Hi Ive just received my edf electricity bill at £3,479.90p for a one bedroom one disabled person bungalow i rang them up they said they had had estimated bills for a few years now, As being in a wheelchair i cant read my meter as right at back of cupboard, i spend a long time at different hospitals because of my condition so normally get home to a stack of bills in which i felt safe assured my bills get paid as am paying by debit my EDF bill is paid £34, it says last quarter (last year) 10.94. last quarter 11.61 This quarter 324.23 I only get disability benefits as i said I'm wheelchair bound, I have no way what so ever of paying this back. i don't know what to do and am sick with worry i always pay my bills have no credit cards and have never been in debt i have applied for the edf grant thing and am still waiting.

My bill reads..

Amount of last bill....£61.92 cancelled charges -£133.45 Payments -£34.00

Charges this period £3.579.43 Total for this period £3,473.90

Hi i have just had same problem I'm disabled wheelchair bound so cant get into electric cupboard if i knew how to read it in the first place so i kept on getting estimated bills i thought it would have gone in there favour and probably got charged a bit extra, i spend because of my condition a lot of time in hospitals i always paid by debit and thought the bills to be right as only me living in a one bedroom bungalow but got a electric bill from EDF this morning for £3,473.90. where it is normally around £104.90. I'm sick with worry as only get disability benefits i can just about survive on what i get there is so there's no way i can afford to pay any more than what i was paying.

I don't know where to turn i rang them thinking it was a mistake Ive also applied for the emergency grant but know i wont be able to afford the repayments.

Leeh123:

OK, first things first. Does EDF know you are disabled? They will have a care register but I do not know if you are on it. If you are they should be managing this issue. If not you need to get on it. Phone and ask how. Explain you are disabled. Don't discuss the bill until you are registered. Its important to make a very careful note of who you spoke with and the time and date.

Do that and report back.

Leeh123:

I replied to your other post. I think Moneysupermarket will probably merge these as they are the same

Mod - Threads now merged.

Hi Jalexa, Thank You so much for responding, sorry took so long to get back to you this has hit me real hard and has made me ill with worry i simply cant see no way out, i rang EDF few mins ago spoke to a lady called Amy she says Ive been on the care register as disabled since 2000. i also explained to her that Ive never stopped people getting access only on three occasions one i couldn't get into my wheelchair quick enough to get to front door and he drove off and second time i had only just got out of hospital. and the third he had turned up at 8:10 am so real inconvenient he said he would come back and never did, Stupid me really thought they wouldn't undercut themselves so were charging me the reasonable rate for a one bedroom house

I know my meter has been read on a few occasions as have asked the guy to clamber over all the boxes as i cant even get in there, All my gas bills are correct and not estimated as i let them in as well,so why was i still getting estimated bills.

Leeh123:

You should Google for the Code of Practice for Accurate Billing. There are several relevant clauses to your case. Firstly a requirement for estimating based on either previous consumption or average consumption for your type of property. From what you say EDF have totally failed on that clause. Secondly, where there has been supplier error, back billing (legally) cannot be for more than one year. No bill would be a black and white case, this is less clear, but I think they may have failed the spirit of the clause. Other clauses relate to handling of vulnerable customers. From what you say the meter readers (who are probably not EDF employess but meter reading company employees) appear to have been inept at obtaining access to a registered disabled customer. Regardless of employment, EDF are absolutely responsible for managing the customer. In the circumsstances a visit arranged and confirmed by letter or telephone would have been appropriate.

You should ask for proposals for settlement in accordance with the Code of Accurate Billing based on their inaccurate estimating and inept attempts at obtaining access.

Its not impossible that the there is an error in the actual reading which resulted in the huge bill. Try to get a friend to read your meter and ideally take a photograph. Check that the number is close to the bill reading.