CreditRecovering energy overpayments
Drawing on over 30 years’ industry knowledge of the 130+ problems that can arise when calculating end costs, through analysis of energy invoices, our bill validation expert has recovered the following costs for our clients:
- Homeless Services Charity: Recovered over £75,000 in energy overpayments over a five-year period
- Major National Brewery Chain: Received a £660,000 energy bill from supplier and following analysis £1.2million was instead recovered in overcharged invoices
- Religious Organisation with multiple properties: £8,000 was recovered on energy over payments per property
For more information on WilSon Energy’s bill validation, metering and billing services and how we could save you money, visit www.wilsonenergy.co.uk/billing-and-bureau-services/.
Utility contracts are, understandably, complicated. No two properties are the same in terms of energy consumption and each will have their own typical monthly usage pattern. While it can be tempting to go for the cheapest tariff when choosing a supplier, it can end up costing you more.
For example, in most instances, the cost of your energy only makes up a percentage of your utility bill, with additional daily charges, extra taxes and other add-ons inflating the final number. We often explain the process to our customers as similar to booking a seat on a budget airline; the initial unit cost of the seat may be appealing but it gets rapidly inflated by taxes, where you choose to sit, the luggage you choose to take and whether you opt for a meal. In most cases, you just want the aircraft to take you from origin to destination as efficiently and cheaply as possible but the price you end up paying is rarely the fee quoted at the start.
Identifying areas of overpayment
While you may not get an extra charge for travelling post-flight, customers are frequently presented with a 13th bill at the end of their 12-month contract, with fees to pay retrospectively for a year’s worth of additional energy charges, which can be both stressful and expensive.
If you’re a landlord, developer or facilities manager overseeing several properties, the costs can seriously rack up and affect your supplier energy credit rating if you don’t pay up. While it’s easy to blame the supplier for these extra costs, energy billing is not an exact science; there are over 130 problems that can arise when calculating end costs. This can be even more complex especially if the procurement relates to a heat network scheme.
These fall into five categories.
- Metering
- Delivery
- Contract prices
- Network transition
- Current supplier contract
In some instances, it can be as simple as your payment meter not being set at the right pressure, but it’s worth pointing out that energy utility and network companies do make errors. These can also go back several years, causing a cumulative overpayment and excess energy costs.
Getting the most from metering and billing
The good news is that bringing in a bill validation specialist like WilSon Energy to analyse your energy bills and spending patterns can significantly reduce your costs and give assurance that your tariff is right for your level of usage.
The even better news is it only takes our team around 20 minutes and a recent utility bill to see if any action needs to be taken.
Analysing your invoice and understanding your consumption across your property portfolio means any billing errors can be identified and a match can be made with energy suppliers that are better suited to meet your individual needs.
As the eyes and ears on the ground, our bill validation and procurement team can keep you up to date with the facts and rates that are relevant to you, taking a proactive and advisory approach to utility management. At a time when inflation and the cost of living is rocketing, these unwarranted costs can be significant. We can also assist you in tariff recommendations for heat networks whereby the site may be charged in cubic meters of gas from the supplier but is billed out in Kw of heating and hot water to the end customer.
Minimising future errors
Beyond recovering costs and identifying errors, a huge part of our service is focused on minimising future errors. Many of our customers are experiencing the benefits of installing cutting-edge smart meters, which produce a more accurate reading and can be linked to payment plans for a more streamlined, integrated billing process. We also look manage the metering and billing on their behalf, so they can guarantee they are getting the best energy deals.
For more information on WilSon Energy’s bill validation, metering and billing services and how we could save you money, visit www.wilsonenergy.co.uk/billing-and-bureau-services/.
