Jill contacted us towards the end of the year. She had received a new meter in 2017 and had been paying her energy bills without much thought. However, when the energy crisis hit, Jill became more aware of her energy bills. She knew that the price had gone up but, when her energy bills began to rise at an astronomical rate, Jill investigated and realised that her meter was faulty. Jill was on an economy 10 tariff, which gave her cheaper electricity at night by automatically switching between two prices depending on the time of day. Unfortunately, Jill’s day and night readings had been reversed so when her electric storage heaters were working their hardest overnight, Jill was being charged a higher rate for her electricity.

After almost 4 years of trying to communicate with her supplier, through a number of unexpected health issues, and with her energy debt increasing every day, Jill was signposted to Act on Energy. One of our outreach officers, Jeanette, visited Jill and decided that a three-way call with her supplier would be best but, a week later, the energy supplier emailed Jill and said that they needed more proof. Jill provided the results of her “Burn Test” which involves taking a photo of your meter, using an electrical appliance, and then taking another photo to see the meter changes.

Another week later, Jill’s supplier emailed her again to say that she would need to do a series of Burn Tests over a number of months but, with the energy debt looming over her, this wasn’t an option. After two more three-way calls, and multiple confusing emails from the supplier who estimated her annual energy usage to be around £10,000 a year, Jeanette decided that enough was enough; she referred the case to the Energy Ombudsman.

Jeanette told the Energy Ombudsman about the situation, with Jill’s proof of previous contact attempts with the supplier, and quoted the Back-Billing Code that prohibits the pursual of energy debts over 12 months old that were accrued due to poor practise from the supplier. The Energy Ombudsman agreed and took the case back to Jill’s supplier to get a resolution. Although the fight wasn’t over, Jill already felt some relief that she had professionals on her side who believed her and were willing to help her.

After a couple of months, the Energy Ombudsman got back to Jill and Jeanette with their resolution. The £5000 debt was written off, the £300 litigation fee was cancelled and they re-calculated Jill’s energy usage over the last year at a more reasonable price. Instead of the £10,000 that her supplier thought she used in a year, Jill was quoted £1350, of which she had already paid most of. The Energy Ombudsman assured Jill that she would be receiving a goodwill payment of £150 from her supplier along with an apology for the stress she was caused.

Jill was ecstatic with the result. She thanked Jeanette for her hard work and happily closed the book on a multi-year battle with her supplier.

‍