Threat to be back-billed for a 3 year period

jamessheppard

Hi,
Two months ago my energy provider called me to replace my heating meter because they detected it was faulty.

After they changed the meter, the next bill I received was around €300 for 2700 of energy output. Since I live in a one bed apartment by myself and I work pretty much all day I called their customer service to understand how could I be spending so much on heating alone.

I couldn't get a valid response from them but after calling for the third time they told me that they could close the query, or they could check all my records and bill me for the 3 years I was underpaying them.

I checked all my bills online and only 3 out of 18 bills are estimated, so I would not be able to know that the meter wasn't working properly.

The current meter reading are lower than the readings I was billed for the last period, and they confirmed that they do not reset the meter readings, they are always accumulative. This leads me to believe that the 2700 of energy output I was billed for is a made up number, since my meter clearly shows a lot less. When I tried to get an answer about they said I could "let this go" or they could go back 3 years and charge me for every period I was underpaying them.

Is this something they can do legally? The meter readings are clearly not what they are using to bill me.

I called the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and they said they don't regulate this company. They asked me to call Customer Protection, which told me to call the Commission for Regulation of Utilities or talk to my energy provider directly.

Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

Thank you.

BrianBoru00

jamessheppard wrote: »

Hi,
Two months ago my energy provider called me to replace my heating meter because they detected it was faulty.

After they changed the meter, the next bill I received was around €300 for 2700 of energy output. Since I live in a one bed apartment by myself and I work pretty much all day I called their customer service to understand how could I be spending so much on heating alone.

I couldn't get a valid response from them but after calling for the third time they told me that they could close the query, or they could check all my records and bill me for the 3 years I was underpaying them.

I checked all my bills online and only 3 out of 18 bills are estimated, so I would not be able to know that the meter wasn't working properly.

The current meter reading are lower than the readings I was billed for the last period, and they confirmed that they do not reset the meter readings, they are always accumulative. This leads me to believe that the 2700 of energy output I was billed for is a made up number, since my meter clearly shows a lot less. When I tried to get an answer about they said I could "let this go" or they could go back 3 years and charge me for every period I was underpaying them.

Is this something they can do legally? The meter readings are clearly not what they are using to bill me.

I called the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and they said they don't regulate this company. They asked me to call Customer Protection, which told me to call the Commission for Regulation of Utilities or talk to my energy provider directly.

Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

Thank you.

You ve paid them for every bill ever received. They can t now decide they were under charging and look for compensation.

punisher5112

What were your previous bills like?

How often were you using and did you notice the bills had become lower.

I'd be asking for proof of underpayment, actual reading of old meter, new meter on installation and go from there.

Let them prove.

jamessheppard

My bills varied from €25 to €50 since I moved in to Ireland, I thought this was normal. Any further contact I have with them will result in them going back 3 years and trying to bill me for the faulty meter readings so I don't want to talk to them until I have a clear understanding of my rights.

This is it

jamessheppard wrote: »

My bills varied from €25 to €50 since I moved in to Ireland, I thought this was normal. Any further contact I have with them will result in them going back 3 years and trying to bill me for the faulty meter readings so I don't want to talk to them until I have a clear understanding of my right.

25-50 every two months!?

melekalikimaka

They are within their right to amend bills, it's in all suppliers terms. This is dictated by networks not the supplier. It's not a battle you will win

jamessheppard

melekalikimaka wrote: »

They are within their right to amend bills, it's in all suppliers terms. This is dictated by networks not the supplier. It's not a battle you will win

Do you know where I can find this information. If that's the law I don't want to push it, I just want to understand if they are trying to take advantage or not.

melekalikimaka

Who is your supplier, check out there general terms online and look for terms around readings, usually around that section it states some clarity on this issue. It's not uncommon for this to occur, usually a result of a faulty meter

the_syco

jamessheppard wrote: »

After they changed the meter, the next bill I received was around €300 for 2700 of energy output. Since I live in a one bed apartment by myself and I work pretty much all day I called their customer service to understand how could I be spending so much on heating alone.

Unplug everything in your apartment.

Everything. Including freezer, fridge, etc. Turn off all lights (use a handheld torch), internet, everything.

And check if the numbers are still going up on the meter.

punisher5112

You will owe something as that's shockingly low.

jamessheppard

the_syco wrote: »

Unplug everything in your apartment.

Everything. Including freezer, fridge, etc. Turn off all lights (use a handheld torch), internet, everything.

And check if the numbers are still going up on the meter.

Yeah I did, I also check readings every day and it's around 8 per day. To get an energy output of 2700 I would have to consume around 45 a day which is 5 times more than what I am getting now.

jamessheppard

punisher5112 wrote: »

You will owe something as that's shockingly low.

The problem I have with that is that I did pay all of my bills, I understand they were low but they charge me, I don't pay what I want to pay. They gave me a faulty meter, never asked for a meter reading and never told me they were estimating them. 3 years later they say, we were under billing you and if you ask questions about your current bill you will be billed for those years.

punisher5112

jamessheppard wrote: »

The problem I have with that is that I did pay all of my bills, I understand they were low but they charge me, I don't pay what I want to pay. They gave me a faulty meter, never asked for a meter reading and never told me they were estimating them. 3 years later they say, we were under billing you and if you ask questions about your current bill you will be billed for those years.

So €300 versus a lot more, if it were me I'd pay.

jamessheppard

I am happy to let this go if it's just that charge of €300, but I don't know if they will keep charging me €300 per period since they are not really using the meter to charge me.

kirving

They can't retrospectively estimate how much you should have been charged.

Even if they test the faulty meter now, and find out how much it's under-reading by, they can't just charge you. The meter could have become faulty at any time, so it's impossible to calculate fairly.

That said, you should just accept this bill as a once off, you've been doing well for a long time.

jamessheppard

I'm very happy to take that bill if it's a once off. My only concern is if they keep making up numbers.

Wheety

If the meter now is lower than what they billed you for previously, what are they going to base future bills on?

jamessheppard

Probably this
/watch?v=wz-PtEJEaqY

un5byh7sqpd2x0

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

You ve paid them for every bill ever received. They can t now decide they were under charging and look for compensation.

Of course they can

the_syco

jamessheppard wrote: »

Yeah I did

And was it still moving?

jamessheppard wrote: »

I don't pay what I want to pay.

Then don't.

jamessheppard wrote: »

I couldn't get a valid response from them but after calling for the third time they told me that they could close the query, or they could check all my records and bill me for the 3 years I was underpaying them.

And then you'll be paying a fcuktonne of cash.

=-=

They're being nice. Don't be an ass. Or do be an ass, and come back here in a few days/weeks time moaning how they want a 5 digit sum of cash... :pac:

Iodine1

Probably time to change your supplier?

jamessheppard

Iodine1 wrote: »

Probably time to change your supplier?

I would love to, but I live in an apartment building with a contract with this supplier. I've asked to switch but they said I can't.

Firblog

punisher5112 wrote: »

You will owe something as that's shockingly low.

You said that they changed the meter when they detected that it was faulty? That would indicate that it wasn't faulty prior to that. Don't know how they can claim that it was faulty for 3 years when their system was saying it was ok. I'd prob chat to citizens advice to see if they have any suggestions.



BTW I'm single, live alone in my house, all the usual electrical equipment, (gas heating) out working all day, my bimonthly bills are normally less than €80.. €500 pa, just giving you that for reference purposes, let you know what others in similar living arrangements use.

jamessheppard

Firblog wrote: »

You said that they changed the meter when they detected that it was faulty? That would indicate that it wasn't faulty prior to that. Don't know how they can claim that it was faulty for 3 years when their system was saying it was ok. I'd prob chat to citizens advice to see if they have any suggestions.



BTW I'm single, live alone in my house, all the usual electrical equipment, (gas heating) out working all day, my bimonthly bills are normally less than €80.. €500 pa, just giving you that for reference purposes, let you know what others in similar living arrangements use.

Thanks a lot. I've calculated the same based on my daily usage for the past 5 weeks. They just came up with a €300/2700 energy units. All I want is to understand how much I'm going to be paying each period. That seems to have pushed some buttons over the company. I was dealing with the CFO directly apparently so I don't know what's going on.

L1011

jamessheppard wrote: »

I would love to, but I live in an apartment building with a contract with this supplier. I've asked to switch but they said I can't.

Metered hot water? You're stuck with whoever has the boiler in that case and I'm not even sure the CRU have any oversight

jamessheppard

L1011 wrote: »

Metered hot water? You're stuck with whoever has the boiler in that case and I'm not even sure the CRU have any oversight

Yeah I called them and they told me they don't regulate this company. They said they let these companies regulate each other through competition. So basically nobody regulates them.

melekalikimaka

Iodine1 wrote: »

Probably time to change your supplier?

supplier has absolutely nothing to do with this, its networks