Consumer: Gas supplier hits customer with bill of over €11,500

Commission for Regulation of Utilities report for 2022 include complaints against all energy suppliers

Electricity account problems and billing issues drove the largest volume of contacts to the CRU. Picture: iStock

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has just published its Customer Care Report for 2022. It details a number of complaints it received from utility customers.

In one case, a customer contacted the CRU in relation to what the report calls "a large catch - up bill " the customer had received for gas usage.

This bill came to (takes deep breath) €11,536.27.

The problem was that usage had been based on estimated meter reads since April 2020. In his complaint, the customer said they had renewed their contract with their supplier in 2021 and 2022 , and the issue of a lack of meter readings was never raised or discussed . Nor had Gas Networks Ireland come looking for a meter reading throughout that time.

The customer felt it was unfair that their supplier billed them for this large catch - up bill ba sed on  current rate s rather than hist orical rates. 

The report says: "This meant that all the units were billed using the highest rate, which did not reflect the price at the various time periods over the two years in which the energy had been used. "

This is quite amazing. Gas prices in Ireland rose by 86.1% in the year to February. This customer was asked to pay sky-high rates for gas that was supplied to everyone else in the country at a fraction of the price.

The supplier rejected the customer’s complaint "and advi sed the CRU that the customer had been billed in line with standard industry procedure, which is to charge the customer for usage as per the meter readings obtained by GNI [Gas Networks Ireland], a nd to apply the rates applicable at that point in time."

The supplier also said this practice was in line with the Ts&Cs the customer had signed up for.

Complaint rejected

And that is why the CRU also rejected the customer’s complaint.

So basically, suppliers are fully entitled to charge very high rates for gas supplied at very low rates if the customer — through no fault of their own — is operating on estimated bills.

There was some mitigation in the case. The report says that although the supplier billed the customer correctly, the CRU,"in consideration of the current energy crisis, requested the supplier review billing f rom 2020 to 2022 , apportion /pro - rate the energy usage [units] over bi - monthly billing periods , and apply the pric es that applied at these various billing periods [ rather than charging the customer the full usage catch - up at today’s current higher rate /price ] ."

It continues: "The supplier kindly agreed to pro- rate the bill as a goodwill gesture. The actual  meter reading resulted in a bill for 117,557 kWh which generated a total bill of €11,536 .27  [incl Vat]. Having calculated the unit rate and standing charges on a pro - rata basis since  the opening read in 2020, the supplier reduce d the bill to €5,344.66 [incl VAT], a difference  of €6,191.61."

In another sobering case, a customer contacted the CRU because his supplier took €2 , 274.73 from his bank account without authorisation. The supplier made out the sum was owed because of a legacy account from 2008.

It took 37 days of constant telephone calls before the supplier reacted and logged a formal complaint regarding the matter . And it took four months before the supplier returned the money to its customer’s bank account.

The report says throughout the ordeal, "the customer felt their numerous calls on the  various issues raised were continually ignored".

It is important to send meter readings to your energy supplier.

The customer wanted to know how his supplier

They eventually offered €310 in compensation, but the customer rejected the offer, on the grounds it did not reflect either the time it took to deal with the issue, or the stress it had caused.

The complaint was escalated to the CRU, which ultimately directed the supplier to award the customer compensation of €600. The report says "the service provided by this supplier is not what the CRU expects from a large, long -established energy supplier".

There was no naming and shaming, however, and nor did the report say if the customer was happy with the €600.

Last year, the CRU received over 12,000 contacts from energy and water customers. That’s an 87% increase on 2021.

Billing issues

Electricity account problems and billing issues drove the largest volume of contacts, and customer complaints were upheld 43% of the time — up from 32% the previous year.

In a press release accompanying the release of the report, the CRU said it was aware of the impact of high energy prices on households and small businesses, especially those that may already be struggling to pay their bills.

While there were increases in contact volumes in relation to all energy suppliers, these were significantly higher for Panda Power, SSE Airtricity, Iberdrola, Electric Ireland and Pinergy. 

The share of customer contacts for each of the seven largest suppliers was broadly in line with their market share, with the exception of Electric Ireland, whose level of customer contacts was 35% lower than its combined percentage market share of 45%. 

The suppliers whose level of customer contact levels exceeded their market share included Bord Gáis Energy, Flogas and Pinergy.

The CRU also received 367 customer contacts in relation to Uisce Éireann in 2022, a similar level as in 2021. Seventy one per cent of the 17 Uisce Éireann customer complaints investigated in 2022 were upheld.

Customers continued to report that Uisce Éireann failed to respond to their queries in a timely manner. Customers also reported being dissatisfied with Uisce Éireann’s complaints process, with issues raised including customers not being kept updated in terms of the status of their complaint and Uisce Éireann not escalating or responding to customer complaints in a timely way.

Commenting on the report, CRU director of customer policy and protection Karen Trant said: “2022 saw a significant increase in contacts from energy and water customers to the CRU’s Customer Care Team, driven by some unprecedented events in the global energy markets. 

"The CRU would advise all customers to remain informed when it comes to their rights... Switching suppliers or renegotiating with your current supplier can still deliver savings and it is important that customers ensure they are on the best tariff for their needs.”

And for the love of God, send in your meter readings.