‘It’s astonishing’: power invoice blunders add to agony for patrons

The debt collectors arrived when Laura Kennedy* was out. They left a letter to say they might be again to say funds owed to Scottish Energy.

Kennedy has by no means been a buyer of Scottish Energy and the payments weren’t in her title, however that hadn’t stopped the calls for and threats pouring via her letterbox for 18 months. She is so terrified that bailiffs will enter her house and seize her items that she is now shifting out.

Utilities clients are already fighting hovering payments after the regulator, Ofgem, raised the power value cap by 54% in April. And now many are paying an extra value for technical and bureaucratic errors by suppliers. Defective sensible meters, incorrect billing and unpaid credit score are leaving some households hundreds of kilos out of pocket.

One reader who contacted the Observer was confronted by a £1,300 invoice after his sensible meter stopped relaying readings final October. His provider back-billed him for his power consumption over the winter utilizing new, inflated tariffs launched in April.

Ofgem just lately ordered 5 suppliers to take pressing motion after a assessment discovered that misapplied direct debits had been overcharging some clients and undercharging others, leaving them with giant deficits. It additionally mentioned it was involved that half one million households had seen their direct debits double, and was requiring corporations assessment their calculations.

Complaints web site Resolver experiences an increase in billing errors and in failure of buyer companies to deal with issues. Spokesperson Martyn James mentioned: “I’m deeply involved concerning the ranges of customer support within the power trade since the price of residing disaster started, with folks reporting ridiculous payments which might be clearly errors, corporations too fast to name within the debt collectors, and large inconsistency in serving to folks with monetary difficulties. A unified strategy to complaints, and extra workers to reply the telephones, is urgently wanted.”

Issues have been compounded by the demise of many smaller suppliers, in accordance with the power ombudsman, which mentioned that the variety of disputes had risen this yr as households felt the squeeze.

Thirty-one corporations have ceased buying and selling for the reason that begin of 2021 after hovering wholesale fuel costs made them unsustainable. In some instances, the suppliers who took on their clients have inherited incomplete or misguided account information, which have led to baffling payments.

Scottish Energy advised the Observer that Kennedy’s ordeal started due to misguided meter information it inherited from Tonik Power, which went bust in 2020. “We had been solely ever supplied with one property tackle, excluding any flat quantity, in addition to a corresponding meter quantity,” it mentioned. “This resulted in the identical meter unknowingly being registered twice on the nationwide database – one equipped by Tonik/Scottish Energy and one equipped by E.ON.” Scottish Energy stopped the motion and corrected the meter particulars.

Helen Maguire had been advised her account was greater than £3,000 in credit score by her provider, Utility Level. The corporate ceased buying and selling earlier than it may very well be refunded, and her account was transferred to EDF. However as a substitute of the cheque she was anticipating, she was despatched a invoice for £900 and advised her annual spend on power was forecast to be £9,000.

Solely when the Observer intervened was it found that Utility Level had been given an inflated closing meter studying by an earlier provider after which based mostly its payments on estimated readings of successively diminishing quantities. Maguire was, actually, owed £635, not the £3,000 quoted on her closing Utility Level invoice. EDF, which inherited Utility Level clients, claims it doesn’t have entry to Utility Level information and struggled to substantiate Maguire’s account standing. It has since settled the account.

Prospects whose complaints stay unresolved after eight weeks or who obtain a letter of impasse from their provider can take their case to the power ombudsman. Nevertheless, a choice within the buyer’s favour doesn’t essentially carry closure.

They solely paid me what they owed on 1 July – the day my mom died

Samantha Rennie has spent two years attempting to reclaim the £2,000 credit score accrued on her electrical energy account and to scale back her direct debit funds. Earlier this yr the ombudsman found that SSE had under-billed her for her daytime consumption and did not invoice her in any respect at night time after taking up her account in 2020, regardless of meter readings submitted by Rennie. It ordered SSE to concern right payments and recalculate any credit score owed.

5 months on, Rennie mentioned she was nonetheless ready. “I’ve telephoned and emailed the ombudsman each two weeks or so, and am advised repeatedly that SSE might be/has been requested to motion their choice, and nonetheless nothing occurs,” she mentioned. “I’ve learn that holding on to customers’ credit score is a typical ploy by power corporations. So what can we do about it as soon as all avenues of grievance are exhausted?”

SSE solely complied with the choice after the Observer received concerned. It mentioned {that a} “mismatch of readings” had delayed the processing of her credit score, and {that a} customer support “shortfall” meant it wasn’t adopted up. A “technical concern” then prevented it from assembly the ombudsman requirement to right the billing. A spokesperson mentioned: “We’re very sorry for the time taken to resolve this case.”

Rennie mentioned that with out media involvement, she believed she would nonetheless be ready. “It’s astonishing that corporations can deal with folks in such a feckless method,” she mentioned. “After I pleaded with them to pay me in December so I may afford to warmth my home when my sick mom visited for Christmas, they ignored me. In a merciless irony, they solely paid me what they owed on 1 July – the day my mom died.”

*Identify has been modified

The way to complain a few invoice

Contact your provider by cellphone or webchat and clarify the issue and the way you need it resolved. Comply with this up with an e-mail or letter together with your account quantity so you’ve a file. Residents Recommendation supplies a template letter for steerage. Weak clients can search help from its Further Assist unit, and there’s a helpline for these struggling to pay their payments.

If the corporate fails to resolve the issue inside eight weeks or in case you attain impasse, you may take your case to the power ombudsman. It’s important to do that inside 12 months of receiving a letter of impasse from the provider. Ombudsman choices are binding on corporations, and clients have two months during which to simply accept their treatment. In case you are nonetheless dissatisfied, you may take your case to the small claims court docket.

The Precedence Providers Register provides free help to weak clients. Contact your power agency to register.

Suppliers can’t retrospectively cost for greater than 12 months of power if that they had not beforehand despatched a invoice or a press release. This contains recovering shortfalls if direct debits had been set too low. Keep away from cancelling direct debit funds whereas an account is in dispute as this might have an effect on your credit standing.