If you are disputing your energy bill with your supplier, it can be a very difficult and heartless job. Gas and electricity suppliers occupy a dominant position and frankly there is not a lot of competition. Once they get you on board it looks as if customer service goes to the wall. We are seeing a huge number of complaints about billing by energy suppliers. Npower is a particular concern but the others are not far behind. Did you know that your electricity supply and your relationship with your supplier is governed by the Electricity Act 1989. Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier, you are entitled to have your own check meter fitted. You don't have to rely on one chosen and monitored by your energy supplier. The only rules are that it should be fitted by somebody authorised to do so – but this can be any qualified independent electrician – and also that the meter must be an MID meter approved for billing. Here is a webpage which gives you a list of MID approved meters: – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-meter-type-approval-certificates-annex-mi-003 Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier and it is considered that you have exhausted all avenues and yet the dispute is not resolved, that you can insist that your supplier arranges a meter determination which is carried out by the National Measurement Office – pursuant to schedule 7 of the Electricity Act 1989. Once you have requested the determination, here is the procedure which your energy supplier must follow https://www.gov.uk/electricity-meter-accuracy-and-disputes#determination-process I have found that the Electricity metering team at the National Measurement Office are extremely friendly and informative. These rights are provided to you under the Electricity Act 1989. Why doesn't your energy supplier let you know about this? Because they don't like any independent scrutiny? Because they would rather sue your arse regardless of the justice of the case? Because they don't care about you the customer – they only care about their shareholders and their executive salaries? Because they are all Bloody lazy? All of the above?

We contacted Vetmedsdirect on the 8th Dec and ordered medication for our little dog. We supplied a copy of the presxcription to them to faciltate the order. In addition we paid £3.59 for delivery. It is now the 13th Dec and still no sign that the medication has even been shipped. Under the Consumer Contract Regulations can we request that they cancel the order which has not been shipped and also request a full refund? Very annoying as we now have to go and buy from a veterinary practice and at higher cost as we have run out of out of the tablets. It seems that these Online vets take your order although they do not have the items in stock. They then order which is why it takes a lot longer to get items from them. Are there any really reliable Online vet suppliers?

Are you in credit to your energy supplier? Have you switched but not received a refund from your previous gas and electricity provider? My Energy Credit helps people who've moved or switched claim money back that may have been left behind with their old supplier. No matter how long has passed, legitimate claims will always be refunded. The average credit balance is around £50. An estimated £153m is owed by energy suppliers to former customers, who overpaid before making the move to a rival supplier. http://www.myenergycredit.com/ Getting an energy refund http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/energy-refunds/#step9

Hi, I know that you can't change supplier if there is an outstanding balance of over £50.00 and it is more than 28 days old. But I am in a huge dispute with Npower and I have been asking them to let me change suppliers and let the ongoing court action decide on how much is outstanding. They have missold their contract to me on two occasions. The first time, when it came to renewing the contract I told them I'll let it go as long as this sort of thing doesn't happen again. But within two months they increased my direct debit again and during the process of complaining about the issue I found out that I was not on a fixed tariff as I had negotiated with their representative. Fortunately I had a recording of that telephone conversation and sent it to the Ombudsman who claimed that it was different to the transcript NPower had given them. I asked for an SAR which matched my recording. But the Ombudsman still ruled in their favour, if that is even believable. They tried to install pre-paid meters by applying for a Warrant of Entry but I argued that this was a contractual dispute and should be dealt with in the County court. The Magistrate agreed with me and threw out their application and the other three applications they made. On the fourth occasion, I gave up and filed my own County court claim against them for mis-selling, harassment and abuse of legal process. This case has now been dragged for nine months without a hearing and all along I keep getting these invoices and added charges that I don't agree with specially that they moved me to their "standard tariff" so I have had no choice to choose a tariff. So I stopped paying them. I have been asking to be allowed to change supplier and let the court decide how much is outstanding to whom. But they won't answer, neither does their legal representative. In fact except for notifications of invoices and meter reading requests, I get nothing from Npower, no matter how many times I write to them and about any subject, not even the legal proceedings. Their Barrister is apparently famous for not writing things down. I am worried that they may cut me off and then I have to settle their ridiculous invoice and chase them for money for the rest of my life. Can some one help. I just want to get away from Npower and their dirty games. Thanks

The Big Six energy suppliers have launched a campaign to reunite former customers with money left in credit in a move that has been welcomed by consumer groups and the regulator. The MyEnergyCredit campaign will encourage customers who have switched suppliers or moved home without leaving a forwarding address to get in touch with their old company if they think they have left money behind. Energy UK said £153 million in unclaimed credit had accumulated over the last six years, with the average balance at around £50. The trade association said from now on, after two years any unclaimed credit would be put towards funds to help the fuel poor and vulnerable, which would amount to at least £65 million over five years. http://www.myenergycredit.com/

It would appear that I have been moved to another energy supplier without my authority! This started back in November last year when I was contacted by Unicom sales and offered a better deal on my electric supply all sounded pretty reasonable on the phone and they e-mailed me a Letter of Authority to sign and return. On reading this Letter of Authority which gave them the authority to contact my current supplier and gather information about my account and rates; but I noted that there was a paragraph that gave them the Authority to Terminate my contract with my current supplier and move it to them, so at this point I left it. I soon received a call asking for the Letter of Authority, I explained that I wasn't happy with the Termination Clause and that I wouldn't sign such a letter. I was assured that they wouldn't terminate my current supplier contract without my say so; so to be sure I edited the Letter of Authority and removed the offending paragraph, signed it and sent it back. I never heard any more until a couple of months ago when I noticed that my DD payments to Unicom had jumped from about £30/Month to well over £1,000/Month. I immediately rang Unicom to see what was going on and they told me that it was because of my electric supply which they had taken over, I found this to be quite distressing as I had been paying my previous supplier in the region of £700/Quarter. I asked on who's Authority had they transferred my contract? I was informed that I had signed a Letter of Authority and that they had this letter on file; I asked for them to e-mail me that letter which they did and I can confirm that the copy they have is the edited version that I sent. So my question is did they have the authority to terminate my contract? Regards Chris

Hi, Another question for anyone who can help! I asked my landlord (they are a property company) if I could change energy suppliers over the phone last year, they advised me I could as long as I provide them with the new reference number which I did. I've just moved out and on the check out form I see they have said if I've changed without written confirmation from them that it will be £100 admin fee. I'm guessing they would take from my deposit? I'm not happy about this, they told me I could but I have nothing to prove this, anyway it's my money paying for the supply surely I have the right to change to whoever I want as long as I provide them with the information which I did. In any case, how can they justify £100 admin fee, what is the cost to them that I have changed? Can I fight this in anyway? Seems completely unfair to me Many thanks Jess

Hi again Previous accountant had signed us up to a 3 year deal however we are looking to move to a different supplier. The agreement is worded, where he has signed, Customers Authorised Signature. However he isnt a signatory and as such the company director signed the DD mandate. Can we get out of the contract on the basis that he isnt a company signatory and therefore had no right to sign as such? Pretty thin I know but they are sharks, I mean, a 3 month notice period as well!!! Any advice welcomed. Thanks

EDF simply forgot to charge me (after a mixup following a smart meter installation) for over a year. They recently caught up with it and after admitting it was their fault, set me up on a repayment plan lasting around 16 months. I am not on a key/card meter, it's still on normal billing. Can I now switch supplier and just keep paying EDF the old bill? They said that the new tariff they've given me has no switching penalty. What would happen if I defaulted on the debt or missed payments - could they force entry still to disconnect me, or can that only be done by your current energy supplier?

Hi, This is a strange issue and I just wondered if anyone else has similar issues. About 8 weeks ago started process to move providers. Nothing on my meter suggests it is economy 7, however current provider has been charging economy 7. There are no heaters etc in the house to warrant economy 7. It has gas radiators which have been here some considerable time, however I only moved in 2 years ago (rented). Tariffs move to EDF blue, as of mid November. Get a letter today stating meter is economy 7. Call up to be told meter must be replaced if wanting another tariff. Meanwhile you Are on economy 7 tariff. Surely as this is an EDF fitted meter, this should have flagged up before now? I now cant do anything until have been a customer for 28 days, call back after a month and then 2-3 week wait to replace meter. Now here's the interesting part: The meter is an EDF meter, fitted in 2009 (fully dated etc). There are 3 reading: 0 total 1 night 2 day There is a sticker on the front which shows 1 = night There is nothing to state it is an economy 7 meter The DEFAULT display shows TOTAL I explained to EDF, why go though the cost, time and effort to replace the meter which ALREADY shows the correct information? If I were to remain on economy 7, the meter reader would need to scroll past total reading to get to night and day readings? "it's our policy"!!!!!! So EDF want to replace a perfectly working meter, which shows the total electricty consumption as the default display because they state it is an economy 7 meter. And charge me more in the meantime! Anybody know who I can escalate this too. Customer services = rubbish. Makes me wonder why I chose EDF if they are wasting money like this unnecessarily. There is no need to change a meter whose default reading is the one required for this tariiff. Thanks

Hello! I'm hoping someone can advise - I've been Googling but can't find an answer! I'm in rented accommodation. We pay our own utility bills, and there's nothing in the contract to state we can't change suppliers. If we were to change to a fixed tariff contract, what would happen if we were to move out? Would the new tenant be lumbered with it, or would we have to cancel? It's a daft question - but is the contract for the property, or for the people who live there? I've done the price comparison thing and know we could save if we switched, but never having done it before I'm a bit confused! Thanks!

Dear All I would be very grateful for some advice if anyone is up for going through this with me... When I moved into my flat eight years ago I phoned the gas company, Scottish Power, to say that I had moved in and to give them readings. They insisted that there was only one gas supply to the property when infact there were two. I tore my hair out over the phone several times trying to prove this, providing them with necessary info. It was strange and frustrating because the previous tenant was getting billed normally. No gas bill came from Scottish Power. Occasionally a letter from British Gas came for a tenant who had lived at the property before the previous tenant. These bills would always have a zero balance ie no gas used and no meter readings. 18 months ago a bill came addressed to the tenant that had lived at the property before the previous tenant (ie 11 years ago) for gas used from Sep 11 to Jan 12 , at £550 rather a large bill for 4 months but not as big as a six and a half year so, I paid it in full. Then I set up a dual fuel account in my name with another cheaper company and have been paying them by direct debit ever since. However, after a while I noticed that despite the permission I gave to First Utility to transfer the account over to me, the gas element was still not being billed for. Also I was still getting gas bills from British Gas addressed to the previous tenant with no meter readings or gas meter serial number. I didn't pay the gas bills as they never had meter readings and I knew that at least I was paying another company. I didn't get reminder letters from British Gas, so just let the situation roll on, (falsely?) secure in the knowledge that at least I was paying First Utility I have finally been called to action ie sorting this out, as there is now a disconnection notice! I phoned British Gas yesterday to see why there was a disconnection notice. They said, they only have one gas meter registered at the address on the land registry. Can I please supply them with my move in date and the serial number of the gas meter pertaining to my flat. I said I would get back to them with these details. I explained that I have been paying another company and they said that they suspect that because the previous tenant did not say she was moving out they still have her registered and therefore the transfer did not go through. They asked me to check with my supposed supplier whether gas is being billed for, it isnt although I am still paying. What now I want to a a) avoid disconnection b) avoid having to pay a bill from before Sep 11 Would I have to back pay given that I did originally inform Scottish Power that I had taken over the gas bill on commencement of tenancy but after repeated attempts to convince them I had a meter they did not bill me? Thanks so much DD67

Hi, We recently received a late payment claim out of the blue from a supplier. It went back to 2007 and charged us £40 for every late payment. All the invoices had been paid tho, and we have no outstanding debt. Alll these years, they never sent a reminder at all at any time about late payment, and we somehow always ended up paying a bit late without worrying. Is there a way I can get out of this payment? It's come up to £1100, huge sum.

I've recently taken the plunge into self-employment for the first time and have been working as a freelance CAD designer for the last 4 months for a company under a very basic contract stating payment within 30 days of receipt of invoice. During that time, the company has consistently been late paying invoices and has required me to continually chase them. They've used all manner of excuses and now the business relationship has ended after the current invoice became yet again overdue (due date 1st December) and leaving me with no option but to get somewhat shirty with them. I sent an Overdue Payment Notice via email on the 4th Dec after they refused to explain why I had not been paid on time yet again, and stated that the company now had 7 days to pay £132 for services supplied, plus 4x statutory late-payment charges of £40 for every late payment (plus £2.32 in interest for the first invoice that was over 60 days late in payment), giving a total due of £294.26. The reply from them, also by email on the 4th Dec was that they only made 1 payroll run a week and that they 'explained' that they made payments after 30 days on the following payroll, and that they confirmed that I would receive the final payment of £132 on 7th December - today. Having just checked my account balances online, there is no sign of any payment into my account. I'm now at the point of taking a small claims action against the company for debt recovery, and to include the £40 charges as stated in the Late Payments Of Commercial Debts Regulations. I've not had to pursue this course of action before, and would like to know if the court would consider it to be reasonable if I include a figure of £120 (8hrs @£15 p/hr - standard industry rate) in business administration costs to cover time & effort spent in chasing them and processing the paperwork to bring the claim against them? I've had a search through the site but can't find any examples on how to best complete the Particulars of Claim for the MCOL document. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I moved into a flat in a shared building almost two months ago. Despite receiving gas to the property we haven’t been able to work out who our gas supplier is, or if we even have one. The landlord sorted out the electricity supplier but said that he had no idea who the gas supplier was. He said should just register with whoever we wanted to. That’s what I’ve been trying to do but I’m getting nowhere… I’ve tried ringing all the major gas suppliers to see if they have the property on their records. They have all told me that the information on the database for the building is incorrect/mixed up and it sounds as if only 2 of the 5 flats in the building are registered. Then they ask me for the serial number of our meter to set up a new account. The only number on the front of the meter looks like this: 000xxxxxxS. It’s an old imperial meter. I keep being told that this is the wrong number and that I should look for one beginning with G, but that is definitely the only number on the meter. The meters for the other flats look the same. I have also been advised to ring the MPRN helpline, but the individual flats are not registered on this database and consequently it only gives one MPRN for the whole building. I’m at a loss as to what to do next! I’m a bit worried that the gas supply will just stop at some point or that we’ll suddenly receive a huge bill.

Hi, Just looking for some help. I am about to move home, the new house is currently empty, being sold by agent for bank, I believe it was repossessed. So not a huge amount of detail is known about who supplied the electricity. Can I just pick anyone as it will be a new contract, or do I need to find out who the "current" supplier is, and if so how do I go about it. Thanks

Hi all, Wonder if anyone can offer some advice. I moved into my property in 2007, i had Scottish Power as my electricity supplier and received my bills quarterly until they stopped arriving at the end of 2008. I contacted the electric board to see who my supplier had been changed to and was told N Power. I have since spoke to N Power regarding this and they have denied that they are my supplier. It has now been brought to light that the electric board had give me the supplier of another house with a similar address as my house was a new build. However they cant tell me who my supplier is as my address doesnt show up on their system but all my neighbours address show. Surely if Scottish Power were billing me my address should be there? N Power did however tell me that the meter number i gave them is showing up as being disconnected. I spoke to the Scottish Power Rep on the forums and he supplied me with the date of my last payment, my last meter reading and what i was being charged per unit. So how do i sort this? how do i find out who my supplier is? what happens with the bill from 2009 til now? Thanks.

Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions... we got our house in 08 and we were informed that british gas were our energy suppliers, after a fwe phone calls they said they had no record of us and to contact the gas board who then advised us that we dont have a meter number so we are not registered for gas therefore do not have gas (we do have a meter and gas!!) we then continued to contact tansco and other energy suppliers including eon who supplies our elec but no one wants to admit to being our supplier! so we have not had a gas bill in the last 4 year and im worrying that the bill (if and when we get one) is going to be huge! any help please?!?!

Hello need some advice please. I worked in a local pub when the landlady decided to close the pub and give up the lease, then i was asked if i would like to take over the lease which i said yes, i turned out that it woould cost £2000 to get the lease changed into my name so the owner and the landlady said i could run the pub as though its mine and when i get the funds together i could the lease over to me but in the mean time it would stay in her name only. Everything was going well until i went to change the gas supplier CNG came back with a no.so i rang them up and they said they wanted to see the lease with my name on it, i explained the situations and told them i was paying all the bill from public liability insurance right down to telephone bill and had no problem starting a new account even electricity i got a new account even though the landlady left a debt, but CNG won't except this because she also has a debt on her gas. Now i could understand this hapening if the contract was made out to the business but all the bill come to her with her name on it. i've now received a letter stating that if payment hasn't been made then there going to a magistrats court to get permission to disconnect the gas, Previous landlady said she can't pay it so nothing she can do. What i'dlike to know is CNG refuse a supplier change if the debt is in the previous landladies name and not the business and can the disconnect the gas when it'snot my debt. Please help as i'm very worried and unsure what to do and where i stand regarding this matter