Spark Energy back-billing/bill 'correction'

[nottslad]

Well that's quite worrying - if the under charge was 409 kWh then they're charging £1 per kWh which is ludicrous.

 

In cases where a supplier makes a mistake, the billing code definitely applies.

 

If they received a meter reading which was out of line but didn't investigate it, then that is their issue. Only in instances where customers give false reads or deliberately avoid receiving a bill (such as not informing of a change of occupancy) then the billing code doesn't apply. It would be very interesting as to how this plays out. If I were you I weould also be asking for some compensation for the inconvenience, and for having to wait so long for a refund.

 

Make sure you deakl with them only in writing from now on - probably best to email the CEO; whilst it's unlikely he/she would even look at it the complaints do then tend to be dealt within a more serious manner

[nottslad]

Sorry for the delay, been a little busy at work.

 

There's no reason for you not to switch suppliers sooner; they will still be able to rectify the issue provided they receive the correct closing read from your new supplier (ie make sure you give your new supplier a read to open your account with) Make sure you check an OFGEM approved price comparison site to get the best deal for you.

 

If I were in your position, I would ask them for a break down of all of the meter reads received, the date they were received and who provided them. I would also ask for a table showing what reads were used for billing and when; including all cancelled bills. They should be able to provide you with this quite easily.

 

They will have all of the meter reads, they have to keep them. Meter reads are received from the meter reader on what is called a data flow - they will most definitely have acccess to these - simply don't take no for an answer!

 

In terms of applying the billing code, the supplier has a duty to validate meter reads. It would therefore be really handy to see what the meter reads were that were used for billing on what date, and any other reads that were received on any dates inbetween. A supplier can invoice back one year from the date of the first correct bill, so for arguments sake if they corrected an issue today, they would be able to go back to 28/01/2014. Any extra charges for before that date would need to be removed.