The UK is currently facing a cost of living crisis after the price of energy bills soared last month.
The cost of energy bills skyrocketed by 54% in April when Ofgem lifted the price cap. The increase has meant the typical bill has surged from £1,277 to £1,925 a year.
Mirror Online's consumer rights expert warned customers to be vigilant of errors with their energy bill. Martyn James said there’s been an explosion of complaints about billing errors as people receive demands for payments that clearly can’t be right.
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Before the cost-of-living crisis hit, the energy regulator announced that more than 1 million people had been overcharged over the past few years due to problems from switching suppliers. Many consumers have been forced to switch suppliers recently after 27 energy firms went bust.
Energy firms often automate the process of calculating bills – and this can lead to inaccuracies with your bill. Martyn added that there are there three main reasons for the big growth in billing disputes. He said: "The pandemic meant that many bills were estimated as meter readers and engineers were largely grounded by lockdown.
"Millions of people were switched to new providers, carrying over all the old problems with their bills to a new energy firm, making it harder to figure out what’s gone on. The increase in energy bills by 54% has meant it’s much, much harder for people to know if their bill is wrong or just increasing in line with all the warnings of doom we’ve all been hearing."
Marytn urged energy customers to check their bill and said they could have a complaint if their bill has gone up by more than 54%. He said: "Don’t try to become an energy expert overnight! Despite my two decades as a consumer champion the mysteries of energy bills still confound me from time to time. So go with your gut.
"Your energy bill should not have gone up more than 54% - so if the following things have happened, you could make a complaint. Did your bill go up dramatically before the price cap came in to effect in April?
"It’s likely that your fixed rate deal came to an end. Many people have reported that they were then hit with a huge increase in their bill before the maximum price hike kicked in. This practice has been sharply criticised by many consumer champions, politicians and commentators."
Martyn shared the following advice for what energy customers can do if they think their bill is too high:
First things first, take a proper meter reading from both gas and energy meters (if you have dual fuel). Sense check the readings with your bill.
If you’ve got an old analogue meter (with dials like clock faces that go in different directions) it’s easy to make a mistake so don’t rush.
If your smart meter display is playing up or not transmitting, then report that too. Make sure you photograph the meters so you have another record of the reading. In fact, why not take a picture and email it to yourself under the subject ‘meter reading and ‘date’ so you can find it if there’s a dispute.
If you think your meter is faulty, your energy provider may ask you to take daily meter readings for seven days to see if there’s an obvious problem. But ultimately, if the readings make no sense, it’s for the energy firm to sort out the problem. This can involve sending out engineers to assess the meter’s performance or even a forensic analysis of your bills.
If your bill has increased dramatically because the business was reliant on estimated readings, make a formal complaint. The firm should not be ‘back billing’ you for longer than 12 months from the date on the bill.
Back billing is where a bill is recalculated (or sent for the first time) over a year before the current bill.
Unless you’ve been deliberately dodging the meter reader when they visited, then the business shouldn’t be charging you for the first time for errors with energy consumption that are over 12 months old. Here’s what the regulator says:
If you’ve moved to a new supplier, don’t panic. Your new energy provider should have the information they need to look in to errors or mistakes with the firm that isn’t in business, though they may have a backlog. Speed things up by photographing old bills and attaching them to your complaint, along with any other supporting documents.
How do I make a complaint?
Consumer complaint resolution service, Resolver, can help you make a complaint for free about anything energy related, from incorrect billing to switching errors. Get started here. There is a free Energy Ombudsman too if you still aren’t happy. Resolver will automatically refer you to them if your complaint isn’t sorted out.
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