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Hi and many thanks for this forum.
I am currently involved in a dispute with my energy provider as they are asking for payment for energy use from 2013. Initially they made an error many years ago where they billed me for energy use for the wrong address. Once they had acknowledged this they then failed to take over the gas supply and I was billed by them and my previous supplier at the same time. They then insisted that I should pay them and only when I went to the energy ombudsman did they admit their mistake. To complicate matters they refused to return the payment that was taken by direct debit for gas in full and the amount that was not returned (approximately between £50 and £100) was this amount never figured into their calculations on any invoice that I have received since. It is like it has vanished into thin air.
Initially I gave them four months to correct this and stated that I would charge interest on the amont. and when they did not I simply stopped paying by direct debit as the bills were inaccurate.
This is even morecomplicated as the gas bill was not valid because I was in reality still with another supplier, who I paid on time and we have no further disputes with. The electricity was billed incorrectly as I was supposed to be on a dual fuel tariff but wasn't.
Eventually all of this went to the ombudsman a few years later and they agreed to bill me using the most favourable tariff for all of this plus compensation of £70. I thought this was fair but when the energy company sent me the computer generated invoices they stated that I could have saved more had I used another tariff. I did not think the agreement had been honoured.
So I got in touch with the energy company and the ombudsman and said that I want to be billed using the cheapest tariff as that is the most favourable one for me. Their response was that since I had stopped paying the incorrect direct debit means that I was not entitled to the direct debit tariff. This I disputed as then companies could always make errors and then charge consumers a tariff chosen by them, rather than agreed upon. I pointed out to the energy ombudsman that the billing is incorrect and they stated that it is insignificant. I found out when I asked them that the way the energy ombudsman works is that the companies pay them to resolve these disputes, which was a surprise to me as I thought that they were independently funded by the government.
Years passed and I did not receive any more correspondence until late last year which eventually lead to a letter from the energy supplier stating that they had visited the property and no one was home and I will now be billed a fee for that plus a prepaid meter will be installed. Unfortunately for them I was home when the letter was delivered and there was never a knock on the door. I wrote to the representatives of the energy company that this was not the case and that I refuse to pay the fee and do not want a prepaid meter. I instead stated that the back billing rule should be put into place and proceeded to contact the energy ombudsman again in regards to what had happened. The company stopped all the proceedings to put in a prepaid meter and the ombudsman answered again that the energy company was not at fault and that the billing was correct. I do not think that this is correct and I sent the energy ombudsman the back billing rules explaining my position. Iwas sent a reply that their decision is not legally binding to either party. I note that they energy ombudsman asked for my current meter readings and I sent it to them, but did not give any permission for them to share the readings with my energy supplier.
In the meantime I received a very generic bill for energy use simply stating the full amount with out any details from the energy supplier. It is for almost £5000. No calculations were provided as to how they came up with the sum.
The energy company are now writing to me directly and asking for the meter readings to calculate the bill and then they can refer the account for back billing. There is no promise that back billing will be applied. I wrote back to them stating that I propose as a settlement that the back billing rule be applied to my case and that this can be done without the meter readings by coming to an agreement in principle before the readings are submitted. They seem to want the meter readings with no strings attached first. They have not come to visit the property to read the meters ever.
I would think that the back billing rules should be applied in this case or am I wrong to think so? I am not sure why they simply haven't sent someone to read the meters. I think that the original agreement has never been honoured but am not sure what rights the energy company has in this situation and what rights I have.
Many thanks for any advice.
I am currently involved in a dispute with my energy provider as they are asking for payment for energy use from 2013. Initially they made an error many years ago where they billed me for energy use for the wrong address. Once they had acknowledged this they then failed to take over the gas supply and I was billed by them and my previous supplier at the same time. They then insisted that I should pay them and only when I went to the energy ombudsman did they admit their mistake. To complicate matters they refused to return the payment that was taken by direct debit for gas in full and the amount that was not returned (approximately between £50 and £100) was this amount never figured into their calculations on any invoice that I have received since. It is like it has vanished into thin air.
Initially I gave them four months to correct this and stated that I would charge interest on the amont. and when they did not I simply stopped paying by direct debit as the bills were inaccurate.
This is even morecomplicated as the gas bill was not valid because I was in reality still with another supplier, who I paid on time and we have no further disputes with. The electricity was billed incorrectly as I was supposed to be on a dual fuel tariff but wasn't.
Eventually all of this went to the ombudsman a few years later and they agreed to bill me using the most favourable tariff for all of this plus compensation of £70. I thought this was fair but when the energy company sent me the computer generated invoices they stated that I could have saved more had I used another tariff. I did not think the agreement had been honoured.
So I got in touch with the energy company and the ombudsman and said that I want to be billed using the cheapest tariff as that is the most favourable one for me. Their response was that since I had stopped paying the incorrect direct debit means that I was not entitled to the direct debit tariff. This I disputed as then companies could always make errors and then charge consumers a tariff chosen by them, rather than agreed upon. I pointed out to the energy ombudsman that the billing is incorrect and they stated that it is insignificant. I found out when I asked them that the way the energy ombudsman works is that the companies pay them to resolve these disputes, which was a surprise to me as I thought that they were independently funded by the government.
Years passed and I did not receive any more correspondence until late last year which eventually lead to a letter from the energy supplier stating that they had visited the property and no one was home and I will now be billed a fee for that plus a prepaid meter will be installed. Unfortunately for them I was home when the letter was delivered and there was never a knock on the door. I wrote to the representatives of the energy company that this was not the case and that I refuse to pay the fee and do not want a prepaid meter. I instead stated that the back billing rule should be put into place and proceeded to contact the energy ombudsman again in regards to what had happened. The company stopped all the proceedings to put in a prepaid meter and the ombudsman answered again that the energy company was not at fault and that the billing was correct. I do not think that this is correct and I sent the energy ombudsman the back billing rules explaining my position. Iwas sent a reply that their decision is not legally binding to either party. I note that they energy ombudsman asked for my current meter readings and I sent it to them, but did not give any permission for them to share the readings with my energy supplier.
In the meantime I received a very generic bill for energy use simply stating the full amount with out any details from the energy supplier. It is for almost £5000. No calculations were provided as to how they came up with the sum.
The energy company are now writing to me directly and asking for the meter readings to calculate the bill and then they can refer the account for back billing. There is no promise that back billing will be applied. I wrote back to them stating that I propose as a settlement that the back billing rule be applied to my case and that this can be done without the meter readings by coming to an agreement in principle before the readings are submitted. They seem to want the meter readings with no strings attached first. They have not come to visit the property to read the meters ever.
I would think that the back billing rules should be applied in this case or am I wrong to think so? I am not sure why they simply haven't sent someone to read the meters. I think that the original agreement has never been honoured but am not sure what rights the energy company has in this situation and what rights I have.
Many thanks for any advice.
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