Paul Glover:

I just want to know if we should be covered by the 12 month back billing policy.

Google for the Code of Practice on Accurate Billing and the associated FAQ and go through it with a fine toothcomb.

On the face of it I would say so but I'd like to refresh my memory before giving considered advice. I don't have time tonight unfortunately.

What I would advise tactically is just to ask, once and once only. If you are turned down initiate a complaint in accordance with the NPower code of practice on complaints. That sets the ball rolling and gives a 12 week timetable for NPower to reconsider. Then you take the action described in the complaints procedure.

later edit:

in my opinion NPower has failed parapgraphs (e) and/or (f) of the Code of Practice FAQ

Im having a problem with Npower at the moment and I am looking for some advice regarding back billing.

In August 2008 we left a property, told Npower and paid the final bill. Now (just over a year later) they have told us that the readings that both us and they took were the wrong way round (day and night tariffs swapped) and now they tell us that we need to pay more. As they took the initial readings and several more during our stay in the property I am convinced that this is their fault. We have not heard from Npower since leaving this property and have recieved no invoices since our final bill.

I just want to know if we should be covered by the 12 month back billing policy. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Paul Glover

It depends really, have you provided any reads over the 2.5 year period? Because if you haven't then they can back bill to cover the period to the start meter reading. They will of course include any payments you have made in that period to count towards the amended bill, assuming you've paid your bills.

If you've provided meter readings and they've subsequently ignored them more than once then you can be liable only for the 12 months.

They will rebill on the tariff(s) you have been on over the period and average the usage out (as it all has been estimated previously so they will assume a fairly constant amount of usage). meaning they will work it out at the prices that were at the time for a given amount of usage.

Also, annual billing is very strange for domestic, have you asked them about this?

Regards

pford75:

Unusual to only have annual billing (without quarterly statements which include at least an estimated reading). Not sure what is going on in your case.

pford75:

Well, we had annual bills (not quarterly) which have for the past 2.5 years been based on estimates. It's now clear that these were underestimates.

Are you domestic or business? The Code doesn't apply to business (AFAIK).

Well, we had annual bills (not quarterly) which have for the past 2.5 years been based on estimates. It's now clear that these were underestimates.

I'm just trying to understand

1. What I am liable to pay (believe it to be last 12 months only)

2. What reading the electricity co uses for the start of the 12 month period (since this doesn't correspond with either an estimated or actual reading) - They are planning to work out some form of average annual usage and extrapolate backwards from the current reading to what it would have been 12months ago

3. What tariff they use since the price of electricity changed significantly during the year....are the estimated units deemed to be spread evenly across the year, charged at year end price or some other basis

pford75:

In that case there would need to be an agreed estimate for the 12 months prior reading.

Are you saying that is actually happenning or are you just hoping?

To return to the thread argument, if there had been quarterly estimated bills for 2.5 years which you accepted, IMHO the 12 month backdating rule doesn't apply.

What happens if suppliers don't read a meter for 2.5 years (this has happened with us) and then subsequently want to adjust the bill to only invoice for the past 12 months usage?

To clarify further,

Electricity act 1989: SLC 17(1)&(2): supplier must use reasonable endeavours to ensurethat once every 2 year period it inspects (domestic) meters (reading, inspection)

Whereas

Gas Act 1986 SLC 17(1)&(2): supplier must use reasonable endeavours to inspect (I&C/domestic) meters at intervals of not more than 2 years (reading, inspection, battery change)

To my interpreation, suppliers have a legal obligation to read gas meters every 2 years, whereas electricity they must try at the minimum to get readings every two years.

Please correct me if i'm wrong.

You are right, i did quote the FAQ, only of ease of reading. You are also correct in saying that it is a legal requirement to have an actual meter reading on the GAS at the minimum of every two years (as far as i remember this is not the case with the electricity, as the clause is in the license of supply of gas), in between this the supplier estimates when required. If no reading is gained for the 2 year period, the last resort is a warrant can be obtained to take the reading, though this is rare.

You mention that there is some failure that the meter has been missed for the 2 year period, in my experience this would be be due to a change of supplier. The information exchanged at the change of supply to my memory doesn't state the last actual meter reading date, so that maybe the case why some people have been missed out for that. That i can check sometime later.

You are also correct in stating that the 12 month back billing issue is not as black and white as I suggest, and it is open for the suppliers interpretation of the language. However, in my post i tried to summarise as much as possible to show how to know when you maybe entitled to protection from the back billing by suppliers.

insanegloss:

Some comments on the back billing section. Generally agree with the sentiments expressed - it's not a get out of paying charter - but I don't understand/totally agree with your second paragraph.

You have quoted the FAQ, not the Code. The FAQ has a lot of detail not in the Code. Actually it's an "accurate billing" code not just a "no billing code". One of the Code (and legal) requirements, as I read it, is for the supplier to obtain an actual meter reading at least once every two years as well as to estimate based on previous consumption, or if that is not known, typical consumption. Failing that, and only because of difficulty in gaining entry, to take proactive measures either to obtain entry or alternatively perhaps to solicit a customer reading, though I'm not sure that is an alternative to the legal requirement to obtain an actual reading.

There has been some press coverage that some suppliers have been failing the two year meter reading legal requirement and huge evidence in this forum of inaccurate estimating and customer adviser incompetence when customers respond with a genuine billing issue.

I don't think the 12 month back billing issue is (legally) as black and white as you suggest.

I, until recently worked in this industry for a number of and wish to impart my experience for the help of people who need help to what sometimes seem to be very difficult problems encountered with energy billing.

As has been said before, when talking to the company it is in your best interests to keep calm and be resonable to the agent your speaking to as they are human and do genuinely want to help. It can also be the case that the agent is unsure of your problem in some cases as of what is said so try to keep the explanation consice because in reality the problem is usually fairly simple to resolve.

High Bill?

This is a wide ranging topic so i'll try to keep it brief. You need to ask a few questions to yourself first before disputing the bill, are the meter readings correct that are stated on the bill? If yes, then are the previous meter readings estimated, if they are the chances are is that the previous bill was underestimated and you are catching up the usage you had used. Unfortunately this is not the fault of the supplier, as you could of provided a reading anytime for them to rebill you (which they are more than happy to do). If the meter readings are incorrect, take a meter read and give this to the supplier, it is also worth noting the meter serial number which is found on the face of the meter (Gas usually starts G4- or a year of manufacture or just a string of numbers, Elec usually starts with a letter then 2 numbers and a letter again) check all these details against your bill. If any are incorrect then inform the supplier.

Gas usage changes dramatically from summer to winter so don't be surprised when your winter bill is many multiples of your summer bill. Electric usage is fairly constant (but does change) through the year unless you have storage heaters and are on Economy 7.

As a rule, your meter is not faulty at all. I have seen many people try and believe it is their meter registering incorrectly and it isn't. Honestly. It also costs you to have it tested and if it comes back that it is regestering correctly, you will have to pay for the test from your own pocket, as the jobs are not done by the suppliers and rely on a independent company to test. Only have the accuracy test if the usage (KwH,not the bill amount) are significantly different from similar periods of the year in previous years. If this is the case ask your self has anything changed from last year? Perhaps a redundancy, a new baby, an extension of the house, new appliances (Plasma TV's!) etc do have a large effect on the usage.

Transfer of supplier problems

Are you getting billed from two companies for the same period of time? You need to check the MPAN (Electricity) or MPRN (Gas) (Supply No's to you and me) to make sure they are the same. These are found on your bills, if they are different, chances are that the new supplier made a mistake in selecting the supply number to take over (this is an all to often occurance, due to addresses showing on the inter-shipper databases being either very similar or very vague). Give them your Meter Serial Number and they can match the supply number to this to get the correct supply number and they will correct this.

No Bills Received?

Have you been trying to get a bill but no supplier can tell you who supplies? This is quite common with new build (Up to around 5-6 years old) properties. These supplies are typically not administered by Transco (the most common) which makes them difficult for any supplier to find. The supplies are administered by what is known in the industry as an IGT (Independent Gas Transporter) and you need to give the Meter Serial Number (typically starting with a year e.g. 2007 then a six digit number) give this to the supplier (ask for the escalations department, as they have access to the IGT databases whereas your front-line agent may not).

Estimated Bills

Suppliers will estimate bills when no valid meter read was recieved. If you know your meter has been read, possibly many times and your supplier continues to estimate, this suggests they are recieving the meter read but is not valid. This can happen for many reasons but the most common are is that a meter exchange has occured but the supplier wasn't informed (possibly for an emergency job). Check the Meter Serial Number on your bill and see if it matches with the on your meter, if it doesn't, write the on the meter down carefully. There also should be a sticker or tag on or around the meter. This usually gives the exchange details, copy down all the details on there, there should be the date of exchange, Off Index (final reading of the old meter), New Index (the reading the new meter started on). These are essential details for accurate billing.

Sometimes if you've moved in or transferred supplier and keep receiving estimated bills this could be because the reading you started on is higher than the one on your meter currently and this will stop accurate bills going out. Inform the supplier of this and they can change it for you so accurate billing can take place.

Estimated bills are your responsiblity to give correct meter readings to the supplier as noted at the top of the page under High Bills. The supplier has only to read gas meters legally every 2 years, everything thing else the onus is on the customer to make sure the readings are correct i'm afraid. If they are estimated due to no access, perhaps because you work this again is not their fault i'm afraid and is not a valid reason for complaint as you can provide readings at any time of day, online, on the automated phone systems or a simple phone call to customer services.

Moving Home?

It is of your utmost prorities to inform the supplier of your moving in or out of a property. Give and RETAIN the accurate readings you took during your move (i recommend a Hi-Res photo of your meters on the day of the move, clearly showing the date and read). Failure to inform them of a move and not receive a bill for a long time and then get a large one in one go for the time you've lived there means that you are not entitled for protection under the back-billing over 12 months rule (I'll get to that in a bit) as it is your fault that you didn't provide the details and are liable for the entire energy usage at that property during you living there.

Have received a new final bill which you already paid? This can be caused by the new tenant disputing the meter read of them moving in which can cause a new final bill to be sent for your account. In this instance if you have your photo's email them to customer services along with a consice explanation, do let them know via phone as well to make sure. Unfortunately, instance your dispute isn't really with the supplier if you have a problem, it is with the meter read that the new tenant provided. Your supplier should help and rectify the problem by putting the meter read back to how it was. If this happens again however, it becomes a 3rd party dispute between you and the previous tenant. Please contact them, agree the reading (this is assuming you haven't taken photo's) then inform the supplier of the agreed reading.

Back Billing

Ah, one of the most quoted things on these type of forum! I'll give you the gist of it. You are protected by the ERA code of billing if: You have received a bill for more than one year when you have never received one before. To clarify, this means that you have taken resonable steps to inform the supplier that you have moved in, in that period of time. Failure to do this means that it is your fault and you are liable for the energy used at the property during the time you lived there. If you have taken resonable steps and have recieved a bill for more than 12 months usage but have not received one before then they can only charge you for 12 months usage, nothing more.

If you have been receiving bills before and have received an amended bill that goes over 12 months you are not entitled to the back billing rule unless you have had twisted meter reads (Economy 7) and the supplier has recieved the correct details from the industry but had it incorrect on their billing system.

To summarise that last paragraph, unless the supplier has been given the correct information by the customer or industry and has continued to bill incorrectly for more than 12 months, then the customer has to pay the bill in full.

The summary in full is found http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/documents/BillingCodeFAQs15Oct08.pdf.

That is all for the moment, there are many more scenarios but they are the common ones which are not always explained (i find) on internet forums.

If you wish for anymore information, don't hesitate to ask.

Regards.