Ofgem 12-month back-billing rule explained — when you may not have to pay

What the rule says

Ofgem’s back-billing rules mean you generally do not have to pay for energy you used more than 12 months ago if:

1. you have not had an accurate bill for it before; and/or
2. you have not been told what you needed to pay through a statement of account before; and/or
3. your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover what you needed to pay

The rules apply to households and microbusinesses.

What you may still have to pay

You still need to pay accurate bills for energy used within the allowed period — typically the 12 months before the supplier took charge recovery action. The rule limits how far back unbilled / under-billed recovery can go; it is not a free pass on recent accurate charges.

The “acted unreasonably” exception

Ofgem says you will have to pay for energy used more than 12 months ago if you have acted unreasonably, for example by:

• stopping your supplier from billing you accurately, including by blocking access to your meter
• ignoring requests for payment from your supplier
• stealing electricity or gas

Source: Ofgem back bill page.

Ofgem’s December 2020 open letter on charge recovery also states that a customer’s failure to provide a meter reading does not remove the back-billing limit, and that consumers must not be held responsible for failing to identify billing errors. PDF: Ofgem open letter (Dec 2020).

How this shows up in practice

Situations that can lead to charge recovery (back-billing) include, among others: no bill sent for a long time; inaccurate bills; long runs of estimated readings; Direct Debit set at the wrong level; or a prepayment meter not updated with the correct tariff or balance. Those situations are discussed in Ofgem’s open letter above.

What to do next

1. Contact the supplier and ask for a breakdown.
2. Raise a complaint asking for the 12-month rule to be applied.
3. If unresolved after eight weeks, or you get a deadlock letter, escalate to the Energy Ombudsman (free) — not Ofgem for the individual case.

See: How to dispute an energy back bill and the letter generator.

Sources

• https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/your-energy-supply/your-energy-bill/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill
• https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2020/12/open_letter_on_expectations_for_energy_suppliers_undertaking_charge_recovery_action_0.pdf
• https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/your-energy-supply/problems-your-energy-supply/complain-about-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator
• https://www.energyombudsman.org/advice-for-consumers/what-is-back-billing