Energy bills after 17 years

julieg2004 · 10 May 2019 at 7:35PM

So the story goes a little something like this.

I purchased a house back in August 2002 (New Build/ Off Plan) and for the love of money could not find who was supplying my property with Gas/Electricity. I called all the major companies at the time who informed me that they had no record of my meter numbers and to wait for correspondence to arrive from the supplier, to which I did, 16 years later a bill arrived.

Gas Scottish Power

So I received a bill for the Gas from Scottish Power for the sum of £14000, “crazy I know”. After some calling and speaking to several people, we got the bill down to £5200 with no explanation as how this can happen. Anyway with some questions asked regarding the supply we still don’t know why Scottish Power haven’t sent a bill in all this time .

Electricity EDF

So today I received a bill for £10000 from EDF for the Electricity under a business account “extremely confused 🤷!♂️” so I made contact to find out where I stand. Anyway the same outcome has arisen and I have apply to have the account placed as a residential account before they can discuss things further. I did however ask some questions as to why a bill wasn’t sent for all this time and again the advisor was unable to answer and was really helpful but not helpful if you know what I mean.

Ombudsman

Yes we have contacted the Ombudsman a while back when the Scottish Power bills started arriving and the outcome was as follows.

Back in 2002 when the property was built, both Gas & Electricity meters where registered to an incorrect plot number, my plot number being 465 and the registered plot number being 46. The Ombudsman was useless to be honest and baffled me with technical jargon to which I didn’t understand , when asked in layman’s term a scripted reply was sent, again unhelpful to say the least.

Anyway without adding to this fiasco, I’m after some advise and help regarding the above as I simply don’t know who to turn to for help.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and my fingers are crossed for a reply for a technical wizard in utility’s.

Many thank Andy.

poppellerant · 10 May 2019 at 7:58PM

To be honest, I don't really have any advice for you, but don't worry somebody will answer shortly.

I only posted to check that you've been keeping payments aside in anticipation of receiving a bill. From 2002, £50/pcm doesn't sound unreasonable, giving you about £10,000 to pay the bills with.

The way I see it, you've made reasonable efforts to contact suppliers, therefore can't see why you wouldn't fall under the 12 month backbilling rights.

You can read more about backbilling here:- Energy backbilling: Your rights - Ofgem

julieg2004 · 10 May 2019 at 8:33PM

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

As I said, the EDF bill came through the post today and the Scottish Power fiasco has been going on near 18 months. I’ve not paid anything yet to either company due to the fact the bill was produced using a “deemed” account and I have requested that the total bill be recalculated using the standard tariff as I find unfair to calculate the bill under a deemed status when I was unaware they were the supplier.

dogshome · 11 May 2019 at 8:32AM

17 Years? - Wow !

The BIG question is that can the Back-billing Agreement be applied to both suppliers, or just one or the other, if at all
The Back-billing agreement comes into play when a supplier fails to send out bills for a year or more, in these circumstances the supplier can only bill energy used in the previous 12 months, and that 12 months is calculated back from the date they did produce a bill

You say that you contacted the main suppliers when moving in and had the response " Wait for correspondence"

Ideally for back-billing to apply, the customer should be able to show that they had contacted the supplier to register, but obviously after 17 years you are unlikely to have kept a record.of those phone calls
BUT
Whilst the build is in progress, it is the developer who is responsible for energy bills on every dwelling, and it is quite common that when a house is sold, the developer quickly advises the supplier/s that No x has a new owner who is now responsible for the bills
If the first bills you received were addressed to you by name with a Start Meter Reading , you have a good case for Back-billing to apply

Statute of Limitations
No matter what the position is on Back-billing, NO supplier can issue a bill for goods or services supplied 6 years earlier if that is the first contact.

Thomas_Edison · 11 May 2019 at 1:33PM

You can definitely argue thematic they can't bill you back more than a year as it's there mistake.

Also you don't want to be charged on their standard tariff that's the worst possible deal, you should argue that you should be charged on one of the better fixed rate deals they had available for that period

julieg2004 · 11 May 2019 at 4:43PM

Hi all,

Thank you for your reply’s.

Both bills where addressed to the Owner Occupier as they had no details based on the homeowners. Scottish Power have now applied the account to myself and we are currently waiting for them to respond to my request of the “Deemed” account figure being recalculated.

EDF have placed the bill as a “Business” and not as a residential address so I have to apply to have this changed before I can address this one and move forward.

julieg2004 · 11 May 2019 at 4:47PM

May I also add that both meter readings from the suppliers where estimated and not actual readings from my meters. Both meters have been available for them to read throughout the this time but it appears they have never even been looked at by either supplier.

Cardew · 12 May 2019 at 9:21PM

For any case to be considered for the back-billing provision to apply the guidance states:

The Back-Billing Principle does NOT apply to you and your bill if:
You have been using the gas or electricity supply but have made no attempt to contact the supplier to arrange payment. This includes moving into a property and making no attempt to let a supplier know you are the new tenant or homeowner

Your case would be dependant on if it was reasonable for you to make phonecalls - not write or email? and then sit back for 17 years and do nothing.

Prior to May 2018 the guidance for backbilling was contained in Energy UK 'Code of practice for accurate bills'. This guidance was more stringent about customers in new properties taking proactive steps to be billed.

If the Ombudsman has ruled that 12 month backbilling does not apply, I suspect that you will have little chance taking legal action. It will be down to a matter of liability under 6 years statute; which presumably is why the £14,000 bill has been reduced to £5,200.

The tone of your post makes you sound a victim. Yet you will have escaped payment for 11 years consumption of gas and electricity.

matelodave · 13 May 2019 at 8:42AM

working on the assumption that you should have been paying for your energy for the best part of 17 years an that £50 permonth would have been a reasonable average amount then you should really have around £600x17 = around £10k saved up for the eventuality that you'd get a bill.

So getting away with anything significantly less that than that has got to be a bit of a bonus.

You suggest that this is a fiasco but I would venture that a lot of it is of your own making as you've had 17 years to sort it out and you should have been trying to do it 17 years ago

julieg2004 · 13 May 2019 at 8:48PM

Hi,

Thank you for your reply,

With all due respect the meters where unobtainable on the national data base for sometime and I believe this was due to either none registration or lost records. Believe me I have tried and tried for several years to find both suppliers to no avail. It was only a explanation from SP who shed some light on the situation regarding the none contact from the suppliers. We are still in the dark as to what company supplied the property from 02 to 05 and only have records from EDF (Electric) from 05 when they took over, but yet no contact was made from said company to inform us of the supply change. With regards to SP, they state they have supplied the property since 2001 “before the property was built” but yet when the serial numbers where searched on the data base pre 2018, no company was connected to the supply. We still don’t have an explanation from SP and we currently trying to get the debt re-calculated using a suitable tariff.

EDF have only made contact this week and have our property down as a “business “ and not “residential “ address. We are in the process of getting this rectified and will challenge them to re-calculate using a suitable tariff.

May I also add the phrase “fiasco” was in relation to the hole situation surrounding the not knowing who the supplier was and as a result not knowing who to pay. I’m not here to dodge the debt, more to gain expertise on dealing with these organisations so I’m not walked all over so to speak.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my posts and I’m so grateful for your advise.

Pirnmill · 15 May 2019 at 6:37PM

If you were in touch with them in 2002 and they made a cobblers of it then that is their problem. They are chancing their arm sending out these giant bills.

As a customer you fulfilled your part of the bargain....getting in contact trying to set up billing, etc.

As suppliers they have failed. They are obligated to bill you correctly and in a reasonable timeframe. It is absolutely not your obligation to spend years on the phone trying to persuade them to bill you.

You say you've contacted the Ombudsman, but did you actually start a case with them?

If what you say is true there is not a chance they would rule in favour of the suppliers.

Energy bills after 17 years

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