Since 2019, energy suppliers in the UK have paid out more than £20 million to customers who were done-in by incorrect billing and took these mistakes to the Ombudsman.
However, this isn’t the amount that customers were incorrectly charged, rather the compensation they received for the inconvenience and stress caused by the mistake.
Some charities have also warned that this doesn’t give the full picture as people may not be aware of how to check their bill is accurate or what steps to take if they know it’s not.
This could have a range of effects on families, from unknowingly paying inflated bills to being slapped with staggering backdated claims that could be in the thousands according to a Guardian Money analysis.
The Centre for Sustainable Energy laid out exactly what each part of your energy bill means and correctly checking it could reveal if you’re being billed correctly, if you have debt piling up or if there’s cheaper tariffs you could move to.
There’s a number of reasons why your energy bill could be incorrect, such as a faulty meter, and issues can occur even if you’re on a smart meter.
If you think the mistake lies with your supplier and they have overcharged you, Citizens Advice recommends making a few final checks before taking steps to complain.
This includes comparing bills if you’ve recently switched suppliers or checking if the correct units and meters are being used in your readings.
You can then contact your supplier with the information you have and reasons why you think your bill is incorrect, the charity warned: “Make sure you keep all the messages you send to the supplier and their replies – you might need them.”
If you can’t reach an agreement with your supplier, you can then contact the Energy Ombudsman. This free service aims to resolve disputes between energy suppliers and customers.
Last November, staggering analysis found Citizens Advice helps with an energy billing issue every two minutes, and 49% of people needing assistance had a smart meter.
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, added: “Soaring costs and historic levels of energy debt mean an unexpected or incorrect bill could be the tipping point that pushes a household’s budget from tight to completely unmanageable.”
She urged for more action on the back of these devastating figures: “Consumers simply can’t afford to pick up the tab when something goes wrong. Ofgem must act to protect consumers by limiting back-billing and raising service standards, so people struggling with billing issues get the help they need.”
