Energy company had issue collecting Direct debit now demanding payment

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DQ1973
DQ1973 Posts: 5 Forumite
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in LPG, heating oil, solid & other fuels
Hi everyone.

My energy company have just sent me a bill for £500 when my payments are around £80 per month. I've contacted them and they said they had an issue with their system so haven't collected payment since january.

Where do I stand with this? Am I liable for compensation?

Anyone else had a similar issue?

Regards

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  • System
    System Posts: 178,094 Community Admin
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    DQ1973 wrote: »
    Hi everyone.

    My energy company have just sent me a bill for £500 when my payments are around £80 per month. I've contacted them and they said they had an issue with their system so haven't collected payment since january.

    Where do I stand with this? Am I liable for compensation?

    Anyone else had a similar issue?

    Regards

    You should make a complaint in writing for poor customer service and you MAY get a few £s offered in the way of compensation. That said, when I read posts such as yours, a bit of me also wonders why the customer has not contacted the supplier when the first DD failed?
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,037 Forumite
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    DQ1973 wrote: »
    Where do I stand with this? Am I liable for compensation?




    Welcome to the forum.


    1. You owe the money!


    2. You have no entitlement for compensation. As said above you might get £20 or so as a goodwill gesture and/or time to pay. However as you apparently don't check DDs have been paid, presumably the £500 sitting in your account and available.
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,104 Forumite
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    As you have taken your eye off the bank statements have you also taken your eye of the suppliers statements as well?

    Have you also taken your eye off the need to read your meters?

    And NO to compensation - you've lost nothing.
    Never pay on an estimated bill
  • DQ1973
    DQ1973 Posts: 5 Forumite
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    Thanks for the responses, the supplier is purely app based and stated I was paying my monthly DD of £x so I wasn't looking for it in my banks statements. Nowhere in the supplier statement has it said I've missed a payment, just tells me I'm on DD and paying £x per month.

    Anyway, appreciate the responses and good to know where I stand.

    Regards
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,608 Forumite
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    You do really need to check your bank account a bit more often otherwise you dont know who might be dipping into it.

    However, as others have said, if the DD hasn't been taken then the money should be sitting there in your bank account, hopefully gaining a bit of interest as well.

    I'm not sure why you feel you should be getting any compensation, you've had several months of free credit and could have been earning interest on your money whilst it was sitting in your bank.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    Assuming the demand for payment is based on actual energy usage (ie actual meter readings), then you owe the money.



    Why would you not since you've used the gas/leccie/whatever.


    Direct debit payments make payment simpler, but the onus is still always on you to pay for the energy that you use.
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