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Dear Which?,
I have been unknowingly submitting my electricity meter readings incorrectly since my partner and I moved into our rented property in 2017. SSE didn't pick up on this and neither did its engineers who also took meter readings.
It has taken me since January of this year and two complaints to make SSE admit that there was something wrong.
Now that the bills have been recalculated, I have slipped into significant arrears. SSE has told me that I need to pay £245 a month to cover our basic usage (we are more than £1,600 in arrears) – £245 a month is almost half my rent and I simply can't afford that.
I was also told by a member of the customer service team at SSE that I shouldn’t set up a payment plan until this has been resolved.
Also, I don't understand why my usage is so high, as it's just me and my partner. We don't have a tumble dryer, we don't do washing every day, and we have portable oil-filled radiators that we only use in the rooms we are in when it's needed. We don’t use our night storage heaters, because they are useless to us. They would give off heat when we don't need it. I also work nights and my partner works days (both part-time) so over at least three days of the week, we are not using much electricity at all.
Do you have any advice?
John Pointer, Cornwall
Put to Rights
Tali Ramsey, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
I understand that you’re in quite a stressful situation and it's disappointing that SSE didn’t take the correct action when you complained.
Under Ofgem (the energy regulator) back-billing rules, energy companies can’t chase you for debts that are more than a year old, so make sure any debt you have is within that time period.
In the current climate, it can be confusing to know whether your bills are accurate. It’s useful to know that your bills are made up of a standing charge and a unit rate. Our guide on how to understand your energy bill explains this in further detail.
The unit rate is the cost per unit of gas or electricity you actually use, and the standing charge is what you pay your energy provider to access energy before use.
Meter reading estimates can mean that you’re underpaying or overpaying, which might make you want to consider getting a smart meter, which sends readings automatically. You could also buy a plug-in energy monitor to better understand your consumption.
We spoke to SSE about what had happened. It offered its apologies and confirmed to us that your account is now up to date. We understand that SSE also offered you a £75 goodwill gesture and recalculated your bill to just one year of charges, not the two years that it had initially quoted.
Need to know
- If you can’t pay your energy bills, contact your energy supplier as soon as possible to arrange an affordable payment plan.
- If you're contacted about a debt you owe, remember that Ofgem's back-billing rules mean you shouldn't be chased for an energy debt that's more than a year old.
- See if there are any steps you can take to save on your energy bills.
- You can complain about your energy bill if your supplier overcharges you, puts up prices, stops sending you bills or tries to charge you an exit fee.
- Find out more about how to get help if you're struggling to pay your energy bill.
Get in touch. If you've got a consumer rights problem you need put right, email us at yourstory@which.co.uk. Please be aware that we cannot help with, or respond to, every email we receive. The inbox is monitored periodically during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/sse-failed-to-detect-my-wrong-meter-readings-and-now-i-owe-over-1600-in-arrears-aTHmM1S5WSIp