MARTIN Lewis has blasted a major Scottish firm over their “particularly abominable” customer charges.
It comes as the consumer champion backed calls for energy back-billing to be limited to six month.
Martin Lewis blasted a Scottish firm for its billing over the years[/caption]
He singled out Scottish Power for being “particularly abominable” at back-billing[/caption]
And he singled out Scottish Power for being “particularly abominable” at the practice.
Appearing in front of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Mr Lewis said the “principles” of back-billing were “certainly clear”.
He said firms should not back-bill customers for energy used more than 12 months ago as long as there has not been an unreasonable obstacle.
Mr Lewis told MPs: “Now that is pretty plain. For me where there is confusion is Ofgem doesn’t describe when the back-billing exemption is valid.
“We all know that the definition of reasonableness depends on who’s looking at it.”
He added: “I think we have a systemic problem of lack of enforcement over the back-billing rules, over a flaccid energy ombudsman, which I think is a real problem.
“One of the things that we have discovered when looking into this issue is we think there is a real issue… that what energy firms are doing is they are saying if customers are in credit when we are back-billing – so they know they’re back-billing – it is fine to take the credit when they’re back-billing because we’re not asking for money. That is not fine.”
Singling out Scottish Power, Mr Lewis said: “I don’t think there’s a chief executive who has sat there and said, ‘Let’s go and back-bill and get every penny we can can.
“Scottish Power has been particularly abominable with its billing over the years – and I think there is just a lack of care and a lack of being really strict and saying that you can’t back-bill.”
Asked if he supported calls to reduce the allowable back-billing period to six months, Mr Lewis said: “We live in a modern digital age where we’re trying to have smart meters installed that can give you an instant reading of what is going on in your energy system.
“Why should a firm take over six months to give you a correct bill? I can’t see any reason for that.”
And asked if he would like to see more of a crackdown from Ofgem, he answered: “Yes, I would like to see more specific rules from Ofgem on what does and doesn’t count on back-billing.”
The committee asked Mr Lewis if the amount of consumer switching between firms had led to an increase in the amount of wrongful back-billing.
He answered: “I think we’re hearing more about back-billing because bills are bigger, so back-billing is bigger.
What to do if you get a back-bill
If your gas or electricity supplier believes you have not been accurately billed for energy you’ve used, they may send you a back-bill.
These bills are sometimes called ‘catch up’ bills, and are intended to cover a period where you’ve used energy but have not been charged for it.
If you get one of these from your supplier, check whether you’re protected by our back billing rules before deciding what to do next.
Ofgem back-billing rules
These rules set out when a supplier can charge you for any shortfalls in payment for energy you’ve used.
You cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:
- you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one
- you have not been informed about any charges due via a statement of account before
- your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover any charges due
- Suppliers must make these rules clear in their contract terms and conditions.
The rules apply to domestic energy consumers and microbusinesses.
Source: Ofgem
“I think the reason for this raising its head higher is… probably a function of the size of bills. People care about it more.”
A Scottish Power spokesman said: “Scottish Power has worked hard and made great strides in customer service, with Citizen Advice ranking us as the best big supplier.
“We have robust processes and a unique customer system which consistently delivers a high performance on billing for our customers.”
He appeared in front of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee[/caption]
