‘Check your energy bills’ says Frome resident stung by 10-year bill

A FROME resident is urging the community to check their energy bills and query anything that doesn’t look right, after his mother received an inaccurate energy bill covering a 10-year period. 

Andrew Edwards said EDF had sent his mother an energy bill from a 10-year period between 2013 to 2023, ‘demanding’ £5,700 to be paid.

“Up until two years ago, my brother was sending photographs of my mother’s meter which means that he was taking meter readings on his own and no-one was coming out to check them. The bills they have been sending have been estimations,” says Andrew.

“There was a problem in November last year, where EDF made a really big mistake and entered a figure of something like 80,000 units used within a period rather than 8,000, it was a massive over-estimation and a mistake that can happen. Or, they mixed up the night and day reading. From this, he asked them to look into the bills they had been sending.

“They ended up sending a bill dated 14th August demanding £5,700 on top of everything else, claiming that it’s all fully justified for 10 years.

“When I checked with the ombudsman, it was confirmed they can’t go back 10-years. They know this, this is the law and this is the ruling. When I put this out originally on the Frome Facebook page, about 10 to 20 people came back and said ‘that’s happened to my mother too.’

“In addition, to add further anxiety and distress, they tried to demand another £2,300 from our late father’s estate. Addressed to the executors of my late father, it was back billing 2011 to 2013. I need to stress all electricity bills have always been paid in full and on time. At no time, never, have my parents ever been in arrears with their bills.

“EDF have actually come back and apologised for my mother’s bill and said they should not have gone back 10 years. They sent my mother flowers and issued a re-calculated bill. My mother was in fact in credit to the sum of £7,500, that EDF now owes her. She was grateful for the flowers and credit.

“My message to the community is do not be frightened to contact Citizens Advice or anybody at the local council if you have concerns or have questions about things like this. These companies are actually increasing people’s bills back billing by 10 years which is not on and they should stick to the laws.

“The issue now sits with an ombudsman who is investigating this.”

A spokesperson for EDF said, “We’re sorry to hear about the problems the resident has been facing and we’re investigating this as a priority. We remain committed to helping as many customers as possible, including providing debt relief and installing energy efficiency for those in fuel poverty.”