for all the feedback. It was great to hear that there is room for manouver and I'm not the only one this has happened to.