Hi , I wonder if anyone could shed any light on this - any comments much appreciated: I am a customer of Spark Energy and had my first electricity bill recently. While the meter readings are correct (not estimated), I am confused as I think they may be trying to bill me on 2 different tariffs. The situation is that I live in a house which has been converted into flats - 1 on ground (mine) and 1 on 1st floor. Our meter boxes are outside the property. Inside my meter box, I have 1 electricity meter (there is no gas in the property). However, this one meter seems to have 2 different MPANs - 1 beginning with 02 (which means Economy 7 tariff) and 1 beginning with 01 (which means Domestic Unrestricted, i.e. standard tariff). When I read the meter, I provided 3 meter readings as there were 3 already set up on my online account - reading 1 is Day, reading 2 is Night (these are both on the same MPAN), and reading 3 is Unrestricted (this is on the same MPAN). I got these just by pressing the button on my digital meter until the 3 different readings came up. I submitted these to Spark Energy and after much chasing the eventually issued me a bill. I am on the Economy 7 tariff (as I have electric storage heaters and thought this would be the most economical), so should only pay a Day rate and a Night rate. This is displayed on one page of my bill. However, a separate rate for "Unrestricted" use is displayed on a separate page of my bill which is very expensive. As I am on Economy 7, and have been previously with other suppliers, I should only pay a Day and Night rate - I have never come across being billed for Unrestricted before. From my experience, and looking at Spark Energy and other suppliers' websites, Economy 7 only ever has 2 readings - Day and Night - and "Unrestricted" is a separate method of metering for people who are on a single-rate tariff. Spark Energy's website says explicitly that "Simple Unrestricted means a single rate tariff that usually only has 1 reading, i.e, not Economy 7, Economy 10 or white meter" - meaning that Economy 7 and "Simple Unrestricted" are two different tariff methods so I think that means a customer cannot be billed by both methods. This "Unrestricted" is on a separate page to my Day and Night readings, suggesting that it is in fact a separate tariff to my Economy 7 plan and is double-counting my usage or unrelated to what I should be paying under an Economy 7 plan. When I asked the Customer Service Department they couldn't tell me what the "Unrestricted" rate covered or why it appeared on my Economy 7 bill which should only show 1 Day and 1 Night usage figure. They suggested that sometimes a property is billed for some parts separately and this is what the "Unrestricted" reading covers (e.g. if the property has a garage or immersion heater it could be wired to the meter separately) but this doesn't apply to me as my property is a very small 1-bedroom flat with a combi-boiler and no outbuildings. When I raised this as a complaint with Spark Energy, I was told that the Unrestricted usage was definitely mine, and that some appliance(s) must be wired in to the meter separately from the main wiring, and that this meant I had 2 MPANs and had to pay the standard Unrestricted rate on this usage. Spark Energy are unable to give me any information about what appliances are wired up to each meter, and they have said an electrician would be able to tell but they won't provide one (I am now trying to get my Landlord to send an electrician round to check). I am worried that things like the electric storage heating is hooked up to the Unrestricted MPAN meaning I am not benefitting from the Economy 7 cheaper overnight rate. ---------------------------- What I would like advice on is: 1. Can 1 input-only (i.e. non-export) meter have 2 MPANS? 2. Have I understood correctly that it is EITHER you are charged Economy 7 tariff OR you are charged Standard rate? Rather than it being possible for the supplier to charge you for usage under both rates? 3. Is it possible that two properties can be charged off the same meter, but under 2 different MPANs? (i.e. is it possible that the "Unrestricted" usage on my meter is to do with the flat upstairs?) 4. Can an electricity company make you pay for "Unrestricted" rates, when you have signed up for and only agreed to an Economy 7 plan? If you need any more information please let me know. Thanks guys!

Hello, I have recently moved out of a shared flat and have been asked by our estate agents to produce a copy of all utility bills to reclaim the deposit. Throughout this time we were paying a monthly direct deposit to NPower for what we were under the impression was duel gas and electricity. It turns out that this was only for gas and that for the 10 months we were in the flat we had never received an electricity bill. After calling up Npower, E-on, British gas and every other electricity companies I could think of and being told that none of them supplied the electricity, I contacted the local electricity distribution board who stated that it was NPower who supplied our electricity and gave us a supplier number. I then recalled NPower and gave them this number which they said referred to the original gas account. After contacting the distribution board again, NPower reluctantly agreed that it was them who supplied our electricity and simply stated they would draw up a bill. We have just received a very rude call from NPower demanding immediate payment of nearly £500 and we have yet to have an actual bill from them!! We are willing to pay for the electricity we used but think it is very inconsiderate of them to demand it straight away when they have taken a year for them to admit they supply the electricity! Does anyone know if the company would have to provide some kind of payment plan (as it was their mistake) and who we can complain to about this?? Thanks for the help!

I have read somewhere within the last couple of months - it may have been here on CAG, but I can't find it - that electricity bills rendered more than a year after the electricity has been consumed are not enforceable, for whatever reason. Can anyone cast any light on this?

Hope someone can help me or guide me on the best way of tackling this. I took over a running grocery business in Sept 2007 and we were shown/informed of our electric meter in the premises as there are 5 meters located in my building (which supply other businesses in the block). I noted the meter serial number and signed up for a new contract with EDF energy. I received a welcome letter and regular bills, etc.. as one would expect etc.. etc... 2 years after taking over (around July 2009), a company called "British Energy" contacted me informing me that I have not paid any bills and that they need to perform a change of tenancy. This took place and over 4 months I was constantly bombarded with backdated bills, totaling of around £80k!!! After querying why I hadn't received a bill all this time they replied it was billing error on their side. They are billing me out of contract rates for the whole period (backdated). Then it struck me that the meter I was shown as mine was actually supplying another business. However the meter that British Energy refer to with MPAN _________ shows up as a “de-activated” meter when trying to enquire about this meter with any electricity supplier (I have proof of this). So I was stuck on out of contract rates but couldn't change to another supplier or tariff as the meter was inactive on the echoes system (central database of energy meters). Some one kind enough from Make It Cheaper.co.uk informed me of what is wrong and how that I should contact British Energy to resolve this asap. After numerous attempts in trying to get this resolved and only after refusing to pay the any bills British Energy added my MPAN on the central database and was available for all suppliers to see and offer me alternative deals. From what it looks like, it seems as though they removed my meter serial number off the ecoes database and kept me on a out of contract rate and now billed me altogether. I contacted them explaining that it is unfair for them to charge me out of contract rates due to a billing issue on their side & for having my meter inactive & for the delay in sending me any bills. This was discussed on the phone and they agreed to accept 70,000. Which I feel is nowhere near acceptable. I contact The Energy Ombudsman who requested for a deadlock letter. So I sent another letter to British Gas for which I never got a reply. Now I get a letter hand delivered to my previous house stating that a statutory demand will be delivered next week. Not sure how to deal with this, should I visit the premises to accept the statutory demand or contact The Energy Ombudsman? I moved out of the business in April 2010, the current electric supplier takes monthly reads and current bills are around £1000 a month as compared to £2500-£3000 British Energy were sending me. If I was on the current tariff my calculations make it out to be around £28,000. Anyone please help.