A young individual recently encountered an unexpected financial challenge after receiving a bill exceeding £2,700 from EDF, the energy supplier. I’ll be honest, the demand completely blew me away. I had only recently learned to navigate the world on my own outside of the confines of my foster care experience.
In 2020, the person with a disability moved into their new apartment. Then, only after the fact, they were told by EDF that oops, they hadn’t been paying their electricity bill. The company had installed a second meter to measure the electricity use. Fast forward to 2023, when we finally got the old meter replaced with a smart meter. It just meant that the previously assumed consumption amount was drastically overstated from what was actually being consumed.
According to backbilling rules, energy suppliers cannot charge customers for more than 12 months of energy consumption if they have not previously sent bills. In this case, the backbilling rule should not have applied. The Environmental Defense Fund communicated that the person has to pay back all of the electricity they have used since 2020. The homeowner was understandably rattled by this news. In reality, they believed they were making the required payments on their housing association payments—recharging a £50 credit meter every month.
Despite the overwhelming nature of the bill, EDF has since offered a payment plan of £108 a month to help manage the debt. Through these measures, the firm was able to lower the overall debt burden by £105. They transferred the individual to a more appropriate tariff, reducing their monthly bill payments. This change and other similar changes are intended to ease the initial financial burden on the first-time homebuyer.
The events leading up to the billing complication illustrate some of the difficulties young people who age out of the foster system into adult life alone may encounter. The person described how angry they felt by the constant misinformation and confusion as to how much electricity they were using and how much they should be paying. They reported being intimidated by the receipt of such a large bill. This added challenge hit just as they were still acclimating to living on their own for the very first time.
It’s time for energy suppliers, especially big ones like EDF, to put the needs of their customers first by focusing on transparent communication. This is particularly key for those who are at-risk or inexperienced with new household duties. Consumer frustration with perplexing bills and lack of transparency on how consumers’ energy use is being estimated or calculated.