I've been undercharged by my electricity company - now I've been sent a huge bill. Am I liable to pay?

Question

I've apparently been undercharged by PowerGen for the last two and a half years - now I've been sent a massive electricity bill. I've been told that I am liable to pay even 'though my meter has been read by their engineer every month for the last two and a half years! I am now extremely worried & distressed as I cannot afford to pay the huge bill. Can anyone please offer me any legal advice? Surely this is their mistake - so they should be held responsible? How does the law work in this situation?
They are now threatening to cut me off unless I sign a form siting responsibilty. Please help!!

Answer 1

Please contact an attorney. If he does nothing else he will stop their threats. It is their mistake, especially if your meter has been read every month for the last 2and 1/2 years. I would have an electrician come out and read the meter for you. Just to double check their figures. Don't sign anything!!Talk to a lawyer in your area.

Answer 2

There are some things you haven't told us. First, what is the company's explanation for the undercharge. Did they read the meter incorrectly, were they estimating usage as opposed to actually reading the meter, was the meter malfunctioning, was there a problem with their billing operations? Are they alleging that you somehow tampered with the meter? Why did it take 2-1/2 years for them to figure out there was a problem? Are you the only person this is happening to? You say they are demanding that you sign a statement of responsibility -- do you mean a statement acknowledging responsibility for the bill or are they asking that you sign a statement saying that you are responsible for the problem that caused the alleged billing error?

In some cases, they would be allowed to correct their error. In other cases, they might not be allowed. There may also be limits as to how far back in time they can go. Two and a half years seems like a long time for them to have missed a problem.

If they are legally within their rights, I would question why they are demanding that you sign a statement of responsibility.

Contact an attorney with legal aid and find out what your rights are.

Answer 3

Alot of this nonsense is happening.
The most common scenario is that the pre-pay card meters have not been updated when there has been a price rise in "unit tarifs"......so..... if the unit price rose from 6p a unit to 18p per unit over three years .........obviously theres a big sum of money owed. Legally...i don,t think there is anything you can do....but only offer to pay off this debt (even weekly/monthly)
Your only argument is...that you would of budjet ed your usuage accordingly if you had known the true price per unit.
If you went to the citizens advice bureau you would probably get the same advice...you,d have to pay up.
You could see a solictor and be the first person to fight a big organisation....on the grounds you were sold something at a lower price...but not knowing the true price(higher price)...there must be some consumer protection surely.
You could pick something off a supermarket shelf which is priced wrong....but you can refuse to pay for it at the "check-out" when you discover the true price..
There must be a legal avenue.
First..write to Powergen stating you are considering legal action....(this will suspend them putting you on to the "bailiffs" threatening action ) State your case with them...insisting you would not regularly buy a product at one rate.... if you did not know that the price was much higher.
Give them 14 days to reply...then state you will be contacting your solictor and another letter will follow. (even if you don,t decide to follow this up)
Contact your regional MP for an appointment.

Answer 4

The first task is to make sure the meter is correct. If it is not, they have a lot of explaining to do.

Secondly, have you been on a monthly payment plan, where you pay equal amounts throughout the year, based on estimated usage? If so, they can, most likely, insist on payment in full. I have never had the "pleasure" of dealing with PoweGen so can't comment for sure without seeing the terms of any arrangement. As the first poster said, you should try to negotiate time to pay. Plan on twelve months at most.

If you are not on an equal payment plan, I think you are owed an explanation as to why you have been under-billed. However, do not let that distract you from resolving the situation at hand. If you do not resolve it quickly enough, they may change you to a token meter. Trust me, you do not want that. I had a tenant who let that happen and it was a pain sorting it out.

Answer 5

If what you are saying is true, which I don't doubt for one minute, what you need to do is ask PowerGen how they came to the amount owed, you then can ask why they did not inform you of the amount outstanding well before the time they did, you stated that your meter was read by the meter reader, what you have to do is try and find out which company read your meter and let them know that the meter reader had miscalculated the reading. I feel you may have a case for malpractice against Power Gen and the company who read your meter.. I would like to advise you to seek legal advice because I am sure Power Gen may cancel the debit or reduce it to a manageable level What you need to do is go and see your MP and the media I am sure they may get the result you are looking for.

Answer 6

In UK You do not need legal advice. You telephone the electricity company and tell them ( I assume the large bill is correct) that you can not afford to pay in one payment.I would be surprised if they and you do not come to an arrangement in which you can pay the bill off over a period of time. You used the electricity you pay for the fuel. Could they not get in to read the meter and therefore underestimated. I f you really need help CAB is for you

Answer 7

You used the electricity, so technically you owe for it. You got a break when you didn't have to pay for it earlier, although maybe you would have been more thrifty with your usage if you knew the true cost. I would contact them to inquire into how they determined the size of the bill and about setting up a payment plan. If they estimated you usage based on some averages maybe you can argue that their estimate was excessive.

Answer 8

Unfortunately if you've used the electricity, then you've got to pay for it.

However if they've cocked up so badly over such a long period then they can hardly expect you to pay the arrears all at once.

First thing to do is check your meter readings and check the bills are correct. (They've cocked up before, who's to say they still haven't got it wrong).

If you're convinced it is now right, you need to start negotiating with them to pay back the arrears over as long a period as possible... can you negotiate a credit to compensate you for for the hassle and your time spent sorting their problem?

You're going to end up having to pay, but it's well worth trying to get something knocked off the bill, and definitely spread the payments over as long as possible.

Also get in touch with Energywatch (the toothless watchdog of the electric industry).

Answer 9

You are responsible for the bill but with something like that, they should have offered you some type of payment arrangement. Call and ask them if you can set up payments to be divided into 12 monthly payments or something like that. IF you do go into a payment arrangement, you also have to keep your new monthly bills current and paid on time or you risk disconnection.

Answer 10

If you paid too much would you expect a refund?

Of course you must pay. However, you should contact them and work out a payment plan you can live with. That would be reasonable.