Household Bills
Millions of energy customers hit by back-bills
As many as 2.1 million households could have been hit by large late bills in the last year because energy suppliers initially undercharged them, Citizens Advice has revealed.
The average back-bill – when an energy firm sends a revised bill after undercharging – was for £206, but the charity said people using its service have reported much larger back-bills.
One person who asked the charity for help was billed £1,120 out of the blue.
Back-billing happens when customers have been undercharged for their energy for a period of time. This can be because a customer did not pay a bill, but often it is due to supplier mistakes like underestimating bills or not investigating a technical fault.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Customers shouldn’t have to pay the price for suppliers’ mistakes.
“Energy bills are already high so it adds insult to injury when companies go back to customers looking for more money after they got it wrong. Particularly for suppliers who insist on payment in full, this can be a huge burden on already stretched finances.”
Suppliers can currently back-bill a customer for up to 12 months worth of gas or electricity, even when it was the firm’s fault. But customers can be back-billed for even longer periods – if the supplier argues the customer was at fault.
Billing errors are the number one energy problem people contact Citizens Advice’s consumer service about, with 16,000 cases last year.
