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Approx 4 months ago I moved out of my flat of 4 years. I received and payed the final bill sent by Southern Electric. At the time I thought it was quite high - £450 for between the 27th April and the 31st May. I put this down to an underestimation of our previous bills as this bill stated that it was based on an actual reading.
After 3 months out of the country I returned to find that some of my post had been forwarded to one of my old housemates at their new address.
One of these letters was an 'adjusted' final bill from Southern Electric for over £1500 for the same period (end April > end May). Apparently the first 'Final Bill' they sent wasn't an actual meter reading. The second bill for £1500 they say is the actual reading.
Even if their previous estimated readings had been a bit off, how I asked could I have rung up that kind of bill in only one month in a small flat during summer (4 people with gas cooker and gas heating).
They said they may have been reading the wrong meter. I am now waiting for them to send out someone to get a new reading in a couple of weeks.
I am now worried that they are going to come back and say I owe the £1500. The main thing is that if they say they have been billing us incorrectly for a very long time (and it would have to be to reach that amount) I would be stuck with the bill. I used to pay the bills and my flatmates would give me their share in cash.
They have all moved on to various parts of the country and world, and there is no way I would be able to get anything from any of them.
One thing that does puzzle me is that the electricity bills that have been paid have never been so low as to think the readings were off. Infact they have always seemed quite expensive. From what I have read in the forums the companies have to do actual readings ever 3 months or so - surely this would have flagged up any 'estimation' to 'actual reading' problems way before it reached this amount?
I can obviously try and dispute it but I'm not sure what I would be disputing apart from the final amount, and fact that I had already recieved and paid my final bill?
I could also refuse to pay but don't want to get black listed or something.
I will also be leaving the country again in a couple months, possibly for a couple of years, and don't want to return to an even greater mess if this isn't entirely resolved before then. Dilemma.
Did you keep a record of the final meter reading when you moved out?
If so, then it shouldn't be too difficult to get to the bottom of this
If not, can you contact the current owner / tenant & ask if they can check what the meter reading was when they moved in (electricity company won't say because it's not your account then) and also if that is consistent with their current reading
It is easy for the wrong meter to be read in flats
Another option might be to look at when you had actual readings shown on your old bills. Then you could work out approximately what the reading should be and whether that kind of difference is even possible.
If you don't have the bills, a SAR to the electricity company would give you the information - and a whole lot more that might be useful
Unfortuantely I couldn't get into our meter before I moved out as I needed one of those triangular keys to open the meter box. I phoned them and they said they were sending one out, but it never arrived. I then spoke to them because it hadn't arrived - asking what should I do as I was moving out shortly. They said they would send someone to do a meter reading.
Unfortunately I left all the old bills with one of the other flat mates, who it turns out threw them away. Useful to know about the S.A.R. - thanks Grumpy
I don't think that they can go back more than 2 years if they hav'nt billed correctly
You have been paying something
Sounds like they have given you several years bills and not taken off your payments
Sounds like you need to write asking for a full explaination of the charges, maybe send a SARafter they have done that in case it shows up more - eg their full calculations, meter readings, internal communications.
The latest update... They have sent someone to look at the meter again and said it is correct and that I owe £1500.00
Apparently we haven't had an actual meter reading for 21months, strange considering the 'Final Bill' that they initially sent (and I paid) said it was an actual reading.
Still can't believe that the excess could be so high considering our bills have never been low. Infact I saw someone elses bill the other day, also from Southern Electric and it was lower - and they live in a big house, with electric stove. (our flat was gas heated, gas boiler, gas stove)
The one plus - if it can be considered that - is if I can prove I shared the house with other people, I should only have to pay my portion (or so they say)
1. Utility companies are only obligated to read your meter every two years by law. However most try to do it six monthy.
2. Most agree not to back bill beyond a year. see energywatch and they will assist.
3. It is not unusual for flats to be reading the wrong meters, and it it is not up to the supplier to explain your usage. they are responsible up to the meter only.
4. If you are in contact with the current tenants and their bills are normal then the likelihood its usage.
5. if the current tenants have big bill issues then they will need to ask for a meter load test (free) and you can ask SSE to hold your account pending the outcome.
Having got to the point where rather than drag this out I agreed to just go ahead and pay my portion.
I sent through the tenancy agreements so that the other housemates could be added to the bill. They lost the first fax so several weeks later I received a call asking for it to be sent again.
This time they received it and said the names would be added. After that I expected to get an amended bill for my portion or something. Didn't hear anything for ages...
Yesterday I got a call from the one housemate I'm still in contact with. They have received a letter asking for the bill to be paid within 48 hours or it will be passed to a debt collection Agency - problem with this is the letter was dated from 3 days before it arrived in the post.
This company is ridiculous, I haven't once refused to pay - now worried I'm going to get some sort of black listing due to their incompetence.
Hey Fed Up, I would suggest now is the time to contact Energy Watch. The benefit is all action is frozen until an investigation is carried out by a Southern Electric manager and their findings have to be reported back to Energy Watch within 10 working days (I believe).
Unfortunately, where the other tenants are concerned, SSE wont be interested. As far as they are concerned this is a 3rd party dispute so will have to sort it out between you. Have the other tenants agreed to make payment? May be worth getting this in writing from all of you and then just paying your portion. They wont rebill it and send out 3 seperate bills though unfortunately.
I have lost contact one of the tenants so I don't know how they are going to track them down as they left the country a while back.
Unfortunately I never supplied a meter reading while I was living in the property - I was a bit naive to how it all works... older and wiser now.
One thing still really bugs me though...
When I moved out and requested the final bill they sent me one which specifically said it was the final bill (also has the F before the meter code indicating that it is). It also said on it that it was based on an actual meter reading. The bill was for a one month period and amounted to over £400 (remember this is mainly a gas run flat).
At the time I figured it was the last bill and that they had obviously done the actual reading so paid it without questioning why it was so much.
It was much later that I then received the amended bill for £1500+.
It just doesn't add up. Do you think I have a case if I dispute the fact that I had already received and paid the 'FINAL BILL'?
I should mention, in regards to my last post, that when queried they told me that the final bill wasn't based on an actual reading - even though it clearly says on the 'Final Bill' that it was.
I think I will give Energy Watch a call and get their input.
If the final bill definately says an actual reading and they are telling you now it wasnt then contact energy Watch. It may be that when the new tenant moved in, they gave an opening read that was incorrect which would adjust your bill. The final bill that you had for £400 could be that the previous bills had been estimates and this was a catch up bill when an actual reading was produced.
Finally a resolution! I got in touch with Energy Watch and explained my situtation. They then put me back through to Southern Electric & spoke to a lady who was far more 'understanding'. She said she would go away and check the situation out and get back to me.
She promptly got back to me saying that they had found some problem and needed to do something to their systems. This took a couple of days - she phoned to tell me that whatever problem there was was taking time to clear as there were so many accounts or something to get through? This makes me wonder if whatever this problem was had been occuring to a whole lot of people?
Anyway she eventually called me to say that the bill had now been reduced to £50 outstanding and that they had cleared it.
Southern Electric Bill Problem
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Great news, I am pleased you got a result !