Alert energy consumers make 60 million calls a year

Vast numbers of people are querying the accuracy of their energy bills, according to a UK gas and electricity watchdog, with suppliers receiving around 60 million phone calls a year.

energywatch has said about a third of customers contact their suppliers every quarter to complain or query bills and accounts. The watchdog said its own evidence demonstrated that billing was too often a hit and miss affair. “The reaction of the supply companies has been to sit on their hands and pretend there is nothing to worry about,” said energywatch chief executive Allan Asher. “If supermarkets displayed this level of incompetence there would be a riot.”

energywatch says suppliers admit that, on average, 39% of the bills they send out are estimated.
In an energywatch survey last year, 9% of consumers interviewed said they had been thrown into debt because of poorly estimated bills. This is equivalent to two million consumers.