uSwitch.com research shows almost three in ten households get billed wrongly by energy providers

Research from uSwitch.com shows that consumers name energy suppliers best for getting bills wrong. The energy industry was voted worst for inaccuracy ahead of banks, council departments, credit card companies and other utility companies. But for the first time in five years energy providers have been knocked off the top spot, with consumers naming the Inland Revenue as the worst culprit for getting bills wrong.

Almost three in ten households (27%) have been billed incorrectly by their energy company within the last two years – more than one in ten (14%) have had this happen more than once. On average these inaccuracies took just over two months to resolve, although 40% are sorted out within a week, a 4% improvement on last year.

As well as taking time and effort to sort out, inaccurate bills can leave a hole in people’s pockets. Over 10 million households (40%) have unexpectedly ended up owing money to their energy supplier following a discrepancy between an estimated bill and a ‘real’ bill. The average amount owed comes in at £147 – a £5 increase on 2009’s figure but £6 lower than last year when people ended up owing £153 on average as a result of inaccurate billing. However, 14% of households have unexpectedly ended up owing between £200 – £400 due to a billing discrepancy, while 8% have ended up owing over £400.

As a result, the number of households taking matters into their own hands by providing their own meter readings to their supplier continues to grow. Almost three quarters of households (72%) have provided their energy supplier with a meter reading in the last six months – a 1% increase since last year and 8% more than in 2009^[6]. This is welcome news as providing real meter readings breaks the reliance on estimated and sometimes inaccurate readings.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, says: “Inaccurate bills are no laughing matter for consumers who can end up out of pocket and wasting time and effort trying to resolve billing blunders. The fact is that households are at the blunt end of hugely varying standards in billing accuracy, with some industries, companies and organisations performing noticeably better than others and some consistently coming in at the bottom of the class.

“Although energy suppliers are still trailing behind, coming second only to the Inland Revenue for inaccuracy, there are some positive signs here. Less households are being billed inaccurately, less money is being owed as a result and less time is being taken to resolve mistakes. This is extremely welcome, but there is certainly no room for complacency.

“The fact that a growing number of households are providing suppliers with meter readings may have also played a part in improving the accuracy of our energy bills. Consumers should aim to provide a reading once a quarter – failure to do so can result in receiving an estimated bill, which is where many of the issues relating to accuracy lie. It is a simple step to take, but it really is in all of our interests to make sure that suppliers are using up-to-date information on our bills.”

Inaccuracy: how providers compare :

Source: uSwitch.com Press Release

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