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My partner left her rented property in Oct 2016. In March 2017 we received a bill for the amount owed, around £7.50 which I paid, was told the account was now closed and thought no further of it. c.£600 was paid in total for the 12 months she was a tenant there. [A letter was never sent saying the account was closed, but I have the phone-call recoreded].
In Nov 2017, a letter was sent saying >£500 is still owed on the account [on top of the £600 already paid] as they have re-calculated the amount of electricity used. The meter readings show over £600 of electricity was used in Aug 2016 [during which we were both away for most of the month], which Co-Op claim could be down to leaving the heating on...
My partner submitted the electric meter reading at the end of August but we think we may have sent the wrong figure [either the wrong flat's meter reading, or just a typo]. A meter reading was done by a "Co-Op rep" at the end of the tenancy, Oct 31st 2016. The meter reading we sent does now show a massive spike in energy use in Aug 2016, however it's a very small flat, which could very unlikely use £500 worth of heating in 4 weeks. We have said to Co-Op that maybe we sent the wrong figure at the end of August and that the "Co-Op Rep" had just added an extra few kWh at the end of the tenancy, as we no longer have any proof [usually photographed the meter] of the readings, and Co-Op can't provide any evidence from their end of the final meter reading.
So.......
1. As Co-Op have previously said the account is closed; can we say 'tough, the customer has already left the shop' before you recalculated?
2. I believe it's impossible for one person living in a small flat to use >£500 worth of energy in one month so there must have been an incorrect reading sent from our end; unless they can prove the final meter reading by their rep - why should we pay?
3. We are already on a final notice and debt-collectors have been in contact but Co-Op refuse to budge. Any suggestions please?
In Nov 2017, a letter was sent saying >£500 is still owed on the account [on top of the £600 already paid] as they have re-calculated the amount of electricity used. The meter readings show over £600 of electricity was used in Aug 2016 [during which we were both away for most of the month], which Co-Op claim could be down to leaving the heating on...
My partner submitted the electric meter reading at the end of August but we think we may have sent the wrong figure [either the wrong flat's meter reading, or just a typo]. A meter reading was done by a "Co-Op rep" at the end of the tenancy, Oct 31st 2016. The meter reading we sent does now show a massive spike in energy use in Aug 2016, however it's a very small flat, which could very unlikely use £500 worth of heating in 4 weeks. We have said to Co-Op that maybe we sent the wrong figure at the end of August and that the "Co-Op Rep" had just added an extra few kWh at the end of the tenancy, as we no longer have any proof [usually photographed the meter] of the readings, and Co-Op can't provide any evidence from their end of the final meter reading.
So.......
1. As Co-Op have previously said the account is closed; can we say 'tough, the customer has already left the shop' before you recalculated?
2. I believe it's impossible for one person living in a small flat to use >£500 worth of energy in one month so there must have been an incorrect reading sent from our end; unless they can prove the final meter reading by their rep - why should we pay?
3. We are already on a final notice and debt-collectors have been in contact but Co-Op refuse to budge. Any suggestions please?
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