Energy Bill Refunds
Published: 08/10/2014
The big six energy companies have withheld up to £400million in overpaid gas and electricity bills with an estimated three million households owed a share.
By following our free
guide you can easily recover any money owed – which given the ever increasing energy costs could be up to £500.
Get your money back
While energy regulator Ofgem has ordered the big six suppliers to return the money, in reality it is up to the customer to take the necessary steps to recover their money.
- Check your old paperwork (previous energy bills and bank statements) to establish if, firstly, you were in credit with your previous supplier and, secondly, to ensure it was not automatically recredited to your account
- Contact your previous supplier. Phone numbers for the big six energy suppliers is listed below.
Having your old account number and even the final meter readings could help speed up the process.
If you don’t have this information you might need to provide some form of ID as well as
the address where the energy was supplied.
If your energy was supplied by one of the big six you can do the whole process over the phone; you do not need to send anything in writing. - Once it is confirmed you are owed money, you should get the full amount refunded within 8 weeks either directly into your account or by cheque.
Key Contacts
| British Gas | 0800 048 0202 | Mon-Fri 8am - 8pm Sat 8am - 6pm |
| EDF Energys | 0800 096 9000 | Mon-Fri 8am - 8pm Sat 8.30am - 2pm |
| EON | 0333 202 4856 | Mon-Fri 8am - 8pm Sat 8am - 4pm |
| Npower | 0800 316 3375 | Mon-Fri 8am - 8pm Sat 8am - 4pm |
| Scottish Power | 0800 027 0072 (from landlines) 0345 270 0700 (from mobiles) |
Mon-Fri 8am - 7pm Sat 8am - 6pm |
| SSE | 0800 975 1662 | Mon-Fri 8am - 2pm Sat 8.30am - 6pm |
How did this happen
Your gas and electricity bills are often based on estimated readings by the energy supplier and therefore may not reflect your actual usage.
As a consumer you can request your outstanding credit whenever you wish but often people choose to leave it within their account to cover the more expensive energy months. For example a lot of people find themselves in credit during the summer months but decide not to withdraw it as they expect it to ‘balance itself out’ as they increase their usage in winter.
When you switch supplier or move home, lenders should repay any remaining credit. This has not happened.
Supplier Says No!
There is a chance that the supplier may not agree to refund you. If you believe this is incorrect, or if the supplier has failed to resolve the situation within eight weeks, you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman.
It will then investigate your complaint and, should it find in your favour, you will be refunded.
Visit www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.hmtl for more details.
Not one of the Big Six
If you had your energy supplied by a different provider then you may still be able to make a claim.
However it is not known if smaller suppliers do owe former customers. Ofgem is considering asking for information from smaller energy companies.
The bottom line is if you have not been refunded money that is rightly yours then you should get it back!