Check your bill
Always check your bill for accuracy – it could be significantly wrong if you have received estimated bills over a long period.
The consumer group Which? suggests multiplying your annual usage in kWh for each fuel (this should be on your energy bills) by the unit rates (these vary so check your supplier’s website). Divide by 100 to get a price in pounds. You will also need to add £338 a year (the average standing charge if you pay for both fuels). Your monthly direct debit should be this total sum divided by 12.
If the calculation is incorrect, explain how and why in writing to the company – either an email or posted letter, including a copy of the bill. You need the written correspondence for evidence should you submit a case to the Energy Ombudsman. Submit the correct reading to your energy provider with a photo, if possible.
Complain if you get no bills
All energy suppliers are signed up to Ofgem’s “back-billing principle”. This means if your provider has not sent you a bill for more than a year and is to blame, it can only charge you for the past 12 months’ usage.
If the error is your fault because you actively didn’t pay, then the firm can back-bill you for up to six years.
Check your direct debit
Your direct debit amount should be the same each month or quarter, and your supplier must inform you, usually within 10 days, if it is going to change. If it doesn’t, complain to your bank and ask for a refund under the direct debit guarantee. If the bank caused the error, tell it that it has made a mistake.
If the bank doesn’t refund you, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service – you have to wait eight weeks after your initial complaint before doing so, unless you get a deadlock letter from your bank. This will say the bank no longer wishes to negotiate and the ombudsman can make a ruling.
If you pay by direct debit, check whether your energy account is in credit, and decide if you want it refunded or wish to keep the balance to cover more expensive months. The company cannot keep hold of the money if you ask for it all to be returned.
Check your meter …
Although it is quite rare for a meter to be wrong, you can ask your supplier to check it. If it is not faulty, your supplier may ask you to pay a fee for this visit. Alternatively, you might be asked to take daily readings for a week.
Gas meters must be within a 2% accuracy rate and electricity meters between +2.5% and -3.5%.
If your electricity use seems high, test whether any of your appliances are faulty by turning off everything, including items on standby. The meter should not move. Then turn on each appliance separately. If numbers increase rapidly with one appliance, that is likely to be faulty.
If your gas meter reading is increasing quickly, there may be a leak, and you should immediately contact the National Grid gas emergency line on 0800 111 999.
If you don’t believe you’re using all of the energy you have been billed for, take a reading and a picture of the meter and send to your supplier. It has five days to investigate, take action and put in writing what it has done to investigate the problem, what it will do to fix it and how long it will take to resolve. You can claim £40 compensation if it fails to do this.
The unique identification number on your meter should match the one shown on your bill. Sometimes these are incorrect, especially if your meter is in a shared cupboard.
If you have a prepayment meter and it shows any error message, contact your energy supplier which must check it within three hours on working days, and four hours on weekends or holidays.
Request tokens from your supplier while the matter is being resolved. If the company does not repair or replace it within these times, or it has not explained its actions in writing, then claim the £40 compensation payment.
… or smart meter
In June 2024 Which? surveyed 10,193 of its members who have a smart meter and found that 16% had a problem in the previous 12 months. In August 2024, the government published data revealing that 3.5m smart meters are still not working in “smart mode” and not sending readings.
If yours shows an error message, no display or outdated readings, then there is a problem. It should show the energy being used and a projected cost. If it is not working contact your energy supplier and send evidence.
Know your rights
The Ofgem standards of conduct guidance was updated in April 2024. Energy suppliers must treat customers fairly. They must behave and undertake actions in a fair, honest, transparent, appropriate and professional way.
Written or verbal information must be:
complete, accurate and not misleading (in terms of the information provided or omitted)
communicated in plain and intelligible language
related to products or services that are appropriate to the customer to whom it is directed
and fair both in terms of its content and in terms of how it is presented (with more important information being given appropriate prominence).
Suppliers must make it easy for consumers to contact them, acting promptly and courteously to put things right if they make a mistake. “Customer service arrangements and processes must be complete, thorough, fit for purpose and transparent,” Ofgem says.
If your energy company breaches any of the Ofgem standards, since 2 January 2025 it has been obliged to pay you £40 compensation. If the company does not pay within 10 working days, further compensation applies.
When making a complaint, cite these rules and ask for the compensation you are owed.
Escalate
If a firm does not offer a customer service email address, or you are not happy with its response, write to the chief executive. They may respond personally or escalate the matter to a senior team. You can obtain the email address from the website ceoemail.com.
Give the supplier a deadline for a response. Tell it that if you are not satisfied, you will contact the Energy Ombudsman. You can submit a case for free eight weeks from the date you first made the complaint, or when you have a deadlock letter from the supplier.
You can complain via the website energyombudsman.org, by phone (0330 440 1624), by email (enquiry@energyombudsman.org), or post (The Energy Ombudsman, PO Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF).