ENERGY customer Shruti Gupta should never have been hit with a erroneous £1,000 bill – but there was an easy way to fix it.
The 22-year-old account executive from London received the bill in New Year 2023 when her supplier, Ovo, said her and her housemates had racked up a huge debt on their account.
Shruti is one of over a million renters estimated to have been overcharged by her supplier because of a mix-up when changing tenancies.
She received the demand from Ovo “out of nowhere” last year for the period September to December 2022, when she had been living with friends in Cardiff, where they studied at university.
Ovo said their usage was far higher than the estimated readings it had been taking for their bills, even though it didn’t have their actual meter readings to confirm this.
Shruti had mistakenly thought that the property had a smart meter, so her readings would be sent automatically – but she was wrong.
Thankfully, she had taken a photo of her meter on the day she moved in, so she thought it would be easy to update Ovo and recalculate the bill.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Her and housemates said they spent the next nine months taking it in turns to ring Ovo every day before the supplier finally re-calculated their actual meter readings and found they only owed £150.
“We took it in turns to call every day and we’d just get passed around, spending hours and hours repeatedly explaining the issue,” Shruti said.
“In the end all my friends gave up and it was just me fighting, as I refused to let it go.
“Ovo insisted we owed the money and we insisted it was an outstanding balance from the previous tenants, so we were stuck.”
But one day, Shruti was close to tears when she begged an agent to pass her to the billing department so she could submit her meter readings.
Eventually, the agent agreed and transferred her over, where she was able to provide her meter reading from when she moved in.
“They put the figures into their calculator and it turned out we were only around £150 in debt,” Shruti said.
“I couldn’t believe it. If I hadn’t fought all year, we might have just paid the bill even though we never owed it,” she added.
Disputes expert Scott Dixon, of The Complaints Resolver, said: “This is grossly unfair – customers shouldn’t have to face so many barriers to get energy providers to correct their own mistakes.
“Most people are honest and energy firms should treat all customers fairly in-line with their website promises and statements.”
Shruti took the case to the Energy Ombudsman, which ordered Ovo to pay an extra £100 compensation for the huge inconvenience.
A spokesperson for Ovo said: “We apologised to Ms Gupta for the inconvenience and provided a goodwill gesture at the time. The issue was resolved in September 2023.”
BY Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch.com:
One of the first things you should do when you move into a new home is take a reading for both the gas and electricity meters, especially if you don’t have a smart meter.
You should be responsible for the energy supply at your property from the day your contract begins, even if you don’t move in straight away. If you can’t access the property on the day the contract begins, ask the landlord or agent to supply you with evidence of the readings if possible.
Write down and also take clear photos of the meter displays that show the readings and date. This will prove how much energy had already been used on the day you took over the property.
You should immediately contact the energy supplier responsible for the property, tell it that you have moved in, and give it your meter readings.
Ask it to send you written confirmation that they have received and logged the readings to open your new account. While you’re on the phone, it’s worth writing notes of your call, including date, time, readings provided, and name of the person you spoke to.
Keep hold of all your communications with the energy companies, including emails, letters, and notes from any phone calls. This paper trail will be important evidence if any dispute arises.
When you receive your first bill, thoroughly check the details against your records to ensure that the meter readings match, and raise any issues with the provider.
If your supplier doesn’t address any concerns about overcharging, make a formal complaint through its official process, which should be published on its website.
Any issues that aren’t resolved after eight weeks can be escalated to the energy ombudsman, which offers a free dispute resolution service.
All households without a smart meter should ideally submit a meter reading every month to improve the accuracy of their bills.
Around 4.6million people in the UK rent, the latest official figures show, which means millions may be changing address every year.
Yet, many tenants still report being hit with high bills for energy they haven’t used due to mix-ups over who owes what.
Research carried out a few years ago by auto-switching service Labrador found around 1.3million renters had overpaid their utility bills because of previous tenants’ debts.
Around 910,000 of those people were 18- to 34-year-olds, the research found.
As a renter, you’re only responsible for paying for electricity and gas that you actually use.
But often delays around taking meter readings by new tenants, or tenants failing to give a meter reading when they move out, can cause confusion over who used what energy.
Mr Dixon said you can raise a complaint with the energy ombudsman, Ofgem, if you believe your supplier has overcharged you, but you must give them up to eight weeks to investigate your complaint first.
“Energy providers often engage in ‘sludge tactics’ to delay and frustrate legitimate complaints, hoping you will just give up,” he said.
“Energy firms will be profiting by millions of pounds by doing this, which adversely impacts those who can least afford to be out of pocket.
“If you have an issue, don’t give up and don’t give in – perseverance breaks resistance every time.”
A spokesperson for Ofgem, the regulator of energy suppliers, said: “We expect suppliers to bill their customers accurately and any billing errors should be rectified as quickly as possible.
“We receive data on complaints from both energy suppliers and the ombudsman and take action to drive improvements when needed.”
It’s not just overcharging frustrating energy customers, with many saying they have had trouble getting hold of their supplier when they’ve had a problem.
Only around half of all energy customers (54%) said they find their supplier easy to reach, according to the latest Ofgem research.
Before switching to a new supplier, you can compare firms’ customer service levels through a number of avenues.
Citizens Advice, for example, publishes scores for suppliers for three-month periods, including for waiting time and complaints received.
Ofgem also compiles data on complaints volumes and customer service quality at major suppliers every couple of months.
In its latest review, customer satisfaction was around 66%.
“Customer service has rapidly declined over the past few years, with Covid being cited as the reason to make it more difficult for consumers to contact firms and resolve complaints,” Mr Dixon said.
Make a formal complaint to your supplier if you’re unhappy with its customer service.
Put the complaint in writing and specify you’re making a formal complaint, giving them eight weeks to respond.
If you don’t receive a reply in this timeframe or aren’t happy with the response you get, escalate it to the Energy Ombudsman.
Leave a review online if you’ve had an issue with your energy supplier to help others make an informed decision.
THERE'S a number of different ways to get help paying your energy bills if you're struggling to get by.
If you fall into debt, you can always approach your supplier to see if they can put you on a repayment plan before putting you on a prepayment meter.
This involves paying off what you owe in instalments over a set period.
If your supplier offers you a repayment plan you don’t think you can afford, speak to them again to see if you can negotiate a better deal.
Several energy firms have grant schemes available to customers struggling to cover their bills.
But eligibility criteria varies depending on the supplier and the amount you can get depends on your financial circumstances.
For example, British Gas or Scottish Gas customers struggling to pay their energy bills can get grants worth up to £1,500.
British Gas also offers help via its British Gas Energy Trust and Individuals Family Fund.
You don’t need to be a British Gas customer to apply for the second fund.
EDF, E.ON, Octopus Energy and Scottish Power all offer grants to struggling customers too.
Thousands of vulnerable households are missing out on extra help and protections by not signing up to the Priority Services Register (PSR).
The service helps support vulnerable households, such as those who are elderly or ill, and some of the perks include being given advance warning of blackouts, free gas safety checks and extra support if you’re struggling.
Get in touch with your energy firm to see if you can apply.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
