They say I owe £900!!!

Terrylw1

Cardew is correct on the Must Be Read (MBR) cycle.

There are various other industry codes relating to data. One such rule is the RF rule which is 14 months. Basically, all data is settled at 14 months and then the data becomes crystallised.

Utilities and their agents are not really supposed to change data past 14 months if they can avoid it because it can adversely affect the monitoring of the energy consumed in the region.

One thing I would say about MBR is that they cannot rely on a customer reading and should view the meter as there is a safety element. So, Suppliers have to obtain warrants but they seldom have the stomach for extra complaints and tend to live with a customer reading.

The Data Collector gets around this rule in this case by Deeming a reading based on what they hold. What they hold in these cases is rarely ever close as well.

bidi123

I work for E.on and to be honest not trying to boast the company but they are really good at understanding customer needs, there are a few things you can try, if your on benefits apply to have money deducted from there (cheapest way) or depending on your circumstances you can apply for a caring energy fund, but to be honest i think you should request 2+ years to pay off your arrears as its a 2 way thing

beer_tins

Bidi123, as an E.on employee, can you let us know if it is the customer's responsibility to provide meter readings or the company's to get them (by checking themselves or asking customers).

stewie_griffin

Cardew wrote: »

That is a surprise.

From your previous posts, I am aware that you know what you are are talking about on Utility Bills(don't you work for a Utility company?)

I understood that the companies only have to read your meter every 2 years - which is at odds with your 15 month rule

and that is what is stipulated here - see paragraph 2

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/documents/CodeofPracticeforAccurateBills.pdf

I have never seen or heard of the 15 months rule?

What is clear is that if you haven't had any bill at all(rather than a bill based on an estimated reading) they can only go back 12 months.

Can you please supply details of the relevant regulation to support your statement above.

I'm going to have to double check at work tomorrow about this.

bidi123

by law it is the supplier's responsibility to read the meter at least once in 2 years but it is in the customer's best interest to provide reads to avoid this kind of big shock, have you spoken to E.on since you had the bill?

stewie_griffin

Cardew wrote: »

That is a surprise.

From your previous posts, I am aware that you know what you are are talking about on Utility Bills(don't you work for a Utility company?)

I understood that the companies only have to read your meter every 2 years - which is at odds with your 15 month rule

and that is what is stipulated here - see paragraph 2

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/documents/CodeofPracticeforAccurateBills.pdf

I have never seen or heard of the 15 months rule?

What is clear is that if you haven't had any bill at all(rather than a bill based on an estimated reading) they can only go back 12 months.

Can you please supply details of the relevant regulation to support your statement above.

The 15 month rule is definitely part of the Code of Practice for Accurate Billing or is how E.ON have interpreted it anyway.The booklet in your link has never been updated since billing code was introduced and at the time suppliers were able to back bill for two years usage. The 15 month rule was introduced on 01/07/07 when it changed to only 12 months back billing. I can't really give you anymore to go on sorry.

I don't think it's something that's very well known even by people who work in the industry. It's part of my job to deal with accounts that fall under the billing code which is why I know about it.

Cardew

stewie_griffin wrote: »

The 15 month rule is definitely part of the Code of Practice for Accurate Billing or is how E.ON have interpreted it anyway.The booklet in your link has never been updated since billing code was introduced and at the time suppliers were able to back bill for two years usage. The 15 month rule was introduced on 01/07/07 when it changed to only 12 months back billing. I can't really give you anymore to go on sorry.

I don't think it's something that's very well known even by people who work in the industry. It's part of my job to deal with accounts that fall under the billing code which is why I know about it.

Thanks

That booklet does give detail of the 12 month back billing from July 2007.

However I have read the detail in this publication(is there a later version?):

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/documents/BillingCodeFAQs15July07.pdf

This I assume is the relevant detail:

For customers on credit payment arrangements, suppliers will not be at fault where they
can demonstrate that they have taken all of the following four actions:
a) Attempted to read the meter at the customer’s premises within the last 15
months
b) Provided opportunities for the customer to submit their own meter reading at
any time on any day
c) Ensured that it was clear on the bill that energy consumption had been
estimated
d) Used a system to ensure estimated bills relate to foreseeable actual
consumption (that is, the estimate was based on previous history, where
available, or on average energy consumption for a similar type of property)

I can't speak for how E-ON interpret the code of practice, but even if the company are at fault I cannot see where the code states that they can then only charge back 12 months.

Obviously in the 'no bill at all' situation, the 12 month rule is quite clear.

Terrylw1

I think the points to remember are.

The ERA code is one that Suppliers have agreed privately with the backing of the industry(notice not all Suppliers have signed onto it), it is not an enforced licence obligation they have to abide by. So, it's good but they can back out. An example would be Npower who now right off PP recalibration issues over £75 which has come from a private arrangement in a similiar fashion to this one. However, they can change that.

The licence split into codes, still use the MBR (Must Be Read) set to the 2 years. Thats legally enforceable and some agents have been stung in court for not complying with it.

In terms of the 12 month rule. Ofgem have a standard minimum, however Suppliers can work with ERA to improve and introduce a code such as this one in the interests of goodwill.

Something I have mentioned on quite a few posts is 1 of the big 6 I worked for at the time operated a "write off energy over 12 months, whether billed or not" policy which was better than Ofgems. These are often termed Late Billed Policies.

Utilities can write off as much as they want, they just have to adhere to the minimum. I used to backbill the customers a year only on complaints and write off anything prior to that whether they had ver received a bill or not and it was fully supported at the time by the utility.

It would be nice if ERA could get that on their site though so people on here could use it against Suppliers because they tell their staff not to adhere to standards unless the customer ask sometimes.

Also, be careful assessing who is bound by a code. The big 6 fund Energywatch & ERA but Suppliers are recognised by supply entity e.g. BGAS for British GaS, hence subsidury suppliers are not always bound by the same codes.

The industy had that problem as well in the distribution market when it opened up for competition.

kaya

My friend recently got an electric bill from e-on
he lived in a two bed detached cottage for two years and paid £100pm to eon
he moved out and then got a bill for £21,000!
unbelievale that they are trying to enforce it also