We started working with Windmill Care when we successfully negotiated good tariffs for gas and electricity contracts for the group’s three care homes. But, before they went live, Windmill Care’s incumbent supplier identified a billing issue.

Challenge

We started working with Windmill Care when we successfully negotiated good tariffs for gas and electricity contracts for the group’s three care homes. But, before they went live, Windmill Care’s incumbent supplier identified a billing issue.

When P272 came into force, Windmill Care’s electricity supply had been upgraded to a half-hourly meter. The legislation is designed to enable suppliers to produce more accurate bills and avoid the need for manual meter reads.

However, the supplier had been underestimating the readings for 38 months and claimed that Windmill Care was now liable for a £45,000 catch up bill for electricity that had been used but not billed for

Resolution

We established that, during the meter migration, the readings had been removed from the invoices, which meant that Windmill Care could not have known there was an issue. After escalating our complaints with the supplier and successfully arguing that Windmill Care was not responsible for the error, the supplier back-billed for the last 12 months only.

We also uncovered a historic account that Windmill Care had closed with the supplier which had a credit of just over £2,000. Together with the write off of the debt beyond the last 12 months, it left Windmill Care needing to pay just over £5,000 of the original £45,000 bill.