Energy companies’ billing errors cost consumers £102m

New findings have revealed that energy companies have overcharged consumers £102 million last year due to “unacceptable” billing blunders.

The energy switching site uSwitch found that 1.3 million households were overcharged by an average of £79 – some of whom have not yet received a refund.

The process of claiming money back has taken on average 35 days. Many of those affected have said their bills did not match the meter readings. A quarter said the amount they were charged did not add up correctly.

“Households are already feeling the pinch from recent energy price rises, and having to chase for an average of 35 days to get their money back simply adds insult to injury,” said Claire Osborne, from uSwitch.

“We want to see companies do much more to make life easier for their customers, accurate bills are the bare minimum they should expect from their energy suppliers,” she added.

uSwitch has called on energy regulator Ofgem to ensure energy suppliers reimburse within a month, whilst also making sure that bills are easier to understand.

“We have taken strong action to address billing failures by suppliers, with suppliers paying out over £40m as a result of our investigations into these and related customer service issues in the last two years, and we continue to monitor the market.” said a spokesperson from Ofgem.

“Suppliers are required by Ofgem to treat their customers fairly – if a customer thinks that their supplier has made a billing mistake, they should contact them.

“We are working with suppliers to make bills easier to understand and Ofgem’s rules already require suppliers to make clear on bills whether they are based on a customer’s actual or estimated energy usage.

“Smart meters will address the issue of estimated readings as these consumers will be billed based on their actual energy usage.”