Electricity/Gas Bill: unresolved complaint

[WelshCerys]

Southern Electric have written - notice of termination unless bill over £1,000 electricity is paid in full - I'm expecting a similar letter re gas.

In brief, this is the issue: for over a year (2009-10), letters, bills, finally legal demands, termination threats, visits from bailiffs came thick and fast but in another person's name. The moment I received an odd letter from customer service saying that 'someone' had told them we were moving out (no other info and quite incorrect), I got in touch to say this wasn't so.

Turned out that, somehow, SE had been told that a certain Mr A was moving in through a named lettings agency. I rang as many agencies of that name as I could find through google - none had heard of this person, let alone my address. The bills came, the letters came, the disconnection notices. SE were consistently being told by me that, no, we were in the house - this was all a mistake. They took no notice.

At one point, someone in Collections said that perhaps this mounting bill belong, at least in part, to the real Mr A - perhaps someone trying to escape a bill by giving our address and some fictitious lettings agency. That meant something to us because the bills were huge - really huge.

This went on and on - finally, a few months ago, we had a face to face mtg with customer services (you have to push very hard for this) - showed him all the Mr A correspondence, explained our worries, said we'd in motion a payment plan once SE took responsibility and compensated us for the distress and expense of that year and a bit. Yes, yes, we'd hear - they'd consider - they were sorry.

Nothing at all from this person - until someone else, in a call centre in Scotland, started asking us for full payment (to cover the Mr A year and subsequent months). We set up a plan of our own back and this SE person promised that once we'd done that, they'd go back to the drawing board and consider compensation for that year. Nothing else until today when I've received a demand/termination notice.

I'm aghast that SE can ignore their incompetence over this - the formal complaint has been made by us (not least at that meeting), nothing has been resolved - it's as if nothing had happened. I'm minded to go straight to the ombudsman but is there time?

Any ideas very, very gratefully received. And I am sorry that this is so long.

Go to Energywatch. They have a very fast turnaround normally.

I don't understand. So you were paying your bills in your name and also being billed by another company? Can't you show them your bills to prove you have been paying?
Or you haven't been paying as bills were in someone else's name and company wouldn't change the name on the bills?
I'm really confused.
Did you check the meter readings etc to make sure it was for gas/elec you have been using?

I don't understand. So you were paying your bills in your name and also being billed by another company? Can't you show them your bills to prove you have been paying?
Or you haven't been paying as bills were in someone else's name and company wouldn't change the name on the bills?
I'm really confused.
Did you check the meter readings etc to make sure it was for gas/elec you have been using?

We suspended our DD to the company when the bills started coming in another's name. We repeatedly told the company that we hadn't moved out. And yet the bills etc kept on coming, in this other person's name. We didn't want, naturally, to pay even a portion of someone else's bill and it was very upsetting to get hostile demands from SE, and, finally, collection company letters and visits - all for Mr A.

We checked the meter readings - the bills we received (in Mr A's name) bore no resemblance to the readings. All this was pointed out to SE - then and during the recent(ish) meeting with customer services. Still, no attempt at investigation or resolving or compensating for what was a very frustrating year.

Hope this sheds a bit more light ...

Weird

So your bills originally came in your name then somehow got mixed up prob on a database with someone else living somewhere else?

And you didn't pay any bills for a year?

And the company hasn't done anything about it for a year?

Gosh! No advice but how weird. Hope you saved that money up somewhere to pay your bills. You should owe the difference between what's on the meter now and the last meter reading you have on your bills when you stopped paying I suppose

You could try the newspapers 'money' sections as well - they like stories like that

Weird

So your bills originally came in your name then somehow got mixed up prob on a database with someone else living somewhere else?

And you didn't pay any bills for a year?

And the company hasn't done anything about it for a year?

Gosh! No advice but how weird. Hope you saved that money up somewhere to pay your bills. You should owe the difference between what's on the meter now and the last meter reading you have on your bills when you stopped paying I suppose

You could try the newspapers 'money' sections as well - they like stories like that

Definitely go to energy watch and give them copies of all the documents you have.

We had problems recently when the meter reading company read the wrong meter as ours. We have three properties with a number 1 on our street so it is easy to get confused but when we got a bill for almost £5k for a quarter it rang a few alarm bells. It took us another 18 months and lots of phone calls to get it sorted out even when we'd moved energy suppliers because their system overrides customer readings when there is a meter company supplied reading.

I assume you have your old bills in your name and some of the new bills in Mr A's name, if so there should be a Meter Reference Number on them, see if they match for a start.

Take a photo of your meter with the current reading on it, this will also show your meter number (serial number for the meter)

Then contact Energy Watch, supply them with all the details, only copies though, you do not want the originals to go missing.

I am hoping that because you stopped the Direct Debit you still have the money sat in your bank account that should have been paid out so you can settle any genuine outstanding bill very easily.

Best of luck

As well as contacting Energy Watch I would be talking to my own solicitor with a view to suing Southern Electric for compensation for the distress they have caused through their negligence. If this has been going on for over a year I think you can very easily argue it goes beyond a lapse in customer service and into the realms of sustained harrassment. I think a sharply worded solicitor's letter woul have them rushing to settle out of court.

Agree with the comments above re Energy Watch.
I have found in the past if you complain to the top can be more effective. If you haven't already done this get the details of the Chief Executive, MD and the Customer Services Director and send them each a strongly worded letter by Registered Post so you know they have it. Explain what has happened, tell them what you want to happen and give a date of when you want it resolved by or you will go to the press, MP etc. Would also go to Citizens Advice as they may be able to help you move this forward.
Good Luck!

just to check, you say you stopped the direct debit, does this mean you have not paid for any of the electricity and gas you have used for quite some time?

that will not go down well, regardless of the problem you describe with another accountholders name.

if you have got the old bills and can tell the meter reading that you last paid up to, and what the meter reading is now, it will be possible to find out what you actually do owe. Unless you make some kind of arrangement to start paying for what you have actually used, you have put yourtself into an awkward position.

I am not suggesting that you should drop your complaint, that's a different matter. You do need to make sure the compaint is in writing, headed "Customer Complaint" and that the first letter is very short.

I work in the energy industry.
Just to try and help you get to the bottom of this:

1. When did you move into the property (roughly - year will do)?
2. When did you change to Southern Electricity (again approximate details will do)?
3. Have you ever had a bill in your name from Southern Electricity before you started getting bills in the wrong name? Can you find one of those bills?

For those of you who are following this story, this is what we are trying to establish in order to offer help to WelshCerys:

1. When Southern Electric took over the supply originally, did they take over the correct meters?
2. When the name on the account was changed to Mr. A., was this merely a simple clerical error by S. Electric(as I suspect) implementing a name change on the wrong account (instead of an account with a similar address or postcode)? This relatively easy to correct.
3. Has the account number changed at any time?
4. Apart from the incorrect name on the bill, were the bills accurate? Did they show the correct meter readings and the correct values for the energy used?
5. Have all payments up to the point where the direct debit arrangements ceased been credited correctly to this account?
6. If I am given recent meter readings i can easily estimate how much is owing to S. Electric. Once this has been agreed by the supplier they should be willing to agree a payment plan and stop all legal action.

The best advice I can give to everyone to avoid these sorts of problems is:

1. Always keep your bills for at least 7 years (or longer if you enter into a dispute with your energy supplier)
2. Take meter readings regularly and phone them in to your supplier - even if this might result in a big bill. At least you will know how much you owe and all energy suppliers will agree to some form of payment plan if you talk to them. Eventually all energy used has to be paid for, but if you do not read the meters your bills will be based on estimates created by a computer!!!!
3. It is really important that you give accurate meter readings just before any price change - otherwise you may be billed at new higher prices for energy actually used prior to the price increase.
4. Do not stop paying for your energy except as an absolutely last resort. This just triggers an automatic debt recovery process which makes it much more difficult for the energy company to focus on solving your problem. Also paying on time and by direct debit gives you lower prices. If you stop paying, the energy company will end up charging you more for your energy!
5. Get a decent supplier with a Customer Service Department based in the UK who are willing and able to talk to you sensibly to help resolve any problems.

Hope this is helpful to everyone